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No. 8 Women’s Tennis wins 4-1 against No. 34 Texas Tech
03.11.2022 | Women's Tennis
The Longhorns claim their league opener and extend win streak in Big 12 regular-season dual matches to 32.
AUSTIN, Texas — The No. 8 University of Texas Women's Tennis team (10-3, 1-0 Big 12) earned a 4-1 win against No. 34 Texas Tech (7-5, 0-1 Big 12) on Friday afternoon indoors at the Edgar O. and Melanie A. Weller Tennis Center. The Red Raiders won the doubles point, but the Longhorns rallied for four straight-set victories in singles to earn the victory in a match that was moved indoors due to inclement weather.
Friday's contest marked the league opener for both teams. With the victory, the Longhorns extended their win streak in Big 12 Conference regular-season dual matches to 32, dating back to a 4-2 loss at Baylor on April 12, 2017.
Texas Tech gained an early 1-0 advantage by winning the doubles point. The duo of sophomore Peyton Stearns and freshman Allura Zamarripa posted a 6-1 victory on court 2 against Margarita Skriabina and Cristina Tiglea. Stearns and Zamarripa won the opening two games before Skriabina and Tiglea held serve to pull to within 2-1. Stearns and Zamarripa closed out the match by winning four straight games to improve to 2-0 in dual-match doubles action this spring.
Sophomore Charlotte Chavatipon and freshman Vivian Ovrootsky dropped a 6-4 decision on court 3 to Metka Komac and Olivia Peet. Chavatipon and Ovrootsky held a 4-2 advantage but Komac and Peet rallied to win four straight games, including a pair of service breaks on deuce points, to claim the win. The Red Raiders clinched the doubles point when Kailey Evans and Avelina Sayfetdinova earned a 6-4 win on court 1 against sophomore Kylie Collins and freshman Sabina Zeynalova. Collins and Zeynalova held a 4-3 lead, but Evans and Sayfetdinova won three consecutive games to close out the match.
No. 106 Zeynalova quickly evened the overall dual-match score at 1-1 with a dominant 6-0, 6-0 victory on court 3 against No. 70 Sayfetdinova. Zeynalova improved to a perfect 10-0 in singles dual-match play this spring.
Sophomore No. 95 Malaika Rapolu gave the Longhorns a 2-1 lead after a 6-3, 6-0 win on court 6 over Tiglea. Rapolu jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the opening set before Tiglea won three-straight games to trim the margin to 5-3. Rapolu broke Tiglea on a deuce point to close out the first set. Rapolu opened the second set by holding serve on a deuce point before breaking Tiglea to go up 2-0. Rapolu won the next four games to move to 11-6 overall in singles this year, including a 4-2 mark in dual-match play.
Ovrootsky followed with a 6-4, 6-3 victory on court 5 against Komac. Trailing 4-1 in her opening set, Ovrootsky ran off five straight games to rally for a 6-4 first-set win. Trailing 3-2 in the second set, Ovrootsky held serve and then broke Komac on a deuce point to take a 4-3 lead. Ovrootsky held serve again and closed out her victory with another service break to improve to 7-3 in singles dual-match action this spring.
Chavatipon clinched the overall dual-match win with a 6-4, 6-3 victory on court 4 over Evans. Chavatipon jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the opening set, but Evans rallied to win three-straight games to even the score at 4-4. Chavatipon held serve and earned a service break to close out the 6-4 first-set win. Trailing 3-2 in the second set, Chavatipon broke Evans, held serve, broke Evans again and held serve to finish out her victory.
The remaining two singles matches featuring No. 7 Stearns on court 1 and No. 38 Collins on court 2 were stopped once Chavatipon clinched the dual-match win. Collins won her opening set (6-4) and led 5-3 in the second when the match was halted. Stearns won her opening set against No. 20 Skriabina in a tiebreaker, and the second set was tied at 2-2.
The Longhorns continue Big 12 play by hosting TCU (8-6, 0-1 Big 12) on Sunday, March 13. First serve is set for 12 p.m. Central at the Texas Tennis Center.
#8 Texas 4, #34 Texas Tech 1
Singles – Order of finish (3, 6, 5, 4)
- #7 Peyton Stearns (UT) vs. #20 Margarita Skriabina (TT), 7-6 (7-4), 2-2, unfinished
- #38 Kylie Collins (UT) vs. Olivia Peet (TT), 6-4, 5-3, unfinished
- #106 Sabina Zeynalova (UT) def. #70 Avelina Sayfetdinova (TT), 6-0, 6-0
- Charlotte Chavatipon (UT) def. Kailey Evans (TT), 6-4, 6-3
- Vivian Ovrootsky (UT) def. Metka Komac (TT), 6-4, 6-3
- #95 Malaika Rapolu (UT) def. Cristina Tiglea (TT), 6-3, 6-0
Doubles – Order of finish (2, 3, 1)
- Kailey Evans/Avelina Sayfetdinova (TT) def. Kylie Collins/Sabina Zeynalova (UT), 6-4
- Peyton Stearns/Allura Zamarripa (UT) def. Margarita Skriabina/Cristina Tiglea (TT), 6-1
- Metka Komac/Olivia Peet (TT) def. Charlotte Chavatipon/Vivian Ovrootsky (UT), 6-4
Players Mentioned
