The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
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Iowa State
No. 14 Women’s Tennis preview: No. 6 Iowa State and No. 72 West Virginia
03.23.2023 | Women's Tennis
The Longhorns continue Big 12 Conference play with a pair of home matches on Friday (Iowa State) and Sunday (West Virginia).
No. 14 TEXAS (12-3, 3-1 Big 12) vs. No. 6 Iowa State (12-2, 2-0 Big 12)
When: Friday, March 24 (2 p.m. CT)
Where: Texas Tennis Center (Austin, Texas)
Live Video: www.hookem.at/WTen-Watch
Live Stats: www.hookem.at/WTen-Stats
No. 14 TEXAS (12-3, 1-1 Big 12) vs. No. 72 West Virginia (11-4, 1-1 Big 12)
When: Sunday, March 26 (10 a.m. CT)
Where: Texas Tennis Center (Austin, Texas)
Television: Longhorn Network (Kris Budden, pxp; Luke Jensen, analyst)
Live Stats: www.hookem.at/WTen-Stats
Team Rankings: Texas is No. 14 in the latest ITA Collegiate Tennis rankings sponsored by Tennis-Point (Mar. 21). UT earned the No. 1 spot in last year's final poll and was No. 1 in the first four polls this season (Jan. 4, Jan. 18, Jan. 25 and Feb. 1). Texas has finished each of the last five years in the Top 10 of the final ITA national polls. UT earned a No. 6 ranking in 2018, No. 9 in 2019, No. 4 in 2020 and No. 1 in both 2021 and 2022.
Individual Rankings: Four UT players are included in the current ITA national Top 125 singles rankings (Mar. 21): Charlotte Chavatipon (No. 66), Nicole Khirin (No. 76), Marlee Zein (No. 104) and Sabina Zeynalova (No. 110). Two doubles pairs are included in the current ITA national Top 80 doubles rankings (Mar. 21): Charlotte Chavatipon and Sabina Zeynalova (No. 41) and Marlee Zein and Nicole Khirin (No. 48).
Dual-Match Success: Texas players have registered a 54-19 (.740) mark in dual-match singles play and a 24-11 (.686) record in dual-match doubles action entering Friday's match against Iowa State. Leading the way on the singles courts for the Longhorns in dual matches are Sabina Zeynalova (9-2), Taisiya Pachkaleva (9-2) and Charlotte Chavatipon (10-3). The tandem of Marlee Zein and Nicole Khirin have posted a 4-1 mark in doubles in dual matches. Chavatipon and Zeynalova have registered a 7-2 record, and Pachkaleva and Nicole Rivkin have tallied a 7-4 mark in dual-match doubles.
Khirin On The Top Line: Freshman Nicole Khirin has hit the ground running in her first season on the Forty Acres. After playing in professional/ITF events during the fall, she has registered a 6-2 dual-match singles mark this spring (all at No. 1 singles) and is No. 76 in the current ITA national singles rankings. The native of Rishon LeZion, Israel carries a streak of five-straight singles wins into Friday's match. She is the ONLY player in the Big 12 to be undefeated on the No. 1 singles court (4-0). Khirin won the 2021 Israeli National Singles Championship and is a member of Israel's Billie Jean King Cup team (formerly Federation Cup). She has registered one ITF single title, winning the 15K event in Heraklion, Greece in December 2021, and has captured three ITF doubles championships, including the 25K crown in Akko, Israel in May 2022. This fall during her first semester on campus, Khirin advanced to the main draw singles semifinals at the ITF 25K event in Austin at the Texas Tennis Center before falling to eventual singles champion and former UT star Peyton Stearns.
Charlotte's Web: A key piece in UT's run to the NCAA team title in each of the last two seasons, junior Charlotte Chavatipon has posted an 11-5 overall mark in singles play this year, including a 10-3 record in dual-match action and is No. 66 in the latest ITA national singles rankings. During her sophomore campaign, Chavatipon went 21-11 overall in singles, including a 17-9 mark in dual-match play (14-4 on court 4). She was very successful on the doubles court, posting a 29-6 overall record with a 22-4 mark in dual-match action. Chavatipon claimed All-Big 12 second-team honors in both singles and doubles. As a freshman, Chavatipon posted a 28-1 overall singles mark (25-1 in dual-match play) and ended the season by winning her final 18 singles matches. She earned All-Big 12 singles second-team honors and paired with Peyton Stearns to claim All-Big 12 doubles second-team accolades.
Chavatipon Claims Big 12 Honor: Charlotte Chavatipon was named the Big 12 Conference Women's Tennis Player of the Week (Jan. 24), marking the first weekly conference honor of her career. She posted a perfect 5-0 individual record, including a 3-0 mark in singles and a 2-0 record in doubles play against North Texas (Jan. 20), SMU (Jan. 21) and Tulane (Jan. 22). She played at the No. 1 line in all three singles matches and won all three in straight sets, surrendering just 13 games in six sets played. Her singles action was highlighted by a 6-4, 6-2 victory against No. 113 Hadley Doyle of SMU. On the doubles front, Chavatipon teamed with Sabina Zeynalova at the No. 1 line and earned a 2-0 record. The duo's weekend was highlighted by a dominant 6-1 victory against SMU's No. 32-ranked tandem of Jackie Nylander and Taylor Johnson (Jan. 21).
Sabina's Success Story: A consistent force in singles as a freshman last season during UT's run to the NCAA team title, sophomore Sabina Zeynalova has posted a 10-4 overall mark in singles play this year, including a 9-2 record in dual-match action and is No. 110 in the latest ITA national singles rankings. During her freshman season in 2021-22, she registered a 23-1 overall singles mark (all in dual matches), including a 16-1 mark at the No. 3 singles line. Zeynalova was named to the All-Big 12 singles second team, the league's six-person All-Freshman team and was tabbed the Big 12 individual champion at No. 3 singles (7-0 in league play).
