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No. 2 Women’s Tennis earns 4-1 win at No. 28 Texas Tech
04.16.2021 | Women's Tennis
The Longhorns move to 8-0 in Big 12 play and clinch a share of the league’s regular-season title.
LUBBOCK, Texas — The No. 2 University of Texas women's tennis team claimed a 4-1 victory at No. 28 Texas Tech (15-6, 6-2 Big 12) in a Big 12 Conference match on Friday afternoon at the McLeod Tennis Center. With the win, the Longhorns clinched a share of the Big 12 regular-season championship and the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Big 12 Tennis Championship in advance of their final regular-season match of the season on Sunday.
Texas won its 14th consecutive dual match and improved to 21-1 on the year, including a perfect 8-0 mark in Big 12 play. UT extended its streak of consecutive Big 12 regular-season dual-match wins to 30, as the Longhorns have not dropped a conference regular-season contest since the 2017 season.
Texas Tech claimed a 1-0 advantage by earning the doubles point. The senior duo of Fernanda Labraña and Anna Turati jumped out to a 3-0 lead and cruised to a 6-1 win on court 2 against Margarita Skriabina and Olivia Peet. Labraña and Turati improved to 12-0 in dual-match doubles play this spring.
Texas Tech's No. 81-ranked tandem of Lisa Mays and Kaitlin Staines answered with a 6-4 victory on court 1 over the No. 14-ranked pair of freshman Lulu Sun and freshman Kylie Collins. Trailing 4-5, Sun and Collins had a break-point opportunity but the Red Raiders posted a service winner on deuce point to close out the match.
In the decisive doubles match on court 3, Nell Miller and Metka Komac claimed a 6-4 win against senior Marta Perez Mur and freshman Charlotte Chavatipon. Tied at 3-3, Miller and Komac won back-to-back games to grab a 5-3 lead. Perez Mur and Chavatipon took the next game, but the Red Raiders held serve to seal the win and clinch the doubles point.
The Longhorns, who entered the match having won the doubles point in 20 of their first 21 matches, responded quickly on the singles courts. Leading 4-2 in her opening set, No. 72 Sun ran off eight-straight games to close out a 6-2, 6-0 victory on court 2 against No. 108 Staines. Sun posted her ninth-straight singles win and improved to 15-2 in dual-match singles play this season.
No. 62 Collins followed with a 6-1, 6-4 win on court 4 over Miller to move to 13-2 in dual-match singles play and give the Longhorns a 2-1 lead. After a dominant first set, Collins faced a 3-0 deficit in the second frame. She responded by winning four straight games to build a 4-3 advantage. Miller evened the set at 4-4, before Collins won back-to-back games to close out her eighth consecutive singles victory.
After dropping a hard-fought opening set, freshman Malaika Rapolu won 12 of the next 14 games to rally for a 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 victory on court 6 against Komac. Rapolu earned her 12th straight singles win and improved to 21-2 overall in singles this year, including a 14-1 record in dual-match action.
Labraña closed out Friday's team win with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 win on court 5 over Peet. In the decisive third set, Labraña built a 3-1 cushion but Peet answered by winning back-to-back games to even the set at 3-3. Labraña responded to the challenge, winning three straight games to earn her 11th consecutive singles victory and moved to 20-2 overall in singles this season, including a 13-1 mark in dual-match play.
The remaining two singles matches that featured No. 25 Turati on court 1 and No. 77 Chavatipon on court 3 were halted once Labraña clinched the dual-match victory.
UT concludes the regular season when it travels to play TCU in a Big 12 Conference match on Sunday, April 18. First serve is set for 11 a.m. Central at the Friedman Tennis Center in Fort Worth. Texas will look to claim its third consecutive outright Big 12 regular-season championship with a win at TCU.
#2 Texas 4, #28 Texas Tech 1
Singles – Order of finish (2, 4, 6, 5)
- #25 Anna Turati (UT) vs. Lisa Mays (TT), 7-5, 2-6, 1-1, unfinished
- #72 Lulu Sun (UT) def. #108 Kaitlin Staines (TT), 6-2, 6-0
- #77 Charlotte Chavatipon (UT) vs. #76 Margarita Skriabina (TT), 7-5, 5-6, unfinished
- #62 Kylie Collins (UT) def. Nell Miller (TT), 6-1, 6-4
- Fernanda Labraña (UT) def. Olivia Peet (TT), 4-6, 6-3, 6-3
- Malaika Rapolu (UT) def. Metka Komac (TT), 5-7, 6-1, 6-1
Doubles – Order of finish (2, 1, 3)
- #81 Lisa Mays/Kaitlin Staines (TT) def. #14 Kylie Collins/Lulu Sun (UT), 6-4
- Fernanda Labraña/Anna Turati (UT) def. Margarita Skriabina/Olivia Peet (TT), 6-1
- Nell Miller/Metka Komac (TT) def. Charlotte Chavatipon/Marta Perez Mur (UT), 6-4
Players Mentioned
