The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Oklahoma State
No. 8 Women's Tennis overpowers No. 12 Oklahoma State, 4-0
03.25.2018 | Women's Tennis
Longhorns post eighth straight win, remain unbeaten in conference play.
AUSTIN, Texas – No. 8 Texas (13-4, 4-0 Big 12) held on to win the doubles point before overpowering No. 12 Oklahoma State in the singles session, as the Longhorns dealt the Cowgirls (12-2, 3-1 Big 12) a 4-0 defeat Sunday at Texas Tennis Center. Texas has won its last eight matches dating back to last month's ITA National Team Indoor Championships.
Sunday's match featured a particularly competitive doubles session that ultimately went in favor of the Longhorns. Junior Katie Poluta and Anna Turati started the Horns off with a 6-2 win over Shir Hornung and Megan McCray at third doubles. OSU answered with a 6-4 win from its 16th-ranked pair of Vladica Babic and Sofia Blanco over UT's 44th-ranked tandem of sophomore Petra Granic and Bojana Markovic at first doubles.
Texas fended off Oklahoma State in the final contest at second doubles, where freshman Marta Perez-Mur and sophomore Bianca Turati held on for a 7-5 victory over OSU's Marina Guinart and Katarina Stresnakova to give the Horns a 1-0 match lead.
The contest at first singles pitted two of the league's top players against one another in Texas' top-ranked Bianca Turati and OSU's 24th-ranked Babic. Turati wasted little time extending the Longhorns' lead with her 6-1, 6-0 victory.
At third singles, Texas' 77th-ranked Granic held on for a 6-4 first-set win over OSU's 87th-ranked Stresnakova. The Longhorns sophomore shut out Stresnakova the rest of the way to deliver Texas a 3-0 lead.
Poluta finished off the Longhorns' eighth straight victory with her 6-1, 6-2 win over Hornung at sixth singles. The remaining matches were suspended.
Texas resumes play next Sunday, April 1 when it takes on No. 18 Florida in a nationally-televised match on Tennis Channel. The match will be contested at the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona, Florida. First serve is set for 4 p.m. Central.
POST-MATCH COMMENTS
Texas head coach Howard Joffe
Thoughts on the match: Today was definitely a vast upgrade in terms of our collective psyche, motivation, and stick-to-it-iveness to the task. Not coincidentally, I think that we performed much better today. Definitely, this is a big win for us. Oklahoma State has certainly been one of the top-ranked teams in the league for the past few years. So, substantively and psychologically, this was a big one for our ladies.
On who stood out over the weekend's matches: Anyone that watched today's match, that watched Bianca (Turati) playing…the opponent she played was a very fine player and I think Bianca won 6-1, 6-0, so that was rather impressive. (Petra) Granic as well, this weekend, has played some very good tennis. I think across the board the tennis is starting to inch a little bit better. So, at this stage of the season, we're in a good spot. Clearly, we have lots of improvements still to go.
No. 8 Texas 4, No. 12 Oklahoma State 0
Doubles – Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2
1 No. 16 Vladica Babic/Sofia Blanco (OSU) def. No. 44 Petra Granic/Bojana Markovic (UT), 6-4
2 Marta Perez-Mur/Bianca Turati (UT) def. Marina Guinart/Katarina Stresnakova (OSU), 7-5
3 Katie Poluta/Anna Turati (UT) def. Shir Hornung/Megan McCray (OSU), 6-2
Singles – Order of Finish: 1, 3, 6
1 No. 1 Bianca Turati (UT) def. No. 24 Vladica Babic (OSU), 6-1, 6-0
2 No. 33 Anna Turati (UT) vs. No. 42 Megan McCray (OSU), 6-4, 4-2, susp.
3 No. 77 Petra Granic (UT) def. No. 87 Katarina Stresnakova (OU), 6-4, 6-0
4 Bojana Markovic (UT) vs. No. 96 Marina Guinart (OSU), 6-3, 5-5, susp.
5 Marta Perez-Mur (UT) vs. Sofia Blanco (OSU), 2-6, 4-3, susp.
6 Katie Poluta (UT) def. Shir Hornung (OSU), 6-1, 6-2
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
3,1,2
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Order of Finish:
1,3,6
Players Mentioned
