The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
West Virginia
No. 6 Women's Tennis preview: West Virginia and No. 48 Iowa State
03.05.2020 | Women's Tennis
The Longhorns open Big 12 play with home matches on Friday (5 p.m. CT) and Sunday (Noon CT).
No. 6 Texas (9-3, 0-0 Big 12) vs. West Virginia (7-1, 0-1 Big 12)
When: Friday, March 6, 5 p.m. CT
Where: Texas Tennis Center (Austin, Texas)
Live Video (South Courts)
Series Record: Texas leads, 6-0. Last meeting: Texas 6-1 (April 14, 2019; Morgantown)
No. 6 Texas (9-3, 0-0 Big 12) vs. No. 48 Iowa State (9-3, 1-0 Big 12)
When: Sunday, March 8, 12 p.m. CT
Where: Texas Tennis Center (Austin, Texas)
Live Video (South Courts)
Series Record: Texas leads, 22-0. Last meeting: Texas 4-3 (April 12, 2019; Urbandale, Iowa).
Match Notes
Success in Big 12 Openers: Texas holds an impressive 20-3 mark in Big 12 Conference openers entering Friday's home match against West Virginia.
Team Rankings: Texas is No. 6 in the latest Oracle/ITA Collegiate Division I team national rankings (March 3). UT is No. 11 in the most recent Tennis Channel/USTA Top 25 (March 4).
Individual Rankings: Three UT players are featured in the latest Oracle/ITA national singles rankings (March 3): senior Anna Turati (No. 4), senior Bianca Turati (No. 14) and freshman Lexi Ryngler (No. 53). The Longhorns have a pair of doubles tandems in the latest Oracle/ITA national doubles rankings (March 3): Anna Turati and Bianca Turati are No. 29, while freshman Adri Nagy and Tijana Spasojevic are No. 80.
Quality Start: Texas is 9-3 in dual-match action this spring and has already registered victories against four opponents who are among the nation's Top-15 teams in the latest rankings: No. 2 Ohio State (4-3), No. 5 North Carolina State (4-3), No. 8 Georgia Tech (5-2) and No. 15 Michigan (4-2).
Last Time Out: Marta Perez Mur earned a three-set win on court 6 to lead Texas to a hard-fought 4-2 victory against No. 15 Michigan on March 3 at the Texas Tennis Center. The Longhorns claimed the doubles point, courtesy of wins on court 1 by the Turati twins and court 3 by Perez Mur and Spasojevic. Texas added singles victories courtesy of Anna Turati on court 2, Bianca Turati on court 1 and Perez Mur on court 6.
Doubles Improvement: After struggling for consistency in doubles play last year (UT won just 12 of a possible 23 doubles points), Texas has won 8-of-12 doubles points to start the spring season. The Longhorns are a perfect 8-0 in dual matches when winning the doubles point this year. UT has an overall doubles record of 19-9 in dual-match play.
Quite the Pairing: Senior twin sisters Anna Turati and Bianca Turati are off to a 6-3 start at the No. 1 doubles spot this spring and are tabbed No. 29 in the latest Oracle/ITA national rankings (March 3). The Turati twins posted an impressive 6-2 win against Florida State's No. 15 duo of Victoria Allen and Petra Hule (Feb. 7). Two of their six victories have come against ranked opponents.
More Doubles Success: Junior Fernanda Labraña and redshirt sophomore Marta Perez Mur have registered a 5-4 mark at No. 2 doubles this spring. Sophomore Tijana Spasojevic and freshman Adri Nagy have tallied a 5-1 record at No. 3 doubles, including a 6-3 victory against Stanford's No. 36 duo of Sara Choy and Emma Higuchi. Spasojevic and Nagy are tabbed No. 80 in the most recent Oracle/ITA national rankings (March 3).
Anna Turati on the Rise: Senior Anna Turati is currently No. 4 in the latest Oracle/ITA national singles rankings (March 3). Turati is 10-1 at the No. 2 singles line for the Longhorns this spring, including a 6-3, 6-3 win against No. 31 Alana Smith of North Carolina State (Jan. 31) and a 6-2, 6-2 victory over No. 66 Emily Arbuthnott of Stanford (Feb. 22). She has a 21-4 overall singles record this year.
Anna named Big 12 Player of the Week: Anna Turati earned Big 12 Conference Player of the Week honors on Jan. 14. This marked her second career weekly conference honor, as she previously claimed Co-Player of the Week accolades on April 9, 2019.
Sensational Fall: Anna Turati registered an 11-3 singles mark against collegiate competition during the fall, advancing to the quarterfinals at the Oracle ITA Masters, the semifinals at the ITA All-American Championships and the championship match at the ITA National Fall Championships. Nine of her 11 wins in the fall came against ITA nationally-ranked opponents, including three Top-10 wins over No. 2 Estela Perez-Somarribba (Miami, Fla.), No. 5 Kelly Chen (Duke) and No. 7 Sara Daavettila (North Carolina).
Pro Success: Anna Turati has won four ITF 15k pro circuit singles titles and three doubles titles since the start of summer 2019. She captured three 15k singles championships and one doubles title this summer on clay courts in Tabarka, Tunisia. Turati later won her first 15k singles title on hardcourt at the ITF Norman (Okla.) tourney (Oct. 6). She also paired with teammate Fernanda Labraña to win the doubles crown in Norman (Oct. 5), and she teamed with twin sister Bianca Turati to capture the doubles championship at the ITF 15k tourney in Austin – the H-E-B Women's Pro Tennis Open (Oct. 26).
