The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
#20 Pepperdine
No. 8 Women's Tennis preview: No. 20 Pepperdine
03.13.2019 | Women's Tennis
The Longhorns are a perfect 16-0 in two seasons at the Texas Tennis Center entering Saturday's match (Noon CT).
No. 8 Texas (6-2) vs. No. 20 Pepperdine (7-3)
When: Saturday, March 16 (12 p.m. CT)
Where: Texas Tennis Center (Austin, Texas)
Match Notes
Pepperdine Series: This marks the 26th all-time meeting between Texas and Pepperdine. The Longhorns hold a slim 14-11 lead in the all-time series entering Saturday's match. In the last meeting between the two schools, the Waves recorded a 4-0 win in the NCAA Round of 16 on May 19, 2016 in Stillwater, Okla.
Last Time Out: Texas defeated No. 17 Florida State by a 4-1 score on March 8 in Austin. FSU won the doubles point, but UT received singles wins from sophomore Bojana Markovic, sophomore Fernanda Labraña, senior Katie Poluta and junior Anna Turati.
Team Rankings: Texas is No. 8 in the latest Oracle ITA Collegiate Division I team national rankings (March 12) and No. 6 in the Tennis Channel/USTA College Tennis poll (March 13). Pepperdine is No. 20 in the ITA rankings and No. 12 in the Tennis Channel/USTA poll.
Individual Rankings: Five UT singles players and three doubles pairs are featured in the latest Oracle/ITA national rankings (March 5). Junior Anna Turati (No. 39), junior Petra Granic (No. 54), junior All-American Bianca Turati (No. 60), sophomore Bojana Markovic (No. 96) and sophomore Fernanda Labraña (No. 116) all appear in the singles rankings. The tandem of Anna Turati and senior Katie Poluta is No. 54 in doubles, while the duo of Poluta and Labraña is No. 61. The sophomore tandem of Markovic and Labraña is No. 67.
Home Perfection at the TTC: The Longhorns are in their second year at the Texas Tennis Center. The Longhorns have registered a perfect 16-0 mark in dual-matches at the TTC. During its inaugural season in 2018, Texas went 13-0 at home. The Longhorns are 3-0 this season at the TTC.
Senior Spark in Singles: Senior Katie Poluta is off to a strong start in singles play this spring. She is a perfect 5-0 while seeing action at both the No. 5 (3-0) and No. 6 (2-0) spots in the lineup. Poluta rallied for an impressive 1-6, 6-2, 6-2 win against No. 37 Janice Shin of Stanford at the No. 5 line (Feb. 10). In her last outing, she recorded a 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 victory against FSU's Andrea Garcia at the No. 6 spot (March 8).
Liking Labraña: Sophomore Fernanda Labraña has registered an impressive 6-2 record in singles play this spring. She is 3-2 at the No. 4 line and 3-0 at the No. 5 spot. Her six dual-match singles victories lead the team. In her most recent match, Labraña registered a 6-3, 6-4 win against Ariana Rahmanparast at the No. 5 line (March 8).
Bianca Back for More: Junior All-American Bianca Turati claimed the No. 1 spot in the preseason ITA national singles rankings on Sept. 11. The 2018 Big 12 Conference Player of the Year, she posted a 28-4 overall singles mark and ended her sophomore season at No. 3 in the final Oracle/ITA Division I singles rankings. Turati spent nearly three months atop the ITA women's singles rankings and produced a 16-2 dual-match record for the Longhorns at the No. 1 singles position in 2018. She became the first UT player to top the ITA singles rankings since Kelly Pace in 1995. Turati holds a 4-2 mark at the No. 1 line in singles dual-match action this spring, including straight-set victories against No. 59 Clarissa Hand of Northwestern (6-1, 6-4) on Feb. 8 and No. 66 Michaela Haet of Rice (6-0, 6-3) on Feb. 24.
Anna on a Roll: Junior Anna Turati enters Saturday's match vs. Pepperdine with a 4-match win streak in singles play. Included in the win streak are straight-set victories against No. 72 Julie Byrne of Northwestern (6-3, 7-5) on Feb. 8 and No. 46 Melissa Lord of Stanford (6-3, 6-3) on Feb. 10. Turati is 5-2 at the No. 2 line in singles dual-match play this spring.
Granic Earns Big 12 Honor: Junior Petra Granic earned Big 12 Conference Women's Tennis Player of the Week honors on Jan. 22. She posted five consecutive wins en route to capturing the singles title at the prestigious Freeman Memorial Championships in Las Vegas (Jan. 18-20). During the three-day tourney, Granic dropped just one set in her five singles matches. The tourney featured players from six of the top 11 teams in the nation, including No. 1 Stanford, No. 3 North Carolina, No. 7 Pepperdine, No. 8 UCLA and No. 11 Florida in addition to host UNLV. In addition, she teamed with freshman Tijana Spasojevic to record a 2-1 mark in doubles play in the tournament.
Twin Power in Doubles: Twin sisters Anna Turati and Bianca Turati have been solid this spring as a doubles team. The duo has posted a 4-1 mark at the No. 2 (2-1) and No. 3 (2-0) spots.
Big 12 Preseason Favorite: Texas is picked to win the Big 12 Conference title in a preseason vote of the league coaches, the conference office announced Jan. 8. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own teams. UT claimed the top spot in the poll, earning seven of a possible nine first-place votes and 79 points in polling for the 2019 season. Kansas received three first-place votes and 73 points to place second, while Oklahoma State was tabbed third with 63 points. Rounding out the poll in descending order were: Texas Tech, Baylor, TCU, Oklahoma, Kansas State, Iowa State and West Virginia.
2018 in Review: The Longhorns posted a 24-5 overall dual-match record during the 2018 season and advanced to the NCAA Championship Round of 16. UT earned its highest final team ITA ranking (No. 6) since 2005. The Longhorns registered a 9-0 mark in Big 12 Conference play and won their first outright Big 12 regular-season title since 2004 and first Big 12 postseason tournament title since 2013.
What Returns: Texas returns a talented and experienced lineup that includes one senior (Katie Poluta), three juniors (Petra Granic, Anna Turati and Bianca Turati) and two sophomores (Fernanda Labraña and Bojana Markovic) from last year's squad. Sophomore Marta Perez-Mur will redshirt the 2019 season after suffering a right knee injury during fall competition. The Longhorns add freshman Tijana Spasojevic (Belgrade, Serbia), who was ranked as high as No. 836 in the WTA singles rankings.
Joffe in Year Four: Head Coach Howard Joffe is in his fourth season leading the UT program. Joffe has registered a 60-25 (.706) mark in his four years at Texas and a 191-86 (.690) record in 12 seasons as a collegiate head coach. He earned 2018 Big 12 Conference and ITA Texas Region Coach of the Year honors, leading the Longhorns to the program's first outright Big 12 regular-season title since 2004 and first Big 12 tourney title since 2013.
Players Mentioned
