The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
#20 Pepperdine
No. 8 Women’s Tennis falls to No. 20 Pepperdine, 5-2
03.16.2019 | Women's Tennis
Juniors Anna Turati and Petra Granic post straight-set singles wins.
AUSTIN, Texas — The No. 8 University of Texas women's tennis team fell 5-2 to No. 20 Pepperdine on Saturday afternoon at the Texas Tennis Center. The Longhorns (6-3), which suffered their first home dual-match loss (16-1) in the two-year-old TTC, received singles victories from juniors Anna Turati and Petra Granic.
Pepperdine (8-3), who defeated No. 6 UCLA by a 4-0 score on Wednesday, jumped out to a 1-0 lead after winning the doubles point. The Waves' duo of Ashley Lahey and Daria Kuczer posted a 6-1 win at the No. 2 line against UT's 67th-ranked sophomore tandem of Fernanda Labraña and Bojana Markovic.
Adriana Lekaj and Dzina Milovanovic clinched the doubles point with a 6-2 win at the No. 3 spot against juniors Anna and Bianca Turati. UT's Granic and freshman Tijana Spasojevic held a 4-3 lead over the No. 17 duo of Jessica Failla and Anastasia Iamachkine when the doubles point was determined.
Pepperdine quickly pushed its lead to 3-0 with a pair of straight-set wins in singles. Milovanovic registered a 6-2, 6-1 win against No. 96 Markovic at the No. 4 spot, and No. 56 Lahey added a 6-4, 6-1 victory against No. 60 Bianca Turati at the No. 1 line.
No. 39 Anna Turati got the Longhorns on the board with a 6-2, 6-2 win against Lekaj at the No. 2 spot. No. 54 Granic pulled UT to within 3-2 with an impressive 6-3, 6-3 victory against No. 61 Failla. Granic raced out to a 4-1 lead in the opening set, before Failla closed to within 4-3. Granic won a deuce game and the ensuing game to close out the 6-3 set victory. With the second set tied 3-3, Granic won another deuce game and followed by winning the next two games to finish out the match.
Kuczer provided the clinching point for the Waves with a hard-fought 6-4, 6-4 victory against No. 116 Labraña at fifth singles. Labraña jumped out to a 4-2 lead in the opening set, but Kuczer rallied to win a deuce game and the next three games en route to a 6-4 set victory. With the second set tied 2-2, Kuczer won three straight games to build a 5-2 lead. Labraña saved three match points while winning each of the next two deuce games to pull within 5-4, but Kuczer held serve and closed out the 6-4 victory.
With the dual match decided, senior Katie Poluta and Iamachkine split their first two sets at No. 6 singles and played a 10-point match tiebreaker in the third set. Holding a 7-6 lead, Iamachkine won the next two points to build a 9-6 advantage and closed out the win by a 10-7 margin. Poluta (5-1) fell for the first time in dual-match singles this spring.
The Longhorns continue their five-match home stand when they host No. 35 Illinois on Tuesday, March 19 (2 p.m. Central).
#20 Pepperdine 5, #8 Texas 2
Singles – Order of finish (4-1-2-3-5-6)
- #56 Ashley Lahey (Pepp) def. #60 Bianca Turati (UT), 6-4, 6-1
- #39 Anna Turati (UT) def. Adrijana Lekaj (Pepp), 6-2, 6-2
- #54 Petra Granic (UT) def. #61 Jessica Failla (Pepp), 6-3, 6-3
- Dzina Milovanovic (Pepp) def. #96 Bojana Markovic (UT), 6-2, 6-1
- Daria Kuczer (Pepp) def. #116 Fernanda Labraña (UT), 6-4, 6-4
- Katie Poluta (UT) vs. Anastasia Iamachkine (Pepp), 4-6, 6-1, 1-0 (10-7)
Doubles – Order of finish (2-3)
- Tijana Spasojevic/Petra Granic (UT) vs. #17 Jessica Failla/Anastasia Iamachkine (Pepp), 4-3, unfinished
- Ashley Lahey/Daria Kuczer (Pepp) def. #67 Fernanda Labraña/Bojana Markovic (UT), 6-1
- Adrijana Lekaj/Dzina Milovanovic (Pepp) def. Anna Turati/Bianca Turati (UT), 6-2
Players Mentioned
