The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
No. 6 Women's Tennis Preview: No. 11 Texas Tech (NCAA Championships Round of 16)
05.16.2018 | Women's Tennis
2018 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
THIRD ROUND (ROUND OF 16)
MATCH RELOCATED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA
Thursday, May 17 - 9 a.m. ET
No. 11 Texas Tech (22-6) vs. No. 6 Texas (24-4)
Big 12 regular season and tournament champion Texas advances to the third round (round of 16) at the NCAA Championships for the second time in the last three seasons. The Longhorns meet a familiar foe in the form of No. 11 national seed Texas Tech on Thursday. The two schools have faced off twice on each other's home courts in the last six weeks.
Texas, who has won 19 straight matches heading into the round of 16, dealt the Lady Raiders a 4-2 defeat on April 8 in Lubbock. The Longhorns knocked off Texas Tech once more (4-1) in the finals of the Big 12 Championships in Austin (April 29).
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS HISTORY
Texas is in the midst of its 35th NCAA tournament appearance. UT holds a 51-32 record at the NCAA Championships. The Longhorns captured NCAA team titles in 1993 and 1995 and posted NCAA runner-up finishes in 1992 and 2005.
Texas advanced to the finals site at Wake Forest this week by way of its 4-0 wins over McNeese State and Texas A&M in the opening rounds at Texas Tennis Center.
A year ago, Texas defeated Wake Forest in the opening round of the NCAA Championships in Columbia, South Carolina before falling to South Carolina in the second round.
Prior to this week, Texas most recently advance to the third round of the NCAA Championships in 2016. The Longhorns toppled William & Mary in the opening round before upsetting Duke on its home courts in the second round. Texas advanced to the finals site in Tulsa, Oklahoma, though inclement weather forced the relocation of the Horns' third-round match to Oklahoma State's indoor facility. Pepperdine eliminated Texas from the round of sixteen.
BIANCA TURATI NAMED BIG 12 PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Bianca Turati's selection as the 2018 Big 12 Women's Tennis Player of the Year highlighted a slew of conference postseason honors announced May 10 for the Big 12 champion Longhorns.
Bianca Turati, now in her third straight month atop the Oracle/ITA national women's singles rankings, is the fifth Longhorn ever selected as the league's top player and the first Texas player to earn the distinction since Breaunna Addison, who won the honor in 2014 and 2016.
Third-year Texas head coach Howard Joffe was selected by his peers as the league's Women's Tennis Coach of the Year after leading the Horns to their first sweep of the Big 12 regular season and tournament titles in 16 years. Bianca Turati joined her twin sister Anna Turati as an All-Big 12 first-team selection in singles and an All-Big 12 second-team recipient in singles.
Sophomore Petra Granic earned All-Big 12 second-team honors in singles and joined freshman Bojana Markovic to earn first-team All-Big 12 honors in doubles. Markovic was one of six women on the league's All-Freshman Team.
Bianca Turati, whose second stint as the nation's top-ranked player began on March 6, earned the top seed in the NCAA Championships singles draw after producing an impressive 28-2 overall singles record, which included a 16-1 dual-match mark at the time and a spotless 6-0 record in Big 12 matches. She is the first Longhorn to secure the NCAA's top seed and sit atop the Oracle/ITA singles rankings since Kelly Pace, who did both in 1995.
Bianca Turati has won her last 10 singles decisions and is unbeaten since Feb. 11. She joins Cristina Moros, Sandy Sureephong, Janet Walker and the aforementioned Addison as recipients of the league's top honor.
Anna Turati, ranked 30th in the latest Oracle/ITA singles rankings, earned a berth in the NCAA singles draw after producing a 24-2 overall singles record and a 15-1 record in dual matches. Anna Turati takes a 13-match winning streak into the third round of the NCAA Championships. The Turati twins earned All-Big 12 honors by way of their perfect 5-0 record at No. 3 doubles.
The 64th-ranked Granic earned All-Big 12 singles honors on the strength of a 19-4 dual-match record and a 15-match winning streak. The Croatian was the only Big 12 player at any singles position to go 9-0 in league play. Granic collected All-Big 12 doubles honors alongside Markovic after compiling an 11-3 overall record, including a 10-2 record at first doubles. Markovic improved her standing for the All-Freshman Team with her 10-5 singles record primarily at No. 4 singles.
Joffe is the first Texas coach voted as the league's Women's Tennis Coach of the Year since Jeff Moore in 1999. Under Joffe, the Longhorns earned a No. 6 national seed at the NCAA Championships and cracked the top-five of the ITA team poll for the first time since 2007. Texas won its first outright Big 12 regular season title since 2004 and its first league tourney since 2013. Joffe has led the Longhorns to 19 consecutive wins, good for the second-longest winning streak in program history.
TEXAS TAKES BIG 12 TOURNAMENT TITLE
Top-seeded Texas claimed the doubles point and posted three singles wins on its way to a 4-1 victory over third-seeded Texas Tech in the finals of the Big 12 Championships (April 29).
