The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
West Virginia
No. 14 Women’s Tennis sweeps No. 72 West Virginia, 7-0
03.26.2023 | Women's Tennis
The Longhorns win their fourth-straight match to improve to 14-3 overall and 5-1 in Big 12 play.
AUSTIN, Texas — The No. 14 University of Texas Women's Tennis team registered a 7-0 sweep against No. 72 West Virginia on Sunday at the Texas Tennis Center. The Longhorns (14-3, 5-1 Big 12) earned the doubles point and won all six singles matches in straight sets against the Mountaineers (11-6, 1-3 Big 12).
Texas grabbed a 1-0 lead after claiming the doubles point. The No. 41-ranked tandem of junior Charlotte Chavatipon and Sabina Zeynalova earned a 6-3 victory on court 1 over Camilla Bossi and Ting-Pei Chang. Leading 3-2 on serve, Chavatipon and Zeynalova posted a service break and held serve in the following game to build a 5-2 cushion. After Bossi and Chang held serve, Chavatipon and Zeynalova held serve to close out the match and move to 8-2 this spring in dual-match doubles play.
The No. 48-ranked duo of freshman Nicole Khirin and graduate Marlee Zein clinched the doubles point with a 6-4 win on court 2 against Momoko Nagato and Michaela Kucharova. Nagato and Kucharova jumped out to a 4-1 advantage, but Khirin and Zein responded with a service break in the next game to trim the margin to 4-2. From there, Khirin and Zein won the final four games to finish off the win and improve to 6-1 in dual-match play this spring (5-0 on court 2).
Junior Malaika Rapolu opened the action in singles with a 6-2, 6-1 victory on court 4 against Nagato. Rapolu raced out to a 5-1 lead in her opening set before closing out the 6-2 set win. She won the first four games of the second set and cruised to her victory to move to 19-7 overall in singles this season, including an 11-4 mark in dual-match play.
No. 76 Khirin gave the Longhorns a 3-0 advantage with a 6-3, 6-0 win on court 1 over Bossi. Khirin claimed four of the first five games in her opening set and later won the final seven games of the match to improve to 7-3 in dual-match singles action this spring.
No. 104 Zein clinched the overall dual-match win for Texas with a 6-1, 6-1 victory on court 6 against Tatiana Lipatova. After dropping the opening game of her match, Zein won 12 of the next 13 games to close out her victory and move to 19-6 overall in singles this year, including a 6-1 mark in dual-match play.
Playing out the remaining singles matches, No. 66 Chavatipon posted a 6-2, 6-0 win on court 3 against Kucharova. Tied at 2-2 in the opening set, Chavatipon rattled off the next 10-straight games to finish off her win and move to 12-3 in dual-match singles play this spring. No. 110 Zeynalova added a 6-2, 6-1 victory on court 2 over Chang. Zeynalova won four of the first five games in her opening set to cruise to the set win. Trailing 1-0 in the second set, she won six-straight games to improve to 11-2 in dual-match singles action this season.
Freshman Nicole Rivkin closed out Sunday's sweep with a 6-3, 6-1 win on court 5 against Maja Dodik. Trailing 3-2 in her opening set, Rivkin claimed 10 of the next 11 games to finish off her victory and move to 9-4 in dual-match singles play.
Texas returns to the court when it steps out of league play to host Brown on Tuesday, March 28. First serve is set for 2 p.m. Central at the Texas Tennis Center, and the match will be televised nationally by Longhorn Network.
#14 Texas 7, #72 West Virginia 0
Singles – Order of finish (4, 1, 6, 3, 2, 5)
- #76 Nicole Khirin (UT) def. Camilla Bossi (WVU), 6-3, 6-0
- #110 Sabina Zeynalova (UT) def. Ting-Pei Chang (WVU), 6-2, 6-1
- #66 Charlotte Chavatipon (UT) def. Michaela Kucharova (WVU), 6-2, 6-0
- Malaika Rapolu (UT) def. Momoko Nagato (WVU), 6-2, 6-1
- Nicole Rivkin (UT) def. Maja Dodik (WVU), 6-3, 6-1
- #104 Marlee Zein (UT) def. Tatiana Lipatova (WVU), 6-1, 6-1
Doubles – Order of finish (1, 2)
- #41 Charlotte Chavatipon/Sabina Zeynalova (UT) def. Camilla Bossi/Ting-Pei Chang (WVU), 6-3
- #48 Nicole Khirin/Marlee Zein (UT) def. Michaela Kucharova/Momoko Nagato (WVU), 6-4
- Malaika Rapolu/Nicole Rivkin (UT) vs. Maja Dodik/Tatiana Lipatova (WVU), 4-4, unfinished
Players Mentioned
