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NC State
No. 2 Women’s Tennis advances to NCAA Championship match
05.21.2021 | Women's Tennis
The Longhorns earned a 4-0 victory on Friday against No. 6 NC State in the NCAA semifinals.
ORLANDO, Fla. — The No. 2 University of Texas women's tennis team posted a 4-0 sweep against No. 6 NC State (20-6) in a NCAA semifinals match on Friday at the USTA National Campus. With the victory, the Longhorns (30-1) advance to the NCAA Championship match against No. 5 Pepperdine (25-3).
The NCAA Championship match will be held on Saturday, May 22 at 4:30 p.m. Central (5:30 p.m. Eastern). The match will be televised live nationally by Tennis Channel.
Texas, which won its 23rd consecutive dual match, reached the NCAA title match for the fifth time in program history. The Longhorns previously captured NCAA team championships in 1993 and 1995 and posted NCAA runner-up finishes in 1992 and 2005.
UT's 30 dual-match wins established a school single-season record, topping the previous mark of 29 set by the 1983-84 team (29-7 mark). Texas has now recorded 21 sweeps in its first 30 dual-match victories this season, including four of its first five NCAA Tournament matches.
UT grabbed a 1-0 advantage after winning the doubles point for the 28th time in its first 31 matches. The No. 19-ranked duo of freshmen Kylie Collins and Lulu Sun got things started with a 6-4 win on court 1 against the No. 12-ranked tandem of Anna Rogers and Alana Smith.
In a back-and-forth match, Collins and Sun broke the Wolfpack duo to take a 2-1 lead. Rogers and Smith answered by winning back-to-back games to grab a 3-2 advantage. After the teams held serve the next two games for a 4-3 NC State lead, Collins and Sun held serve at love, broke Rogers and Smith at love and held serve again to close out the 6-4 win and move to 21-4 in dual-match doubles play this year, including a 9-3 mark against nationally-ranked opponents.
The No. 47-ranked pair of freshmen Peyton Stearns and Charlotte Chavatipon clinched the doubles point with a 6-4 victory on court 3 over the No. 42-ranked duo of Amelia Rajecki and Abigail Rencheli. Stearns and Chavatipon broke the Wolfpack duo in the opening game and held serve for an early 2-0 advantage. The teams held serve during the following seven games for a 5-4 Texas lead. Stearns and Chavatipon finished off the victory by holding serve at love to improve to 18-3 overall in doubles this season, including a 16-2 mark in dual-match action.
No. 37 Stearns opened singles play with an impressive 6-1, 6-2 win on court 1 against No. 6 Rogers. After splitting the first two games of the opening set, Stearns reeled off five straight games to earn a 6-1 first-set victory. She started the second set by breaking Rogers on a deciding point, holding serve on a deciding point and breaking Rogers again for a 3-0 lead. Leading 4-2 in the second set, Stearns broke Rogers and held serve to close out the win and move to 16-7 overall in singles this year, including a 12-4 mark in dual-match action.
No. 76 Chavatipon followed with a 6-3, 6-2 victory on court 4 over Jaeda Daniel. Daniel jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the opening set, but Chavatipon responded by winning five consecutive games to build a 5-2 cushion. After Daniel won the following game, Chavatipon held serve to claim a 6-3 first-set win. Chavatipon raced to a 5-0 lead in the second set, before Daniel won back-to-back games to climb to within 5-2. Chavatipon held serve to complete her 17th consecutive singles victory and improve to 27-1 overall in singles this season, including a 24-1 mark in dual-match play.
Freshman Malaika Rapolu clinched the overall dual-match win for the Longhorns with a 6-3, 6-1 victory on court 6 against Lexi Keberle. Keberle jumped out to a 3-1 cushion in the opening set, before Rapolu broke Keberle to get back on serve at 2-3. From there, Rapolu held serve, broke Keberle again, held serve and then broke Keberle on a deciding point to post a 6-3 first-set win. Rapolu raced out to a 5-0 lead in the second set and cruised to her 17th consecutive singles win, moving to 26-2 overall in singles this year, including a 19-1 record in dual-match action.
The remaining singles matches featuring No. 35 senior Anna Turati (court 2), No. 62 Sun (court 3) and No. 72 Collins (court 5) were stopped once Rapolu clinched her win. Texas won the opening set in each of the three singles matches that went unfinished. Pepperdine earned its spot in the NCAA Championship match with a 4-3 win over No. 1 North Carolina on Friday evening.
#2 Texas 4, #6 NC State 0
Singles – Order of finish (1, 4, 6)
- #37 Peyton Stearns (UT) def. #6 Anna Rogers (NCST), 6-1, 6-2
- #35 Anna Turati (UT) vs. #23 Alana Smith (NCST), 6-2, 4-3, unfinished
- #62 Lulu Sun (UT) vs. Adriana Reami (NCST), 6-3, 4-5, unfinished
- #76 Charlotte Chavatipon (UT) def. Jaeda Daniel (NCST), 6-3, 6-2
- #72 Kylie Collins (UT) vs. #82 Abigail Rencheli (NCST), 6-5, 5-5, unfinished
- Malaika Rapolu (UT) def. Lexi Keberle (NCST), 6-3, 6-1
Doubles – Order of finish (1, 3)
- #19 Kylie Collins/Lulu Sun (UT) def. #12 Anna Rogers/Alana Smith (NCST), 6-4
- Fernanda Labraña/Anna Turati (UT) vs. #5 Jaeda Daniel/Adriana Reami (NCST), 4-5, unfinished
- #47 Peyton Stearns/Charlotte Chavatipon (UT) def. #42 Abigail Rencheli/Amelia Rajecki (NCST), 6-4
Players Mentioned
