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Iowa State
No. 5 Women’s Tennis Preview: Iowa State and West Virginia
04.09.2018 | Women's Tennis
Longhorns take 11-match winning streak into weekend homestand.
Iowa State (9-12, 0-5 Big 12) at No. 5 Texas (16-4, 6-0 Big 12)
Friday, April 13 – 1 p.m. CT
Texas Tennis Center – Austin, Texas
Series: Texas holds a 21-0 advantage in its series against Iowa State.
TV: Longhorn Network (play-by-play: Tyler Denning; color analyst: Jon Wiegand)
Live Scoring: www.hookem.at/WTNScoring
Live Video Stream: Available to Longhorn Network subscribers on the ESPN mobile application and ESPN3.com.
West Virginia (8-8, 1-4 Big 12) at No. 5 Texas (16-4, 6-0 Big 12)
Sunday, April 15 – 1:30 p.m. CT
Texas Tennis Center – Austin, Texas
Series: Texas holds a 5-0 advantage in its series against West Virginia
TV: Longhorn Network (play-by-play: Tyler Denning; color analyst: Jon Wiegand)
Live Scoring: www.hookem.at/WTNScoring
Live Video Stream: Available to Longhorn Network subscribers on the ESPN mobile application and ESPN3.com.
LAST MEETINGS
Texas defeated Iowa State by a 4-0 count on April 2, 2017 in Ames, Iowa. The Longhorns posted the same result in their last visit to West Virginia on March 31, 2017.
LAST TIME OUT
Texas swept its weekend road swing at TCU and Texas Tech. The Longhorns dealt the Horned Frogs a 4-0 defeat last Friday night in Fort Worth. Texas rallied twice from one-match deficits and held off No. 15 Texas Tech in Lubbock, 4-2.
TEXAS CRACKS THE TOP FIVE
Texas moved up one spot to No. 5 in Tuesday's release of the Oracle/ITA Division I Women's Team Rankings. It marks the first top-five team ranking for the Longhorns women since February of 2006, when Texas ranked third nationally.
North Carolina holds the top spot while Georgia Tech moves up two slots to No. 2. Vanderbilt checks in at No. 3 while Duke ranks fourth.
Texas had moved up to a season-high No. 6 in the ITA team poll on April 3, which marked UT's first top-six national ranking since April 17, 2012 (No. 6).
On March 20, Texas made its first appearance among the top-10 of the ITA women's team rankings since 2012. UT climbed four spots from No. 12 to No. 8 nationally, which marked the Horns' first top-10 ranking since May 29, 2012, when Texas ranked tenth.
GRANIC EARNS SECOND BIG 12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONOR.
The Big 12 Conference announced Tuesday the selection of Texas sophomore Petra Granic as the league's Women's Tennis Player of the Week. Granic earned her second selection in the last month and picked up the fifth such honor for a Longhorn this season.
Granic extended her singles winning streak to nine matches and added another victory over a ranked opponent as Texas swept TCU and No. 15 Texas Tech on the road. Granic, who hasn't dropped a match since Feb. 11, knocked off TCU's Marie Norris and Texas Tech's 84th-ranked Federici in the Longhorns' victories over the Horned Frogs and Lady Raiders.
She handed Tech's Federici her first Big 12 loss and just her third dual-match defeat of the season, which also was her first loss in six matches. Granic leads all Big 12 players with her six wins in league play.
ELEVEN UP, ELEVEN DOWN
Texas stretched its winning streak to 11 matches over the weekend with its wins at TCU and Texas Tech. UT's victory over TCU gave Texas its first 10-match winning streak since 2010. Texas' win at Texas Tech yielded the Longhorns' first winning streak of 11 matches or more since 2005, when Texas won 12 straight contests on its way to the NCAA title match.
The Longhorns' 11-match winning streak dates back to Feb. 16 when Texas knocked off South Florida in its inaugural match at Texas Tennis Center. UT has not lost a match since Feb. 11 when it fell to Ole Miss at the ITA National Team Indoor Championship.
Texas holds a staggering 38-4 record in singles matches through its 11-match winning streak. UT is 15-9 in doubles and has won seven of 10 doubles points contested in that span (doubles matches were not played against Florida).
TEXAS TOPS THE BIG 12
Texas takes a perfect 6-0 league mark into its final three Big 12 Conference matches at Texas Tennis Center. UT kicked off conference play with a couple of big road wins last month. UT visited No. 17 Kansas and held on for a 4-2 victory in Lawrence (March 16). The Longhorns dropped all six first sets at No. 40 Kansas State but seized control of the match and put away a 4-0 win in Manhattan (March 18).
Texas remained unbeaten in Big 12 action and ran its winning streak to eight matches with impressive home wins over No. 49 Oklahoma and No. 12 Oklahoma State. The Longhorns blanked the Sooners, 4-0 (March 23) before defeating the Cowgirls (March 25) by the same 4-0 margin in the weekend finale. Texas scored a convincing 4-0 win over No. 12 Florida on Easter Sunday in Orlando before resuming league play with its victories at TCU and Texas Tech.
Texas sits atop the Big 12 standings with its 6-0 mark while Kansas sits one game back at 5-1 in league play.
STILL THE ONE
Texas sophomore Bianca Turati held on to the top spot in Tuesday's ITA national women's singles rankings for the fifth week in a row. She initially took the top spot on Feb. 7 and became the first Longhorn to ascend to No. 1 since Kelly Pace in 1995. Turati dropped to No. 4 in the Feb. 21 rankings before moving back to No. 1 on March 6.
