The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Baylor
No. 5 Women's Tennis shuts out No. 25 Baylor, wins Big 12 title outright
04.20.2018 | Women's Tennis
Longhorns secure first outright Big 12 regular season title since 2004.
AUSTIN, Texas – No. 5 Texas (19-4, 9-0 Big 12) won the doubles point and three singles matches Friday evening in a 4-0 victory over No. 25 Baylor (16-12, 4-5 Big 12) that locked up the Horns' first outright Big 12 Conference regular season title since 2004.
Texas locked up a share of the Big 12 regular season title last Sunday. At 9-0 in the league after Friday's win, the Longhorns claimed their ninth conference crown for themselves and completed their first unblemished league record since 2004. Texas extended its winning streak to 14 matches, a stretch unmatched since 2000 when UT claimed 17 straight contests.
Texas opened the match by taking the doubles point for the seventh time in its last eight matches. UT's 41st-ranked tandem of sophomore Petra Granic and freshman Bojana Markovic made short work of Baylor's Angie Shakhraichuk and Dominika Sujova on their way to a 6-0 win at first doubles.
The Longhorns nailed down the doubles point at the third position where Anna and Bianca Turati defeated the Bears' Giorgia Testa and Livia Kraus, 6-2. The remaining contest at No. 2 doubles was suspended.
Texas applied more pressure on Baylor in singles by winning five of the six opening sets played. Dani Wagland came up big on her Senior Day and gave UT its second point with her 6-3, 6-1 victory over Shakhraichuk at sixth singles. The 69th-ranked Granic put Texas up 3-0 with her 6-1, 6-3 victory over Camilla Abbate at third singles. The Croatian locked up her 12th straight victory and cemented a perfect 9-0 mark in league play at No. 3 singles.
The Longhorns' Big 12 title clincher came from the top-ranked Bianca Turati at first singles, who produced her ninth straight victory and locked up a 6-0 league mark. Turati knocked off Baylor's Theresa Van Zyl 6-2, 6-2 to seal Texas' 4-0 victory and finish off the Longhorns' conference title. The remaining matches were suspended.
Texas holds a first-round bye at next week's Big 12 Championships at Texas Tennis Center. The event kicks off next Thursday, April 26 with the first round of the women's draw. UT opens play in the quarterfinals next Friday, April 27 against one of the first-round winners. The tournament draw will be released Sunday.
POST-MATCH COMMENTS
Texas head coach Howard Joffe
On the impact of Dani Wagland late in the season: Dani has been, as I said in the senior day remarks, just an integral part of the team. Your question hints at what she did today, obviously she got us the first singles win which put us in a comfortable position to win this match. She played very well and beat an excellent player. But, I think that the thing I'm most proud of with respect to Dani - it's a feel good story on senior day and these things don't happen that often - is that Dani was on this team when I was hired and this team was at its lowest point. Today, she plays her last regular season home match as a champion of the Big 12 Conference. So, on that basis, I'm super proud of her.
On the accomplishment of an undefeated season in Big 12 Conference play: We just talked about having a senior in Dani, but if you look at the rest of the roster, it's freshmen and sophomores that participated and got the win. For such a young group to face such adversity early in the season, losing four or five matches, to come back and play a schedule that includes all of these Big 12 teams…to play Stanford, Florida and actually go on a streak of 13 or 14 in a row speaks to their talent, but also a very resilient, very tough and very determined group. Certainly, they've made the coach look good, that's for sure.
No. 5 Texas 4, No. 25 Baylor 0
Doubles – Order of Finish: 1, 3
1 No. 41 Petra Granic/Bojana Markovic (UT) vs. Angie Shakhraichuk/Dominika Sujova (BU), 6-0
2 Theresa Van Zyl/Jessica Hinojosa (BU) vs. Marta Perez-Mur/Dani Wagland (UT), 5-3, susp.
3 Anna Turati/Bianca Turati (UT) def. Giorgia Testa/Livia Kraus (BU), 6-2
Singles – Order of Finish: 6, 3, 1
1 No. 1 Bianca Turati (UT) def. Theresa Van Zyl (Baylor), 6-2, 6-2
2 No. 28 Anna Turati (UT) vs. Jessica Hinojosa (Baylor), 6-3, 4-2, susp.
3 No. 69 Petra Granic (UT) def. Camilla Abbate (Baylor), 6-1, 6-3
4 Bojana Markovic (UT) vs. Kris Sorokolet (BU), 7-5, 4-2, susp.
5 Livia Kraus (BU) vs. Marta Perez-Mur (UT), 6-3, 4-2, susp.
6 Dani Wagland (UT) def. Angie Shakhraichuk (BU), 6-3, 6-1
Players Mentioned
