The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Oklahoma
No. 3 Women’s Tennis wins 4-3 thriller at Oklahoma
01.30.2021 | Women's Tennis
Freshman Peyton Stearns delivers the decisive point with a three-set victory on court 1 singles.
NORMAN, Okla. — Freshman Peyton Stearns recorded a three-set victory on court 1 singles to provide the clinching point, as the No. 3 University of Texas women's tennis team posted a 4-3 win at Oklahoma on Saturday afternoon at the Wadley Indoor Tennis Pavilion. Stearns earned a 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 6-2 win against Oklahoma's Carmen Corley in Saturday's decisive match.
Texas improved to 5-0 on the season, while the Sooners dropped to 3-1. The contest did not count in the Big 12 Conference standings.
Oklahoma claimed an early 1-0 advantage by winning the doubles point. The Sooners' duo of Carmen Corley and Ivana Corley earned a 6-4 victory on court 1 against UT's freshman pair of Kylie Collins and Lulu Sun.
The No. 48-ranked senior tandem of Fernanda Labraña and Anna Turati improved to 5-0 in dual-match doubles play this spring with a 6-4 win on court 2 against Dana Guzman and Martina Capurro. The deciding match on court 3 went to a tie-breaker, where Oklahoma's pair of Marcelina Podlinska and Kianah Motosono raced out to a 4-0 lead and won the breaker by a 7-3 score over senior Marta Perez Mur and Stearns to clinch the doubles point.
In a back-and-forth singles competition, No. 5 Turati put the Longhorns on the board with an impressive 6-1, 6-2 win against Capurro on court 2. After Turati jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second set, Capurro pulled within 3-2 before Turati broke Capurro, held her own serve and then broke Capurro again to close out the win. Podlinska tallied a 6-3, 6-3 victory on court 5 over Collins to give the Sooners a 2-1 lead.
No. 125-ranked freshman Charlotte Chavatipon evened the match at 2-2, rallying for a 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 victory on court 4 against Guzman. Chavatipon ran her singles mark to a perfect 8-0 this year, including a 5-0 in dual-match play.
No. 94-ranked Sun gave Texas a 3-2 advantage with a 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 6-1 win on court 3 against Ivana Corley. Sun, who improved to 5-0 in dual-match singles this year, rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the first-set tiebreaker to win four straight points and held on for a 7-5 victory in the breaker. In the decisive third set, Sun broke Corley twice while building a 4-0 cushion and closed out the victory with a 6-1 third-set win. Motosono then claimed a 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 win on court 6 against freshman Malaika Rapolu to even the match at 3-3.
That set the stage for Stearns, the No. 66-ranked player in the country, and her matchup against Carmen Corley on court 1. In the opening set, Stearns trailed 5-3 before holding serve and then breaking Corley to even the set at 5-5. In the first-set tiebreaker, Stearns faced a 4-2 deficit before winning five consecutive points to earn a 7-4 win in the breaker.
After Corley earned a 6-3 victory in the second set, Stearns held a 2-1 lead in the decisive third set. She broke Corley to grab a 3-1 cushion, but Corley answered with a break of her own to pull within 3-2. Stearns responded with another break to go up 4-2. Serving at 30-40 in the ensuing game, Stearns won consecutive points to take a 5-2 advantage. Stearns then finished off the match by breaking Corley again on deuce point.
Texas returns to action when it competes in the ITA National Team Indoor Championships on Friday, Feb. 5 through Sunday, Feb. 7 in Stillwater, Okla. The draw and schedule for ITA Indoors has not yet been released.
#3 Texas 4, Oklahoma 3
Singles – Order of finish (2, 5, 4, 3, 6, 1)
- #66 Peyton Stearns (UT) def. Carmen Corley (OU), 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 6-2
- #5 Anna Turati (UT) def. Martina Capurro (OU), 6-1, 6-2
- #94 Lulu Sun (UT) def. Ivana Corley (OU), 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 6-1
- #125 Charlotte Chavatipon (UT) def. Dana Guzman (OU), 4-6, 6-1, 6-1
- Marcelina Podlinska (OU) def. Kylie Collins (UT), 6-3, 6-3
- Kianah Motosono (OU) def. Malaika Rapolu (UT), 4-6, 6-4, 6-0
Doubles – Order of finish (1, 2, 3)
- Carmen Corley/Ivana Corley (OU) def. Kylie Collins/Lulu Sun (UT), 6-4
- #48 Fernanda Labraña/Anna Turati (UT) def. Dana Guzman/Martina Capurro (OU), 6-4
- Marcelina Podlinska/Kianah Motosono (OU) def. Marta Perez Mur/Peyton Stearns (UT), 7-6 (7-3)
Players Mentioned
