The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Baylor
No. 10 Women’s Tennis claims Big 12 regular-season title
04.15.2023 | Women's Tennis
The Longhorns top No. 43 Baylor, 6-1, to clinch at least a share of the Big 12 regular-season championship on Senior Day.
AUSTIN, Texas — The No. 10 University of Texas Women's Tennis team claimed a 6-1 victory over No. 43 Baylor on Saturday afternoon at the Texas Tennis Center. With the win against the Bears (15-12, 3-6 Big 12), the Longhorns (18-4, 8-1 Big 12) clinched at least a share of the Big 12 regular-season title.
Oklahoma enters its match on Sunday at Kansas with a 7-1 record in conference play. With a win on Sunday in Lawrence, the Sooners will share the regular-season crown with the Longhorns.
Texas has now captured 24 regular-season league titles in program history, including 12 in the Big 12 (1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001-co, 2002, 2004, 2007-co, 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2023) and 12 in the Southwest Conference (1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988-co, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995 and 1996).
Texas grabbed an early 1-0 cushion after claiming the doubles point. Baylor's duo of Brooke Thompson and Alina Shcherbinina posted a 6-0 victory on court 3 against the pair of freshman Nicole Khirin and junior Malaika Rapolu. The No. 45-ranked tandem of junior Charlotte Chavatipon and sophomore Sabina Zeynalova responded with a 6-2 win on court 1 over Daniella Dimitrov and Paula Baranano. Tied at 2-2, Chavatipon and Zeynalova held serve to build a 3-2 lead. Trailing 40-0 in the following game, the Texas duo fought back to earn a service break on a deciding point to go up 4-2. The Texas duo held serve again and then claimed another service break on a deciding point to close out the win and improve to 10-4 in dual-match doubles play this spring.
The tandem of junior Taisiya Pachkaleva and freshman Nicole Rivkin clinched the doubles point with a 6-3 victory on court 2 against the duo of Isabella Harvison and Anita Sahdiieva. Tied at 3-3, Pachkaleva and Rivkin held serve on a deciding point, earned a service break and followed by holding serve again on another deciding point to close out the win and move to 14-5 overall in doubles this year, including a 12-5 mark in dual-match action.
The Longhorns used a pair of straight-set wins in singles to increase their advantage to 3-0. Rivkin posted a dominant 6-1, 6-0 victory on court 6 against Baranano. Tied at 1-1 in her opening set, Rivkin won the next 11 games to finish out her win and improve to 16-5 overall in singles this year, including a 14-4 mark in dual-match play. No. 113 Zeynalova followed with an impressive 6-1, 6-3 win on court 3 over No. 87 Harvison. Zeynalova jumped out to a 4-0 advantage in her opening set before cruising to her 6-1 set victory. Trailing 2-1 in her second set, Zeynalova won three-straight games to take a 4-2 lead. After Harvison claimed the following game to pull to within 4-3, Zeynalova responded by holding serve and then earning a service break to close out her match and move to 13-3 in dual-match singles play this spring.
The Bears got on the scoreboard when Liubov Kostenko posted a 6-4, 6-2 victory on court 4 against Pachkaleva. No. 88 Chavatipon clinched the overall dual-match victory for the Longhorns with a 7-6 (7-2), 6-3 win on court 2 over Sahdiieva. In the first-set tiebreaker, Chavatipon jumped out to a 6-0 lead before Sahdiieva won consecutive points to trim the margin to 6-2. Chavatipon closed out the breaker on the following point. She raced to a 4-1 advantage in the second set, before Sahdiieva won back-to-back games to cut the deficit to 4-3. Chavatipon answered with a service break and then held serve in the following game to finish off the victory and improve to 14-5 in dual-match singles action this spring.
Playing out the remaining pair of singles matches, No. 91 Khirin rallied for a 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 win on court 1 against No. 103 Shcherbinina. After dropping the opening set and facing a 4-1 deficit in the second set, Khirin earned a service break on a deciding point and followed by winning the next four games to take a 6-4 second-set win. Khirin recorded three-straight service breaks to close out the second set, winning each of those games on a deciding point. Khirin later faced a 4-2 deficit in the third set before rattling off four-straight games to close out her victory and move to 10-5 in dual-match singles play.
Rapolu closed out Saturday's action with a 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory on court 5 over Dimitrov. After dropping her opening set and facing a 5-3 deficit in the second set, Rapolu rallied to win four-straight games to earn a 7-5 second-set win and even the match. She jumped out to a 4-0 advantage in the third set, before Dimitrov claimed consecutive games to trim the deficit to 4-2. Rapolu held serve for a 5-2 advantage, and Dimitrov answered with a service hold of her own to pull to within 5-3. Rapolu closed out the victory by holding serve on a deciding point to improve to 22-7 overall in singles this season, including a 14-4 mark in dual-match action.
Saturday's match also marked Senior Day for the Longhorns. The UT program honored senior Gabby Cusano, a four-year member of the team, with a ceremony on the court following the conclusion of the victory against Baylor.
Texas has clinched the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Big 12 Championships, set for Thursday, April 20 through Sunday, April 23 in Lawrence, Kan. The Longhorns have earned a bye in the opening round and will begin play at the Big 12 Championships in the quarterfinal round on Friday, April 21 (opponent and time TBD).
#10 Texas 6, #43 Baylor 1
Singles – Order of finish (6, 3, 4, 2, 1, 5)
- #91 Nicole Khirin (UT) def. #103 Alina Shcherbinina (BU), 2-6, 6-4, 6-4
- #88 Charlotte Chavatipon (UT) def. Anita Sahdiieva (BU), 7-6 (7-2), 6-3
- #113 Sabina Zeynalova (UT) def. #87 Isabella Harvison (BU), 6-1, 6-3
- Liubov Kostenko (BU) def. Taisiya Pachkaleva (UT), 6-4, 6-2
- Malaika Rapolu (UT) def. Daniella Dimitrov (BU), 1-6, 7-5, 6-3
- Nicole Rivkin (UT) def. Paula Baranano (BU), 6-1, 6-0
Doubles – Order of finish (3, 1, 2)
- #45 Charlotte Chavatipon/Sabina Zeynalova (UT) def. Daniella Dimitrov/Paula Baranano (BU), 6-2
- Taisiya Pachkaleva/Nicole Rivkin (UT) def. Isabella Harvison/Anita Sahdiieva (BU), 6-3
- Brooke Thompson/Alina Shcherbinina (BU) def. Nicole Khirin/Malaika Rapolu (UT), 6-0
Players Mentioned
