The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
05.27.2022 | Women's Tennis
Stearns becomes the second Longhorn and first since 1995 to reach the NCAA Singles championship match.
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — University of Texas sophomore Peyton Stearns posted a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Paola Exposito Diaz-Delgado in the semifinals at the NCAA Singles Championships on Friday afternoon indoors the Atkins Tennis Center. No. 2 Stearns will face No. 26 Connie Ma of Stanford in the NCAA Singles final on Saturday at 11 a.m. Central.
Stearns becomes the second Longhorn to reach the NCAA Singles championship match and first since Kelly Pace in 1995. Stearns is attempting to become the first player in program history to win a NCAA Women's Tennis Singles title.
Rain forced Friday's semifinals to be played indoors. Stearns jumped out to a 3-0 lead in her opening set, before Diaz-Delgado held serve to make it 3-1. Both players held serve over the next four games to give Stearns a 5-3 cushion, and she held serve at-love in the following game to close out the 6-3 first-set victory.
Tied at 2-2 on serve in the second set, Stearns earned a service break on a deuce point to grab a 3-2 advantage. Diaz-Delgado answered with a service break to even the set at 3-3. Both players held serve in the next two games to move to 4-4. In the following game, Stearns rallied from down 15-40 to claim a service break on the deuce point and take a 5-4 lead. Serving for the match, Stearns again trailed 15-40 before winning three straight points and holding serve on a deuce point to finish the match. With the victory, Stearns improved to 32-2 overall in singles play this season.
NCAA Women's Singles Championship
Semifinal Matches (Texas participants only) – May 27
#2 Peyton Stearns (UT) def. #96 Paola Exposito Diaz-Delgado (VCU), 6-3, 6-4