The Longhorns swept the Big 12 regular season and tournament titles for the first time since 2002, and UT claimed its first league tourney since 2013. Sophomores Petra Granic and Anna Turati shared the honor of Most Outstanding Player at the Big 12 Championships, as Texas won its 17th straight match.
19 UP, 19 DOWN
The Longhorns have won 19 consecutive matches for the first time since 1994. The 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 No. 6 Ole Miss at the ITA National Team Indoor Championship.
Texas holds a staggering 62-6 record in singles matches through its 19-match winning streak. UT is 31-9 in doubles and has won 16 of 18 doubles points contested in that span (doubles matches were not played against Florida).
TURATI TWINS EARN NCAA SINGLES BIDS
The NCAA announced May 2 the selections of Texas sophomores Anna and Bianca Turati into the 64-player singles draw to be contested later this month at the NCAA Championships. Competition begins May 23 at Wake Forest University. The first-round pairings will be released later this month.
Bianca Turati, who has ranked No. 1 in the ITA national singles rankings since March 6, is Texas' first top seed in the NCAA singles draw since Kelly Pace in 1995. Bianca Turati was eliminated from the first round of the NCAA Championships singles draw a year ago but has been on a tear ever since.
The 30th-ranked Anna Turati earned her first selection into an NCAA singles draw after winning previous 12 singles decisions. Texas sophomore Petra Granic is the sixth alternate for the women's singles draw. The 64th-ranked Croatian is 32-11 overall in singles and has won 17 consecutive matches.
HORNS HOOK BIG 12 REGULAR SEASON CROWN
Texas capped the regular season with a 4-0 home win over No. 25 Baylor (April 20) that locked up the Horns' first outright Big 12 Conference regular season title since 2004. UT initially locked up a share of the Big 12 regular season title on April 15 with a victory over West Virginia.
The Longhorns claimed their ninth conference crown for themselves and completed their first unblemished league record since 2004. UT secured its first shared or outright Big 12 regular season title since 2007.
UT kicked off conference play with a couple of big road wins. Texas 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 posted 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. The Longhorns improved to 8-0 with their victories over Iowa State and West Virginia. Texas capped its perfect run through league play with its first win over Baylor since 2012.
TEXAS CRACKS THE TOP FIVE
Texas ranks a season-high No. 5 in the latest Oracle/ITA Division I Women's Team Rankings. UT initially moved up to No. 5 in the April 10 rankings release and remained there in the April 17 rankings. The Horns ranked sixth in the April 24 poll before moving back to No. 5 last week (May 3)
Prior to this season, Texas most recently held a top-five rank in February of 2006 when the Longhorns ranked third nationally. Texas moved up to No. 6 in the ITA team poll on April 3, which marked UT's first top-six national ranking since April 17, 2012.
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.
STILL THE ONE
Texas sophomore Bianca Turati held on to the top spot in the May 3 ITA national women's singles rankings for a seventh straight week. 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 ranks 30th in the latest ITA singles rankings while UT sophomore Petra Granic ranks 64th in singles. Granic ranks 55th alongside freshman Bojana Markovic in doubles.
GRANIC EARNS SECOND BIG 12 POW HONOR
The Big 12 Conference announced April 10 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 led all Big 12 players with her 9-0 mark in league play.
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 23 singles matches between them with 13 straight wins for Anna and 10 consecutive victories for Bianca.
Bianca Turati boasts an impressive 28-2 overall singles mark with a 16-1 record in dual matches. Her only two defeats have come at the hands of Duke's sixth-ranked Samantha Harris and seventh-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. In March, 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 2-2 against ITA top-10 players, 9-2 against the top-25, 11-2 against top-50 players and 15-2 against ITA top-125 opponents.
Anna Turati brings a 25-2 overall singles record to the third round of the NCAA Championships. She moved to the No. 2 slot in the singles lineup and has hardly missed a beat, going 15-1 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 9-1 singles record against ITA top-125 ranked opponents with four of those wins over top-60 foes.
BIANCA TURATI TABBED BIG 12 POW
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.
GRANIC GAINING GROUND
At 30-11 overall and 19-4 in dual matches, sophomore Petra Granic rides a wave of momentum in conference play. The 64th-ranked Croatian has won her last 15 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 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 11 of their last 13 doubles decisions and rank 55th 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 11 of her last 13 doubles matches with Petra Granic. She clinched the Longhorns' 4-0 victory over No. 12 Florida on Easter Sunday.
POLUTA, PEREZ-MUR PACK POWERFUL PUNCH
Freshman Marta Perez-Mur and junior Katie Poluta have made significant contributions to the Longhorns' 19-match winning streak.
Perez-Mur has won her 10 of her last 12 singles decisions. She clinched UT's 4-2 victory at No. 15 Texas Tech with her come-from-behind win over Tech's 104th-ranked Sarah Dvorak.
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 16 of its last 19 doubles points contested. UT won seven of nine doubles points contested during Big 12 regular season matches.
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 finished the regular season and postseason with a spotless 13-0 mark in its inaugural season at Texas Tennis Center.
Players Mentioned