Pachkaleva Makes Immediate Impact: A two-year star at Pepperdine and native of Moscow, Russia, junior Taisiya Pachkaleva has tallied an 11-2 overall singles record (9-2 in dual-match play) this season in her first year on the Forty Acres. During her two seasons with the Waves, Pachkaleva registered a 45-10 career singles mark (37-8 dual-match) and a 34-16 career doubles record (31-13 dual-match). A two-time All-West Coast Conference selection in singles and two-time ITA Scholar-Athlete selection, she helped lead Pepperdine to the NCAA Championship Match as a freshman in 2021 and the NCAA Quarterfinals as a sophomore in 2022.
Rapolu's Return: Junior Malaika Rapolu has posted a 17-7 overall singles record (tied for the most singles win on the team with Marlee Zein), including a 9-4 mark in dual-match action this season. During her sophomore season in 2021-22, she finished the year at No. 99 in the final ITA national singles rankings after registering a 13-7 overall singles mark, including a 6-3 record in dual-match play. As a freshman in 2020-21, Rapolu posted a 26-3 overall singles record, including a 19-2 mark in dual-match play, and was named the Big 12 individual champion at No. 6 singles (6-0 mark in league play).
ITA Texas Regional Champion: Malaika Rapolu captured the ITA Texas Regionals singles title in Fort Worth earlier this fall (Sept. 23-26). The third seed in the 64-player singles field, Rapolu won six consecutive matches over a span of four days en route to earning the title. She won five of her six matches in straight sets, as she was only pushed to a third set during her semifinal victory over SMU's Hadley Doyle. Rapolu defeated teammate Marlee Zein in the singles championship match by a score of 6-4, 6-3.
Rivkin Running Her Own Race: Freshman Nicole Rivkin has tallied a 9-5 overall singles record, including a 7-4 mark in dual-match action, in her first season as a Longhorn. Prior to coming to Texas, the native of Bremen, Germany won four ITF junior singles and four ITF junior doubles titles. She also advanced to the singles final at the ITF 15K in Amines, France in March 2022.
Zein Shining Back In The Lone Star State: A four-year starter at the University of Florida, graduate transfer Marlee Zein (pronounced: ZAIN) has registered a 17-6 overall singles mark (tied for the most singles wins on the team with Malaika Rapolu), including a 4-1 record in dual-match play, this season for the Longhorns. She also has a team-best 13 wins on the doubles court (13-5 overall record). A native of Sugar Land, Texas, Zein advanced to the main draw singles championship match at the ITA Texas Regionals in Fort Worth earlier this fall (Sept. 23-26) before falling to teammate Malaika Rapolu. During her four previous years with the Gators, she registered a 57-50 career singles mark (35-28 dual-match) and a 66-50 career doubles record (39-31 dual-match). Zein was an ITA All-American in doubles in 2021 and a two-time All-SEC second-team selection. She also was a three-time ITA Scholar Athlete and a three-time SEC Community Service Team honoree.
Back-to-Back NCAA Team Championships: Texas posted a 26-4 dual-match record during the 2022 season and captured their second-straight and fourth NCAA team title in program history with a 4-1 victory against Oklahoma in the championship match. UT previously won NCAA Championships in 1993, 1995 and 2021. The Longhorns joined Stanford and Florida as the only schools to repeat as NCAA Division I Women's Tennis national champions since 1982.
Big 12 Preseason Favorite: Texas is picked to win the Big 12 Conference title in a preseason vote of the league coaches. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own teams. UT was selected as the preseason Big 12 favorite for a fifth-consecutive year and sixth time in the poll's history. Texas received eight of a possible nine first-place votes and 80 points in polling for the upcoming 2023 season. Oklahoma ranked second with 73 points and two first-place votes, while Oklahoma State was tabbed third with 61 points. Rounding out the poll in descending order are Iowa State (59), Kansas (46), Baylor (43), Texas Tech (33), TCU (29), Kansas State (16) and West Virginia (10).
Joffe in Year Eight: Head Coach Howard Joffe is in his eighth season leading the UT program. Under Joffe's leadership, Texas claimed back-to-back NCAA team championships in 2021 and 2022 and has finished each of the last five years in the top 10 of the final ITA national polls, earning year-end rankings of No. 6 in 2018, No. 9 in 2019, No. 4 in 2020 and No. 1 in both 2021 and 2022. The Longhorns also have captured three Big 12 regular-season championships (2018, 2019 and 2021) and three Big 12 postseason tournament titles (2018, 2021 and 2022) in the last five seasons.
The 2021 ITA Division I Women's National Coach of the Year, Joffe has registered a 153-39 (.797) mark in his eight years at Texas. During his 16 seasons as a collegiate head coach, he has tallied a 284-100 (.740) dual-match record. Peyton Stearns claimed the Honda Sport Award for Tennis and the ITA National Player of the Year in 2022. Joffe has helped five Longhorns earn a total of seven ITA All-America honors in singles (Breaunna Addison in 2016, Bianca Turati in 2018, Anna Turati and Bianca Turati in 2020, Stearns in both 2021 and 2022 and Kylie Collins in 2022) and two duos earn ITA All-America accolades in doubles (Kylie Collins and Lulu Sun in 2021 and Stearns and Allura Zamarripa in 2022). Stearns became the first player in program history to win the NCAA Singles Championship in 2022, while Collins and Sun reached the finals of the NCAA Doubles Championship in 2021. In addition, 14 players have registered a combined 19 All-Big 12 singles and 18 All-Big 12 doubles selections in Joffe's tenure in Austin.
Players Mentioned
