The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Texas Tech
No. 6 Women's Tennis holds off No. 15 Texas Tech, 4-2
04.08.2018 | Women's Tennis
Horns win 11th straight match, remain unbeaten in league play with only three matches remaining, all at home.
LUBBOCK, Texas – No. 6 Texas (16-4, 6-0 Big 12) dropped the doubles point but gutted out four singles victories in a 4-2 win at No. 15 Texas Tech (14-5, 3-2 Big 12) Sunday afternoon at Tech's McLeod Tennis Center. The Longhorns win an 11th straight match for the first time since 2005 when Texas completed the feat en route to the NCAA title match.
Texas Tech opened the match with victories at the third and second doubles positions to lock up the doubles point. The Lady Raiders' Alex Valenstein and Katelyn Jackson defeated UT sophomore Anna Turati and junior Katie Poluta at the third position, 6-1.
Tech sealed the point at second doubles where the 85th-ranked tandem of Felicity Maltby and Gabriela Talaba held off UT freshman Marta Perez-Mur and sophomore Bianca Turati, 6-4. The remaining contest at first doubles was suspended.
Texas' 67th-ranked sophomore Petra Granic evened the tally at one when she held off Tech's 84th-ranked Sabrina Federici at third singles, 6-3, 7-5. Tech took the lead back a moment later when Valenstein posted a 6-1, 7-6 (5) victory over UT freshman Bojana Markovic at fourth singles.
Texas' top-ranked Bianca Turati notched her seventh straight victory and evened the team score at two. Turati took on Tech's 13th-ranked Talaba at first singles and took the first set 6-0 before yielding the second, 6-2. Turati left nothing to chance in the third set and served up another 6-0 shutout.
Texas' 28th-ranked Anna Turati staked the Horns to a 3-2 lead when she toughed out a 7-6 (4), 6-4 victory over Tech's 45th-ranked Maltby at second singles. Courts five and six remained in progress, and Texas needed only one win to nail down the big road victory. The Longhorns collected that final victory from Perez-Mur at fifth singles.
Perez-Mur dropped a first-set tiebreaker to Tech's 104th-ranked Sarah Dvorak, 7-3 before holding off Dvorak in the second set, 7-5. Perez-Mur led 3-1 in the third set before Dvorak evened the set at three. Perez-Mur, however, claimed the ensuing three games to put away a 6-7 (3), 7-5, 6-3 victory and lock up the Longhorns' 11th straight win.
Poluta's court at No. 6 was suspended upon Perez-Mur's victory. The South African took the first set from Tech's Jackson 6-2, but Jackson gutted out an 8-6 second-set tiebreaker to force a third. Poluta trailed 6-5 in the third set when the match was called.
Texas closes the regular season with three home matches over the next two weeks. UT hosts Iowa State on Friday, April 13 (1pm) and West Virginia on Sunday, April 15 (1:30 p.m.) with both matches airing live on Longhorn Network. Tyler Denning (play-by-play) and former Longhorn Jon Wiegand will have the call.
POST-MATCH COMMENTS
Texas head coach Howard Joffe
If one looks at the match today through 'win/loss' lenses, then it was a great day for the Longhorns. Being able to come back from losing the doubles point against a top team like Texas Tech on the road and with their wonderfully spirited fan support was a superb achievement. Even a cursory glance at the box score tells the story of a viciously competitive contest. In this respect, I'm delighted for our ladies.
That said, this is a group of coaches and players that are motivated and ambitious and are working together to achieve lofty goals for the team and program. In this respect, today was just another meaningful and important match that will hone the competitive edge required to get better. Under this analysis it's clear that our group is learning and we still have lots of room to perform better and keep improving substantively. We were able to cross the finish line with Marta Perez-Mur who displayed poise that belies her freshman status. Bianca and Anna Turati chipped in with ferociously competitive matches and Petra (Granic) was able to topple Tech's Federici, who doesn't lose too often.
No. 6 Texas 4, No. 15 Texas Tech 2
Doubles – Order of Finish: 3, 2
1 No. 11 Sabrina Federici/Sarah Dvorak (TTU) vs. No. 41 Petra Granic/Bojana Markovic (UT), 5-3, susp.
2 No. 85 Felicity Maltby/Gabriela Talaba (TTU) def. Marta Perez-Mur/Bianca Turati (UT), 6-4
3 Alex Valenstein/Katelyn Jackson (TTU) def. Anna Turati/Katie Poluta (UT), 6-1
Singles – Order of Finish: 3, 4, 1, 2, 5
1 No. 1 Bianca Turati (UT) def. No. 13 Gabriela Talaba (TTU), 6-0, 2-6, 6-0
2 No. 28 Anna Turati (UT) def. No. 45 Felicity Maltby (TTU), 7-6 (4), 6-4
3 No. 67 Petra Granic (UT) def. No. 84 Sabrina Federici (TTU), 6-3, 7-5
4 Alex Valenstein (TTU) def. Bojana Markovic (UT), 6-1, 7-6 (5)
5 Marta Perez-Mur (UT) def. No. 104 Sarah Dvorak (TTU), 6-7 (3), 7-5, 6-3
6 Katie Poluta (UT) vs. Katelyn Jackson (TTU), 6-2, 6-7 (6), 5-6, suspended
Players Mentioned
