The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
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Stanford
No. 8 Women’s Tennis falls to No. 22 Stanford, 5-2
02.25.2023 | Women's Tennis
Junior Taisiya Pachkaleva claims wins in both singles and doubles to pace the Longhorns.
AUSTIN, Texas — The No. 8 University of Texas Women's Tennis team (8-2) fell 5-2 to No. 22 Stanford (6-2) on Saturday afternoon at the Texas Tennis Center. Junior Taisiya Pachkaleva earned victories in both doubles and singles on an afternoon in which the school honored former Longhorn Peyton Stearns as the 2022 Honda Award winner for Women's Tennis.
Texas grabbed an early 1-0 lead by claiming the doubles point. The tandem of junior Charlotte Chavatipon and sophomore Sabina Zeynalova posted a 6-2 victory on court 1 over Angelica Blake and Alexis Blokhina. Tied at 2-2, Chavatipon and Zeynalova ran off four-straight games, including the last two on deuce points, to close out their win. The duo of Pachkaleva and freshman Nicole Rivkin clinched the doubles point with a 6-3 win on court 3 against Connie Ma and Valencia Xu. Pachkaleva and Rivkin raced out to a 4-1 advantage, before Ma and Xu won back-to-back games to climb to within 4-3. Pachkaleva and Rivkin answered by claiming consecutive games to finish out their victory.
Stanford responded by winning three singles matches in straight sets to build a 3-1 cushion. No. 25 Alexandra Yepifanova earned a 6-4, 6-3 victory on court 1 against freshman Nicole Khirin, and No. 5 Ma added a 6-2, 6-4 win on court 2 over No. 60 Chavatipon. No. 72 Blokhina then tallied a 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 victory on court 4 against junior Malaika Rapolu.
Pachkaleva trimmed the overall team score to 3-2 by rallying for a 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 win on court 5 against Xu. After dropping the opening set, Pachkaleva won 10 of the next 13 games to claim a 6-2 second-set win and build a 4-1 lead in the third set. She later held a 5-2 advantage, but Xu won back-to-back games to cut the deficit to 5-4. Pachkaleva held serve on a deuce point in the following game to finish out her victory.
No. 20 Blake clinched the overall dual-match win for the Cardinal with a 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 victory on court 3 against No. 79 Zeynalova. Zeynalova fought back from down 1-3 in the third set to even the score at 4-4, before Blake won back-to-back games to close out the win. Playing out the remaining singles match, Sara Choy added a 1-6, 6-4, 7-5 victory on court 6 against graduate No. 97 Marlee Zein.
Texas returns to the court when it travels to face Rice on Saturday, March 4. First serve is set for 11 a.m. Central at the George R. Brown Tennis Center.
#22 Stanford 5, #8 Texas 2
Singles – Order of finish (1, 2, 4, 5, 3, 6)
- #25 Alexandra Yepifanova (STAN) def. Nicole Khirin (UT), 6-4, 6-3
- #5 Connie Ma (STAN) def. #60 Charlotte Chavatipon (UT), 6-2, 6-4
- #20 Angelica Blake (STAN) def. #79 Sabina Zeynalova (UT), 6-2, 2-6, 6-4
- #72 Alexis Blokhina (STAN) def. Malaika Rapolu (UT), 7-6 (7-4), 6-4
- Taisiya Pachkaleva (UT) vs. Valencia Xu (STAN), 3-6, 6-2, 6-4
- Sara Choy (STAN) def. #97 Marlee Zein (UT), 1-6, 6-4, 7-5
Doubles – Order of finish (1, 3)
- Charlote Chavatipon/Sabina Zeynalova (UT) def. Angelica Blake/Alexis Blokhina (STAN), 6-2
- Marlee Zein/Nicole Khirin (UT) vs. Sara Choy/Alexandra Yepifanova (STAN), 4-4, unfinished
- Taisiya Pachkaleva/Nicole Rivkin (UT) def. Connie Ma/Valencia Xu (STAN), 6-3
Players Mentioned
