The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
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Kansas
No. 12 Women's Tennis rallies past No. 17 Kansas, 4-2
03.16.2018 | Women's Tennis
Longhorns storm to victory behind four singles wins.
LAWRENCE, Kan. – No. 12 Texas (10-4, 1-0 Big 12) dropped the doubles point but produced four hard-fought singles wins in a 4-2 victory at No. 17 Kansas (9-4, 1-1 Big 12) Friday evening in the Horns' Big 12 Conference opener.
The Jayhawks opened the match with doubles wins at the first and third positions to claim the doubles point and a 1-0 match lead. UT's 64th-ranked sophomore Petra Granic evened the tally at one with her 6-4, 6-0 win over Janet Koch at third singles.
KU reclaimed the lead at 2-1 when Nina Khmelnitckaia dealt UT freshman Bojana Markovic a 6-3, 7-6 (4) defeat at fourth singles. Texas sophomore Katie Poluta knotted the match at two with her 7-6 (1), 6-0 victory over Tatiana Nikolaeva at sixth singles.
The match at first singles pitted the nation's top-ranked player, Texas' Bianca Turati, against the Jayhawk whom she replaced at No. 1, the third-ranked Anastasia Rychagova. Turati took control from the outset and posted a 6-2, 6-3 victory to give Texas a 3-2 lead it would not relinquish.
Sophomore Marta Perez-Mur engaged in a lengthy three-setter against Kansas' Maria Toran Ribes before prevailing at fifth singles, 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (4) to close out the Longhorns' victory. The remaining match was suspended at second singles with UT's Anna Turati going to a third set against KU's Despoina Vogasari.
Texas concludes its weekend road swing Sunday at Kansas State (11 a.m. CT).
POST-MATCH COMMENTS
Texas head coach Howard Joffe
Tonight's win was particularly hard fought. Our very young group showed some glimpses of toughness and maturity late in the match. Kansas is a feisty and tough team, and we definitely will draw some confidence from the win. Everyone chipped in, but Bianca's emphatic win over the No. 3 player in the nation was excellent. Marta's clinching win will hopefully propel her confidence, and Petra Granic and Katie Poluta also performed well. All in all, I'm super happy for our group. They deserve this win.
No. 12 Texas 4, No. 17 Kansas 2
Doubles – Order of Finish: 1, 3
1 No. 25 Anastasia Rychagova/Nina Khmelnitckaia (KU) def. No. 44 Petra Granic/Bojana Markovic (UT), 6-1
2 Marta Perez-Mur/Bianca Turati (UT) vs. Janet Koch/Tatiana Nikolaeva (KU), 5-3, susp.
3 Maria Toran Ribes/Despoina Vogasari (KU) def. Anna Turati/Katie Poluta (UT), 6-3
Singles – Order of Finish: 3, 4, 6, 1, 5
1 No. 1 Bianca Turati (UT) def. No. 3 Anastasia Rychagova (KU), 6-2, 6-3
2 No. 34 Anna Turati (UT) vs. No. 119 Despoina Vogasari (KU), 6-3, 6-7 (5), 0-0, susp.
3 No. 64 Petra Granic (UT) def. Janet Koch (KU), 6-4, 6-0
4 Nina Khmelnitckaia (KU) def. Bojana Markovic (UT), 6-3, 7-6 (4)
5 Marta Perez-Mur (UT) def. Maria Toran Ribes (KU), 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (4)
6 No. 91 Katie Poluta (UT) def. Tatiana Nikolaeva (KU), 7-6 (1), 6-0
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
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#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
1,3
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Order of Finish:
3,4,6,1
Players Mentioned
