The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
McNeese State (NCAA Championships First Round)
No. 6 Women’s Tennis Preview: NCAA Championships First and Second Rounds
05.06.2018 | Women's Tennis
Sixth-seeded Longhorns host opening rounds for first time in six years.
NCAA Championships bracket
2018 NCAA Championships First and Second Rounds
Texas Tennis Center – Austin, Texas
Friday, May 11
Rice (15-8) vs. Texas A&M (16-10) – 10 a.m. (South Courts)
McNeese State (18-3) vs. Texas (22-4) – 1 p.m. (North Courts)
Saturday, May 12
First round winners – Noon
Texas All-Time Series vs. Austin regional field
- McNeese State: First meeting
- Texas A&M: UT leads 47-10 (last meeting: A&M won 4-2, 2014 NCAA Championships second round)
- Rice: UT lead 27-2 (last meeting: Texas won 4-3 on March 13, 2017 in Austin)
Big 12 champion Texas has earned a No. 6 national seed and hosting duties for NCAA Championships first- and second-round matches this week in Austin.
The Longhorns (22-4) will meet Southland Conference champion McNeese State (18-3) this Friday, May 11 with first serve set for 1 p.m. CT at Texas Tennis Center. Texas A&M (16-10) will meet Rice (15-8) in the other first-round match on May 11 at 10 a.m. CT. The two first-round winners meet on Saturday, May 12 at noon CT. The second-round winner heads to the NCAA round of 16 to be contested next Thursday, May 17 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Texas, who has won 17 straight matches heading into the NCAA Championships, hosts the opening rounds of the NCAA Championships for the first time since 2012. The two-time NCAA champion Longhorns won their first outright Big 12 regular season title since 2004 and their first Big 12 tournament title since 2013.
Live Scoring
http://sidearmstats.com/texas/wtennis/xlive.htm
Live Video
www.hookem.at/WatchTennis
Tickets
$5 for adults/$3 for youth
Parking
Available in East Campus Garage adjacent to UFCU Disch-Falk Field for $5; payment is made via cash or credit card at the garage exit (Area Map).
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS HISTORY
Texas is making its 35th NCAA tournament appearance. UT holds a 49-32 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.
A year ago, Texas defeated Wake Forest in the opening round of the NCAA Championships in Columbia, South Carolina. Texas fell to site host South Carolina in the second round.
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.
17 UP, 17 DOWN
The Longhorns have won 17 consecutive matches for the first time since 2000. 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 56-6 record in singles matches through its 17-match winning streak. UT is 27-9 in doubles and has won 14 of 16 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. She takes a 28-2 overall singles record into the NCAA Championships. 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.
Bianca Turati boasts a 16-1 dual-match record this season. She has won her last 10 singles decisions and has not dropped a match since Feb. 11.
The 30th-ranked Anna Turati earns her first selection into an NCAA singles draw after winning her last 12 singles decisions. She holds a 24-2 overall singles record including a 15-1 mark in dual matches.
Texas sophomore Petra Granic is the sixth alternate for the women's singles draw. The 64th-ranked Croatian is 30-11 overall in singles and has won 15 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 last Thursday's 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 PLAYER OF THE WEEK 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 22 singles matches between them with 12 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 24-2 overall singles record to the Big 12 Championships. She moved to the No. 2 slot in the singles lineup and has hardly missed a beat, going 14-1 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-125 ranked opponents with four of those wins over top-60 foes.
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.
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 10 of their last 12 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 10 of her last 12 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' 17-match winning streak.
Perez-Mur has won her eight of her last 10 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 14 of its last 17 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 is 11-0 at Texas Tennis Center heading into the NCAA Championships.
