The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
05.24.2021 | Women's Tennis
Stearns falls in Monday’s Round of 32 in singles.
ORLANDO, Fla. — The University of Texas freshman duo of Kylie Collins and Lulu Sun posted a 6-3, 6-2 victory against No. 25 Cameron Corse and Page Freeman of Notre Dame on Monday in the Round of 32 of the NCAA Doubles Championships at the USTA National Campus. Freshman Peyton Stearns dropped a 6-2, 6-4 decision to Estela Perez-Somarriba (Miami, Fla.) in the Round of 32 of the NCAA Singles Championships.
Collins and Sun, No. 19 in the ITA's latest national rankings, jumped out to a 3-0 lead in their opening set. Corse and Freeman answered by winning back-to-back games to climb to within 3-2. After the two teams traded service breaks to make it 4-3, Collins and Sun registered a service break on a deciding point and rallied from down 30-40 in the following game to win the next two points and close out the 6-3 first-set win.
Corse and Freeman won the opening two games of the second set, but the Longhorns' tandem swung the momentum with a service break in the following game. Collins and Sun then reeled off five straight games to finish out the victory and improve to 23-4 overall in doubles this season, including a 10-3 mark against nationally-ranked opponents. The Texas duo will face the No. 2-ranked pair (and NCAA tourney No. 2 seed) of North Carolina's Sara Daavettila and Cameron Morra in Tuesday's Round of 16 at 6 p.m. Central (7 p.m. Eastern).
Matched against the nation's No. 1 singles player (latest ITA rankings), the No. 2 seed in the NCAA singles tourney and the 2019 NCAA singles champion, No. 37 Stearns fell behind 3-1 in the opening set. After holding serve on a deciding point, she had an opportunity to even the first set but Perez-Somarriba held on a deciding point to take a 4-2 lead. Perez-Somarriba broke Stearns on a deciding point in the following game and held serve to close out the 6-2 first-set win.
Trailing 3-1 in the second set, Stearns won back-to-back games to even the score at 3-3. Perez-Somarriba responded by breaking Stearns and holding serve on a deciding point in the following game to take a 5-3 advantage. After Stearns held serve to make it 5-4, Perez-Somarriba sealed the win by holding serve on another deciding point.
Stearns was named the Most Outstanding Player at the 2021 NCAA Women's Team Championship while leading the Longhorns to their third NCAA team title in program history and first since 1995. She completes her freshman season with an 18-8 overall singles record, including a 13-4 mark in dual-match play at the No. 1 singles spot.
NCAA Women's Singles Championship
Round of 32 – May 24
#1 Estela Perez-Somarriba (Miami, Fla.) def. #37 Peyton Stearns (UT), 6-2, 6-4
NCAA Women's Doubles Championship
Round of 32 – May 24
#19 Kylie Collins/Lulu Sun (UT) def. #25 Cameron Corse/Page Freeman (Notre Dame), 6-3, 6-2
