The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Illinois
No. 11 Women’s Tennis Preview: Illinois, No. 23 Northwestern
01.31.2018 | Women's Tennis
Longhorns look to remain unbeaten against a pair of Big 12 foes this weekend.
WHAT: No. 11 Texas (4-0) takes to the road once again after winning a pair of matches away from home last weekend. With the ITA National Team Indoor Championships looming next week, the Longhorns will get a head start on their preparation with indoor matches at Illinois and No. 23 Northwestern.
WHEN/WHERE:
No. 11 Texas (4-0) at Illinois (3-1)
Friday, Feb. 2 – 5 p.m. CT
Atkins Tennis Center – Champaign, Illinois
Live Scoring/Video: http://fightingillini.com/sports/2015/11/4/wtennis_livestatsvideo.aspx
No. 11 Texas (4-0) at No. 23 Northwestern (3-1)
Sunday, Feb. 4 – 11 a.m. CT
Combe Tennis Center - Evanston, Illinois
Live Scoring: http://www.sidearmstats.com/northwestern/wtennis/xlive.htm
LAST TIME OUT
Texas won both of its matches at the ITA Kick-Off Weekend event in Berkeley, California. UT took down Mississippi State, 4-1 before knocking off then-No. 11 California on its home courts, 4-3. The Horns' win over the Golden Bears qualified Texas for the ITA National Team Indoor Championships for the first time since 2014.
SEASON NOTES
Bianca Turati TABBED BIG 12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK
The Big 12 Conference announced Tuesday (Jan. 30) the selection of Texas sophomore Bianca Turati as the league's Women's Tennis Player of the Week. The Longhorns took home their second such honor in the last three weeks. Anna Turati, the twin sister of Bianca, won the same honor on Jan. 16.
Bianca Turati's straight-sets win over California's 27th-ranked Anna Bright was instrumental in the Horns' 4-3 win over the 11th-ranked Golden Bears (Jan. 27). The victory qualified Texas for the ITA National Team Indoor Championships for the first time in four seasons.
Turati has defeated two top-30 opponents in the last three weeks. She is 5-0 in the new year with wins over three ITA top-80 foes. At 15-1 overall this season, Turati's only defeat came at the hands of Duke's seventh-ranked Samantha Harris in the semifinals of the ITA National Fall Championships in November.
Overall, Turati has singles wins over seven top-50 foes with five of those coming against current top-30 opponents and three coming against current top-20 players.
LONGHORNS EARN HIGHEST TEAM RANKING IN FIVE YEARS
Texas garnered its highest team ranking since 2013 and came in at No. 12 earlier this month in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) preseason women's tennis poll. UT moved up one spot in Wednesday's (Jan. 31) rankings release to the 11th spot.
The Longhorns, who return five of six regular singles starters from the 2017 squad that reached the second round of the NCAA Championships, boast their highest team ranking since Jan. 30, 2013, when Texas held the 11th slot. UT joins four other Big 12 schools in the preseason top-25 with Texas Tech at No. 8, Oklahoma State at No. 16, Baylor at No. 20 and TCU at No. 25.
Stanford, whom Texas will host on Feb. 16 at the Texas Tennis Center, topped the preseason poll while Vanderbilt ranked second. Florida, Georgia and North Carolina round out the top-five.
In November, Texas placed three student-athletes in the final ITA fall singles and doubles rankings.
At No. 10 in singles, sophomore Bianca Turati registered a career-high singles ranking and became the first Longhorn featured among the top-10 since Breaunna Addison in 2016.
Bianca Turati won her first 10 matches of the fall before sustaining a defeat to Duke's seventh-ranked Samantha Harris in the semifinals of the ITA National Fall Championships. She logged five wins over top-50 opponents, including three victories over top-20 foes.
Her classmate Petra Granic ranks a career-best No. 32 in singles after racking up nine wins in fall tournament competition, with four of those victories coming against ITA top-100 opponents.
The aforementioned Anna Turati, the twin sister of Bianca, ranks a career-best No. 87 in singles after putting together a 6-1 fall singles record.
Players Mentioned