Bianca's twin sister Anna Turati moved up one spot to a career-best No. 27 in the latest ITA singles rankings. UT junior Petra Granic ranks 75th in singles, and she ranks 45th with freshman Bojana Markovic in doubles.
BIANCA TURATI TABBED BIG 12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK
The Big 12 Conference announced April 3 the selection of Bianca Turati as the league's Player of the Week. Turati helped Texas to its ninth straight victory with a straight-sets win over Florida's 19th-ranked Anna Danilina, as the Longhorns dealt the 12th-ranked Gators a 4-0 defeat at the USTA College Match Day event in Orlando.
The 2017 Big 12 Conference Freshman of the Year initially earned the honor on Jan. 30, and her twin sister Anna won the first such honor of the season on Jan. 16.
ALL THEY DO IS (T)WIN
Twin sophomores Bianca and Anna Turati have locked down the top-two spots in the Longhorns' singles lineups with consistently strong performances all season. The Turati twins have won their last 15 singles matches between them with eight straight wins for Anna and seven consecutive victories for Bianca.
Bianca Turati boasts an impressive 25-2 overall singles mark with a 13-1 record in dual matches. Her only two defeats have come at the hands of Duke's fourth-ranked Samantha Harris and 15th-ranked Arianne Hartono of Ole Miss.
Last fall, Bianca Turati toppled the nation's then-No. 1 player, Ena Shibahara of UCLA, on her way to the semifinals at the ITA National Fall Championships. Last month she defeated former national No. 1 Anastasia Rychagova of Kansas in the Horns' 4-2 win over the Jayhawks.
Bianca Turati won the ITA Texas Regional Championships last fall to earn her spot in the ITA National Fall Championships. She is 3-1 against ITA top-10 players, 8-2 against the top-25, 10-2 against top-50 players and 16-2 against ITA top-100 opponents.
Anna Turati brings a 20-2 overall singles record to this weekend's matches. She moved to the No. 2 slot in the singles lineup and has hardly missed a beat, going 10-1 since the move. Anna Turati has not dropped a match since Feb. 9, when she fell to Georgia's 45th-ranked Kennedy Shaffer.
Anna Turati holds an impressive 8-1 singles record against ITA top-ranked opponents with four of those wins over top-50 foes.
GRANIC GAINING GROUND
At 24-11 overall and 13-4 in dual matches, sophomore Petra Granic rides a wave of momentum in conference play. The 67th-ranked Croatian has won her last nine singles decisions dating back to Feb. 16. Granic has knocked off Texas Tech's 84th-ranked Sabrina Federici, Oklahoma State's 87th-ranked Katarina Stresnakova and Ohio State's 116th-ranked Olivia Sneed along the way.
Last fall, Granic defeated Wake Forest's currently 28th-ranked Emma Davis on her way to the final at the Debbie Southern Fall Classic. She reached the final at the ITA Texas Regional Championships where only her top-ranked teammate Bianca Turati could keep her from winning the title.
Granic has joined freshman Bojana Markovic to form a potent doubles pair at the first slot. Granic and Markovic have won six of their last eight doubles decisions and rank 41st nationally.
MAKING HER MARK
Freshman Bojana Markovic has given head coach Howard Joffe another reliable presence in the middle of the lineup. The newcomer from Serbia is 16-8 overall in singles with a 10-5 mark in dual matches. Markovic has won six of her last eight singles decisions and six of her last eight doubles matches with Petra Granic. She recently clinched the Longhorns' 4-0 victory over No. 12 Florida Sunday evening.
POLUTA, PEREZ-MUR PACK POWERFUL PUNCH
Freshman Marta Perez-Mur and junior Katie Poluta have made significant contributions to the Longhorns' 11-match winning streak.
Perez-Mur has won her last seven singles decisions dating back to the Longhorns' win over South Florida (Feb. 16). The Spaniard is 6-2 at fifth singles with an 9-4 record in all dual matches.
Poluta has not sustained a loss since Oct. 28 at the Roberta Alison Fall Classic. The South African is 4-0 in dual matches and 10-4 overall.
HORNS HEATING UP IN DOUBLES
Texas endured a challenging early-season stretch when it surrendered the doubles point in six straight matches. However, the Longhorns have taken great strides in the matches since, as Texas has claimed the eight of its last 11 doubles points contested. UT has won four of its six doubles points contested thus far in Big 12 play.
TEXAS TOPS STANFORD
Texas dropped the doubles point but rallied with a vengeance in singles on its way to a 4-2 victory over then-No. 6 Stanford at Texas Tennis Center (Feb. 17).
The Longhorns knocked off the Cardinal for the first time since 1995, when Texas defeated Stanford in the semifinals of the 1995 NCAA Championships en route to its second NCAA team title. It marked Texas' first win over a top-10 opponent since 2016, when the Horns defeated host No. 9 Duke in the second round of the NCAA Championships.
HORNS RIGHT AT HOME AT TEXAS TENNIS CENTER
The Texas women christened their new $20 million Texas Tennis Center with a 6-1 win over South Florida (Feb. 16). The Longhorns were previously scheduled to open their new home with a doubleheader on Jan. 20, but inclement weather forced a relocation of the matches indoors. The next day, Texas notched its first victory over then-No. 6 Stanford in 23 years.
UT remains unbeaten at Texas Tennis Center with additional victories over Michigan, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.
Players Mentioned
