No. 3 Women’s Tennis sweeps No. 18 Michigan in NCAA Second Round

Saturday, May 7

Austin, Texas

3 p.m. CT

University of Texas

Michigan

Sabina Zeynalova

No. 3 Women’s Tennis sweeps No. 18 Michigan in NCAA Second Round

05.07.2022 | Women's Tennis

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The Longhorns advance to the NCAA Round of 16 for the 25th time in program history.

AUSTIN, Texas — The No. 3 University of Texas Women's Tennis team (22-4) posted an impressive 4-0 sweep against No. 18 Michigan (20-6) in a NCAA Second Round match on Saturday afternoon at the Texas Tennis Center. With the win, the Longhorns advance to host No. 14 Auburn in the NCAA Round of 16 at 12 p.m. Central on Friday, May 13 at the Texas Tennis Center.

Texas earned its 25th appearance in the NCAA Round of 16 in program history with Saturday's victory. The Longhorns have now made four trips to the Round of 16 in six opportunities under head coach Howard Joffe (2016, 2018, 2021 and 2022). Auburn (22-5) claimed its spot in the NCAA Round of 16 with a 4-3 home win against No. 33 Georgia Tech on Saturday.

Michigan entered Saturday's contest in Austin as one of the hottest teams in the country. The Wolverines had won 10 straight matches, including a 4-0 sweep over No. 10 Ohio State in the Big 12 Tournament final on May 1 and a 4-0 victory against Oregon in Friday's NCAA First Round.

UT grabbed a 1-0 advantage by quickly claiming the doubles point. The No. 67-ranked duo of sophomore Charlotte Chavatipon and Kylie Collins earned a 6-1 victory on court 2 over Andrea Cerdan and Kari Miller. After Cerdan and Miller won the opening game, Chavatipon and Collins ran off six-straight games to close out the match and improve to 15-2 overall in doubles this year, including a perfect 10-0 mark in dual-match play.

The freshman pair of Sabina Zeynalova and Vivian Ovrootsky clinched the doubles point with a 6-3 win on court 3 against Nicole Hammond and Anca Craciun. Trailing 3-2, Zeynalova and Ovrootsky won four-straight games to finish the match and move to 5-3 in dual-match doubles action this spring.

Similar to Friday's sweep over Ball State, the Longhorns added three dominant straight-set victories in singles to close out the win. Sophomore No. 2 Peyton Stearns earned a 6-1, 6-2 win on court 1 over No. 19 Miller to give Texas a 2-0 advantage. Stearns jumped out to a 5-0 lead in her opening set and cruised to a 6-1 first-set victory. After Miller took the first game of the second set, Stearns won five-straight games and finished off the set with a 6-2 victory to improve to 24-1 overall in singles this year, including a 21-1 mark in dual-match play this spring.

Chavatipon followed with a 6-2, 6-0 victory on court 4 against Cerdan. Cerdan grabbed a 2-1 advantage in the opening set, but Chavatipon responded by winning 11 consecutive games to close out the match and move to 19-10 overall in singles this season, including a 12-3 mark in dual-match action on court 4.

For the second straight afternoon, No. 93 Zeynalova clinched the overall dual-match win for the Longhorns with a 6-4, 6-0 victory on court 3 over Hammond. Zeynalova jumped out to a 4-1 cushion in her opening set, but Hammond won back-to-back games to close to within 4-3. Both players held serve to advance to 5-4, and Zeynalova held her serve again to close out the 6-4 first-set win. Zeynalova opened the second set with a service break of Hammond on deuce point and won the next five games to finish the victory and improve to 19-1 in dual-match singles play this year.

The remaining three singles matches featuring No. 49 Collins (court 2), freshman Allura Zamarripa (court 5) and Ovrootsky (court 6) were stopped once Zeynalova clinched the dual-match win.

#3 Texas 4, #18 Michigan 0

Doubles – Order of finish (2, 3)

#11 Peyton Stearns/Allura Zamarripa (UT) vs. Jaedan Brown/Julia Fliegner (Mich), 5-4, unfinished
#67 Charlotte Chavatipon/Kylie Collins (UT) def. Andrea Cerdan/Kari Miller (Mich), 6-1
Sabina Zeynalova/Vivian Ovrootsky (UT) def. Nicole Hammond/Anca Craciun (Mich), 6-3