The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Northwestern
No. 3 Women’s Tennis defeats No. 13 Northwestern, 4-1
02.05.2021 | Women's Tennis
The Longhorns advance to the ITA National Indoors semifinals to face No. 2 UCLA on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. CT.
STILLWATER, Okla. — The No. 3 University of Texas Women's Tennis team posted an impressive 4-1 victory against No. 13 Northwestern in the quarterfinals of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships on Friday evening at the Greenwood Tennis Center. With the win, the Longhorns (6-0) advance to play No. 2 UCLA in the semifinals of the prestigious tournament on Saturday, Feb. 6 at approximately 6:30 p.m. CT.
Texas took a 1-0 lead by winning the doubles point. The freshman duo of Kylie Collins and Lulu Sun raced out to a 4-0 advantage and closed out a 6-3 victory on court 1 against the tandem of Clarissa Hand and Maria Shusharina. The No. 48-ranked pair of Fernanda Labraña and Anna Turati broke a 4-4 tie and won the next two games to post a 6-4 win on court 2 over Christian Hand and Brian Crowley. Labraña and Turati improved to 6-0 in dual-match doubles play this spring.
The Longhorns increased their advantage to 3-0 with a pair of straight-set victories from freshman Charlotte Chavatipon and Sun to begin singles play. No. 125-ranked Chavatipon claimed a 6-2, 6-3 win on court 4 against Caroline Pozo. Tied at 2-2 in the second set, Chavatipon broke Pozo and then held her own serve to go up 4-2. After Pozo held serve, Chavatipon did the same and then broke Pozo again to close out the match. Chavatipon ran her singles record to a perfect 9-0 this year, including a 6-0 mark in dual-match play.
No. 94-ranked Sun earned a 7-5, 6-2 win on court 3 against Crowley. Trailing 5-3 in her opening set, Sun held serve and then broke Crowley to even the score at 5-5. Sun held serve again and broke Crowley on a deuce point to win the set, 7-5. Sun jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second set and cruised to a 6-2 win to improve to 6-0 in dual-match singles play this spring.
Northwestern recorded its lone point of the match, when Clarissa Hand posted a 6-2, 6-2 win against No. 5 Turati on court 2.
No. 66-ranked freshman Peyton Stearns clinched the dual-match victory for the Longhorns with a 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) win on court 1 over Maria Shusharina. In the second-set tiebreaker, Stearns jumped out to a 4-0 lead before Shusharina answered by winning four consecutive points to even the score at 4-4. Stearns responded by winning the next three points to close out the win and improve to 4-0 in dual-match singles play this spring.
Freshman Malaika Rapolu held a 7-5, 5-2 lead on court 5 over Christian Hand and was waiting to serve at match point when Stearns closed out her victory.
#3 Texas 4, #13 Northwestern 1
Singles – Order of finish (4, 3, 2, 1)
- #66 Peyton Stearns (UT) def. Maria Shusharina (NU), 6-4, 7-6 (7-4)
- Clarissa Hand (NU) def. #5 Anna Turati (UT), 6-2, 6-2
- #94 Lulu Sun (UT) def. Briana Crowley (NU), 7-5, 6-2
- #125 Charlotte Chavatipon (UT) def. Caroline Pozo (NU), 6-2, 6-3
- Malaika Rapolu (UT) vs. Christian Hand (NU), 7-5, 5-2, unfinished
- Fernanda Labraña (UT) vs. Hannah McColgan (NU), 6-7 (5-7), 3-4, unfinished
Doubles – Order of finish (1,2)
- Kylie Collins/Lulu Sun (UT) def. Clarissa Hand/Maria Shusharina (NU), 6-3
- #48 Fernanda Labraña/Anna Turati (UT) def. Christian Hand/Briana Crowley, 6-4
- Marta Perez Mur/Charlotte Chavatipon (UT) vs. Hannah McColgan/Caroline Pozo, 5-5, unfinished
Players Mentioned
