The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
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USC
No. 1 Women’s Tennis defeats No. 24 USC, 6-1
02.04.2023 | Women's Tennis
Chavatipon and Zeynalova each record singles wins over Top-25 nationally-ranked opponents.
AUSTIN, Texas — The No. 1 University of Texas Women's Tennis team (6-0) claimed a 6-1 victory against No. 24 USC (5-2) on Saturday afternoon indoors at the Edgar O. and Melanie A. Weller Tennis Center. Junior Charlotte Chavatipon and sophomore Sabina Zeynalova posted individual wins in both singles and doubles action on Saturday to pace the Longhorns.
The Longhorns grabbed a 1-0 advantage after winning the doubles point. The duo of Chavatipon and freshman Nicole Khirin claimed a 6-1 victory on court 1 over Naomi Cheong and Snow Han. Cheong and Han won the opening game, but Chavatipon and Khirin answered by winning the next six games to close out the match. The tandem of graduate Marlee Zein and Zeynalova clinched the doubles point with a 6-3 win on court 3 against Grace Piper and Nathalie Rodilosso. Piper and Rodilosso held a 3-2 lead, before Zein and Zeynalova rallied to win four-straight games and finish the win.
In singles action, Zeynalova earned a dominant 6-1, 6-0 victory on court 3 over No. 17-ranked Han. Han won the opening game of the match, before Zeynalova responded by claiming the next 12 games. Chavatipon extended UT's lead to 3-0 with an impressive 6-4, 6-2 win on court 2 against No. 24 Eryn Cayetano. Cayetano held a 3-2 lead in the opening set, but Chavatipon answered by winning four of the next five games to take the 6-4 first-set victory. Trailing 1-0 in the second set, Chavatipon claimed five-straight games to build a 5-1 lead en route to her 6-2 second-set win.
Freshman Nicole Rivkin clinched the overall dual-match win for the Longhorns with a 6-2, 7-5 victory on court 6 over Piper. Tied at 2-2 in the opening set, Rivkin captured four-straight games to close out the first set. Rivkin held a 5-1 lead in the second set, before Piper won four-straight games to even the set at 5-5. Rivkin held serve to go up 6-5 and then earned a service break on a deuce point in the following game to finish the match.
Playing out the remaining singles matches, USC's No. 2-ranked Madison Sieg claimed a 6-4, 1-6, 6-0 win on court 1 over Khirin. Junior Taisiya Pachkaleva responded by rallying for an 0-6, 6-3, 6-1 victory on court 5 against No. 83-ranked Emma Charney. Tied at 2-2 in the second set, Pachkaleva won four of the next five games to close out the 6-3 set win. She won the opening four games of the third set en route to the 6-1 victory. Junior Malaika Rapolu concluded the action with a 4-6, 6-0, 7-6 (7-4) win on court 4 over No. 96-ranked Cheong. In the decisive third-set breaker, Cheong held a 2-1 lead before Rapolu claimed three-straight points to build a 4-2 advantage. Leading 5-4, Rapolu won back-to-back points to finish out her win.
The Longhorns return to action when they compete at the ITA National Team Indoor Championship on Feb. 10-13 (Friday-Monday) in Seattle, Wash.
#1 Texas 6, #24 USC 1
Singles – Order of finish (3, 2, 6, 1, 5, 4)
- #2 Madison Sieg (USC) def. Nicole Khirin (UT), 6-4, 1-6, 6-0
- Charlotte Chavatipon (UT) def. #24 Eryn Cayetano (USC), 6-4, 6-2
- Sabina Zeynalova (UT) def. #17 Snow Han (USC), 6-1, 6-0
- #85 Malaika Rapolu (UT) def. #96 Naomi Cheong (USC), 4-6, 6-0, 7-6 (7-4)
- Taisiya Pachkaleva (UT) def. #83 Emma Charney (USC), 0-6, 6-3, 6-1
- Nicole Rivkin (UT) def. Grace Piper (USC), 6-2, 7-5
Doubles – Order of finish (1, 3)
- Charlotte Chavatipon/Nicole Khirin (UT) def. Naomi Cheong/Snow Han (USC), 6-1
- Taisiya Pachkaleva/Nicole Rivkin (UT) vs. #20 Eryn Cayetano/Madison Sieg (USC), 4-4, unfinished
- Marlee Zein/Sabina Zeynalova (UT) def. Grace Piper/Nathalie Rodilosso (USC), 6-3
Players Mentioned