Bianca Tough to Beat: Senior All-American Bianca Turati is off to a 9-1 start at the No. 1 singles spot this spring and has climbed to No. 14 in the latest Oracle/ITA national singles rankings (March 3). She has twice earned Big 12 Conference Player of the Week honors (Feb. 4 and Feb. 11). Turati has now claimed SEVEN career Big 12 Player of the Week accolades, tying the league record for most career selections (Baylor's Zuzana Zemenova also had 7 from 2005-08). Turati has two wins against Top-10 nationally-ranked opponents and five victories against Top 60 opponents. She earned a 6-3, 6-1 win against No. 18 Anna Rogers of North Carolina State (Jan. 31) and followed with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 victory over No. 53 Kenya Jones of Georgia Tech (Feb. 1). Turati provided the decisive point in UT's 4-3 win against Ohio State, earning a 6-2, 6-3 victory against No. 8 Shiori Fukuda (Feb. 9). She claimed a 6-3, 6-2 win over No. 9 Michaela Gordon of Stanford (Feb. 22), and Turati recorded a 6-2, 6-2 victory against No. 30 Giulia Pairone of Michigan (March 3).
Bianca Back for One More: Bianca Turati competed solely in professional tournaments during the recent summer and fall schedule. She won a pair of ITF 25k singles titles, earning her first championship in Tarvisio, Italy in the summer on clay courts. Turati concluded her fall season with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 win against WTA No. 438 Katie Volynets (USA) to win the 25k pro event on hard courts in Malibu, Calif. She also won the 15k singles title at the H-E-B Women's Pro Tennis Open (Oct. 27) with a three-set victory against twin sister Anna Turati in the final, and she paired with Anna to claim the doubles title at the same event.
Newcomer Nagy makes Immediate Impact: Freshman Adri Nagy (pronounced AH-dree Nadge) joined the Texas roster at the beginning of the spring semester. The Budapest, Hungary native is 4-6 in singles play at the No. 3 and No. 4 spots this spring with two wins coming against ranked opponents. She earned the clinching point with a 6-2, 7-6 (7-3) victory against No. 105 Paris Corley of LSU (Jan. 25) and added an impressive 6-1, 5-7, 6-0 win over No. 73 Gia Cohen of Georgia Tech (Feb. 1).
Labraña provides Spark: Junior Fernanda Labraña has tallied an 8-2 mark at the No. 4 and No. 5 singles spots this spring. She earned the clinching point in the 4-3 dual-match win against No. 8 North Carolina State (Jan. 31), posting a 6-0, 6-7 (3-7), 6-3 victory over Lexi Keberle on court 4. Labraña also claimed a 6-4, 6-2 win against No. 115 Janice Shin of Stanford (Feb. 22). She has a 16-5 overall singles record this year.
Labraña's Fall Success: Labraña registered an 8-3 mark in singles against collegiate competition during the fall. She advanced to the quarterfinals at the ITA Texas Regionals and won the singles title at the Texas Invitational. Her fall was highlighted by a three-set victory against No. 80 Daevenia Achong (Miami, Fla.) in the championship match at the Texas Invitational. Labraña also paired with Anna Turati to win the doubles title at the ITF 15k tourney in Norman, Okla. (Oct. 5).
Perez Mur Back in Lineup: Redshirt sophomore Marta Perez Mur, who missed the entire 2019 dual-match season with a torn ACL in her right knee, is 5-5 at the No. 5 and 6 singles lines this spring. She earned the clinching point in the 4-2 dual-match win against No. 15 Michigan (March 3), posting a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 victory over Bella Lorenzini on court 6.
Big 12 Preseason Favorite: Texas is picked to win the Big 12 Conference title in a preseason vote of the league coaches. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own teams. UT claimed the top spot in the poll, earning six of a possible nine first-place votes and 78 points in polling for the 2020 season. Oklahoma State received three first-place votes and 75 points to place second, while Baylor was tabbed third with the final first-place vote and 56 points. Rounding out the poll in descending order are: Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas Tech, TCU, Kansas State, Iowa State and West Virginia.
2019 in Review: Texas completed the 2018-19 season with a 19-5 overall dual-match record (9-0 Big 12 Conference). The Longhorns advanced to the NCAA Tournament Second Round (Round of 32). UT has advanced to at least the NCAA Round of 32 in each of Head Coach Howard Joffe's four seasons in Austin.
Back-to-Back Outright Big 12 Champs: The Longhorns won the 2019 Big 12 regular-season title outright with a perfect 9-0 mark. UT, who also went 9-0 in Big 12 play in 2018, has won outright back-to-back Big 12 regular-season championships for the first time since the 1999 and 2000 seasons (shared the title in 2001). Texas has captured 22 regular-season league titles, including 10 in the Big 12 Conference (1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001-co, 2002, 2004, 2007-co, 2018 and 2019) and 12 in the Southwest Conference (1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988-co, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995 and 1996).
Joffe in Year Five: Head Coach Howard Joffe is in his fifth season leading the UT program. Joffe has registered an 82-31 (.726) mark in his time at Texas and a 213-92 (.698) record in 13 seasons as a collegiate head coach. He earned his 200th career collegiate victory in UT's win at Iowa State on April 12, 2019.
Players Mentioned
