The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Mississippi State (ITA Kick-Off Weekend)
No. 12 Women's Tennis knocks off Mississippi State, 4-1
01.26.2018 | Women's Tennis
Longhorns capture ITA Kick-Off Weekend opener, await host No. 11 California on Saturday.
BERKELEY, Calif. – No. 12 Texas (3-0) posted singles wins from sophomores Petra Granic, Anna and Bianca Turati and freshman Bojana Markovic in a 4-1 victory over Mississippi State Friday evening on day one of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend event.
The win sends Texas to a date with host No. 11 California on Saturday at 3 p.m. CT. The winner advances to next month's ITA National Team Indoor Championships.
Texas opened the match with a win from its third doubles pair of freshmen Fernanda Labraña and Marta Perez-Mur. The Chilean and the Spaniard teamed up for a 6-3 win over the Bulldogs' Anastasia Rentouli and Sara Lizariturry. Mississippi State, however, pulled out victories at the first and second positions to close out the doubles point and assume a 1-0 lead.
In singles, Texas made sure that any momentum the Bulldogs had gathered during doubles was short-lived. The Longhorns won five of the six opening singles sets, and Bianca Turati leveled the team score in short order with her 6-0, 6-1 win over Madison Harrison at first singles. Markovic put the Horns in the lead for good with her 6-1, 6-0 victory over Rentouli at fourth singles.
Granic staked Texas to a 3-1 lead by way of her 6-2, 6-4 win over Janina Braun at second singles. Anna Turati registered the match-clinching point at third singles, where she knocked off Magda Adaloglu, 6-3, 6-1. The remaining two matches were suspended.
"Today we started three freshmen and three sophomores, and I was in awe of the way they handled the early setback with the doubles point," said third-year UT head coach Howard Joffe. "The ladies didn't play their best tennis, but they handled themselves superbly and can be very proud of the win tonight. We will discuss some of our shortcomings in addition to what we did well. We look to perform well against Cal tomorrow."
ITA Kick-Off Weekend – Day 1
No. 12 Texas 4, Mississippi State 1
Doubles – Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2
1 Madison Harrison/Khrystyna Vozniak (MSU) def. Anna Turati/Petra Granic (UT), 6-4
2 Janina Braun/Magda Adaloglu (MSU) def. Bojana Markovic/Bianca Turati (UT), 7-5
3 Fernanda Labraña/Marta Perez-Mur (UT) def. Anastasia Rentouli/Sara Lizariturry (MSU), 6-3
Singles – Order of Finish: 1, 4, 2, 3
1 No. 10 Bianca Turati (UT) def. Madison Harrison (MSU), 6-0, 6-1
2 No. 32 Petra Granic (UT) def. Janina Braun (MSU), 6-2, 6-4
3 No. 87 Anna Turati (UT) def. Magda Adaloglu (MSU), 6-3, 6-1
4 Bojana Markovic (UT) def. Anastasia Rentouli (MSU), 6-1, 6-0
5 Fernanda Labraña (UT) vs. Sara Lizariturry (MSU), 6-7 (3), 0-2, susp.
6 Marta Perez-Mur (UT) vs. Khrystyna Vozniak (MSU), 6-3, 5-5, susp.
Players Mentioned
