The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Northwestern
No. 11 Women's Tennis outlasts No. 23 Northwestern, 4-2
02.04.2018 | Women's Tennis
Longhorns rally to victory behind four singles wins.
EVANSTON, Ill. – No. 11 Texas (5-1) dropped the doubles point but produced singles victories from freshman Fernanda Labraña, sophomore Bianca Turati, junior Katie Poluta and the clincher from freshman Bojana Markovic in a 4-2 win over No. 23 Northwestern (3-2) Sunday afternoon.
The Wildcats opened the match with victories at the second and third doubles positions to win the doubles point and assume a 1-0 match lead. Northwestern took a 2-0 cushion behind Alex Chatt's three-set win over UT's Marta Perez-Mur at fifth singles, but Texas commenced a rally and evened the match in short order.
Labraña sliced the Longhorns' deficit to 2-1 with her 7-5, 6-2 win over Inci Ogut at fourth singles. At first singles, Texas' 10th-ranked Bianca Turati took the first set off of Northwestern's 60th-ranked Lee Or, 6-3. Turati trailed Or 3-1 in the second set before sweeping the ensuing five games to close out a 6-3, 6-3 win, even the tally at two and remain unbeaten over the last three months.
Poluta came up big at sixth singles to give the Longhorns the lead for good. The South African outlasted the Wildcats' Julie Byrne, 6-2, 7-6 (5) to set the stage for the clincher.
Markovic dropped the first set to NU's 92nd-ranked Maddie Lipp, 6-4 at third singles. The freshman from Serbia trailed early on in the second set before rallying to win the set, 6-4 and prolong the match.
Markovic picked up a crucial service break midway through the final set and finished off Lipp, 6-3 to score her third win over a ranked opponent and lock up Texas' 4-2 victory over the host Wildcats. The remaining match pitting Texas' Anna Turati against NU's Erin Larner at second singles was suspended in the third set.
Texas returns to the Midwest later this week for the ITA National Team Indoor Championships at The University of Wisconsin. The Longhorns open play on Friday with the opponent and start time to be announced later this week. Texas will make its first appearance at the event since 2014.
POST-MATCH COMMENTS
Texas head coach Howard Joffe
Today was a vicious match. More than anything, the ladies' victory says a lot about the character and fabric of such a young group. Playing two days removed from a bitter disappointment, playing without (Petra) Granic in the lineup, then losing the doubles point and being down 2-0….it really asked some questions about (our) desire and fight. I'm very proud of the group in this respect.
Bianca Turati continues to make things look easy. Katie Poluta got her opportunity and was awesome. Fernanda Labraña ran away with her match, and Bojana Markovic showed a measure of control of her emotions to close out the match against a senior with a slew of experience. This was a valuable experience and win for us.
No. 11 Texas 4, No. 23 Northwestern 2
Doubles – Order of Finish: 2, 3
1 No. 4 Erin Larner/Maddie Lipp (Northwestern) vs. Dani Wagland/Marta Perez-Mur (UT), 4-3, susp.
2 No. 8 Lee Or/Alex Chatt (Northwestern) def. Anna Turati/Bojana Markovic (UT), 6-1
3 Julie Byrne/Rheeya Doshi (Northwestern) def. Bianca Turati/Fernanda Labraña (UT), 6-2
Singles – Order of Finish: 5, 4, 1, 6, 3
1 No. 10 Bianca Turati (UT) def. No. 60 Lee Or (Northwestern), 6-3, 6-3
2 No. 87 Anna Turati (UT) vs. Erin Larner (Northwestern), 5-7, 6-2, 1-2, susp.
3 Bojana Markovic (UT) def. No. 92 Maddie Lipp (Northwestern), 4-6, 6-4, 6-3
4 Fernanda Labraña (UT) def. Inci Ogut (Northwestern), 7-5, 6-2
5 Alex Chatt (Northwestern) def. Marta Perez-Mur (UT), 6-1, 0-6, 6-1
6 Katie Poluta (UT) def. Julie Byrne (Northwestern), 6-2, 7-6 (5)
Players Mentioned
