The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
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TCU
No. 12 Women’s Tennis defeats No. 49 TCU, 4-1
04.21.2023 | Women's Tennis
The Longhorns advance to the Big 12 Championship semifinals on Saturday to face No. 18 Oklahoma State.
LAWRENCE, Kan. — The No. 12 University of Texas Women's Tennis team earned a 4-1 victory over No. 49 TCU in the Big 12 Championship quarterfinals on Friday afternoon at the Jayhawk Tennis Center. With the win against the Horned Frogs (13-9), the Longhorns (19-4) advance to the Big 12 Championship semifinals and will face No. 18 Oklahoma State on Saturday, April 22 at 3 p.m. Central.
In Friday's quarterfinal matchup against TCU, Texas took an early 1-0 lead after claiming the doubles point. The duo of junior Taisiya Pachkaleva and freshman Nicole Rivkin posted a 6-0 shutout on court 2 over Helena Narmont and Yu-Chin Tsai. Pachkaleva and Rivkin improved to 15-5 overall in doubles this season, including a 13-5 mark in dual-match action.
The No. 54-ranked tandem of junior Charlotte Chavatipon and sophomore Sabina Zeynalova clinched the doubles point with a 6-3 victory on court 1 against Mercedes Aristegui and Jade Otway. Chavatipon and Zeynalova jumped out to a 3-0 advantage to take control of their match. Leading 4-2, Chavatipon and Zeynalova held serve on a deciding point to build a 5-2 cushion. After Aristegui and Otway held serve to pull to within 5-3, Chavatipon and Zeynalova held serve again to close out the match and move to 11-4 in dual-match doubles play this spring.
In singles action, TCU evened the overall dual-match score at 1-1 when Narmont posted a 6-1, 6-3 win on court 6 against junior Malaika Rapolu. The loss snapped a seven-match win streak in dual-match singles action for Rapolu, who fell to 22-8 overall in singles play this year.
The Longhorns responded with a pair of straight-set victories to grab a 3-1 lead in the match. No. 108 Zeynalova recorded a 6-4, 6-4 win on court 3 over Destinee Martins. Zeynalova won the opening three games of her first set and built a 5-2 advantage after breaking Martins on a deciding point. Martins answered with a service break and held serve to trim the margin to 5-4, but Zeynalova held serve to close out the opening set. Zeynalova jumped out to a 4-1 cushion in the second set, before Martins won three of the next four games to cut the deficit to 5-4. Zeynalova held serve to finish off the victory and improve to 14-3 in dual-match singles action this spring.
Pachkaleva added a 6-4, 7-5 win on court 4 against Tsai. Tied at 3-3 in the opening set, Pachkaleva held serve and claimed a service break to take a 5-3 advantage. Tsai answered with a service break on a deciding point to trim the margin to 5-4, before Pachkaleva responded with a service break to close out the first set. Pachkaleva built a 5-3 cushion in the second set, before Tsai won consecutive games to even the set at 5-5. Pachkaleva held serve in the following game and then finished off the match with a service break to move to 16-4 overall in singles play this year, including a 14-4 mark in dual-match action.
No. 92 freshman Nicole Khirin clinched the overall dual-match victory with a 6-1, 1-6, 6-2 victory on court 1 over Tiphanie Lemaitre. After splitting the first two sets, Khirin opened the third set by holding serve and earning a service break to grab a 2-0 lead. Lemaitre responded with a service break to cut the deficit to 2-1, before Khirin answered with a service break and held serve to build a 4-1 cushion. After Lemaitre held serve on a deciding point to make it 4-2, Khirin held serve and then closed out the match with a service break on a deciding point to improve to 11-5 in dual-match singles play this spring.
The remaining pair of singles matches featuring No. 97 Chavatipon (No. 2 singles) and Rivkin (No. 5 singles) were stopped in their respective third sets when Khirin clinched the overall dual-match victory.
In Saturday's semifinals, the Longhorns will face No. 4 seed (No. 18) Oklahoma State at 3 p.m. Central. The second semifinal will feature No. 2 seed (No. 14) Oklahoma against No. 3 seed (No. 11) Iowa State at 6 p.m. Central. Oklahoma State advanced to the semifinals with a 4-3 victory against No. 5 seed Texas Tech on Friday.
#12 Texas 4, #49 TCU 1
Singles – Order of finish (6, 3, 4, 1)
- #92 Nicole Khirin (UT) def. Tiphanie Lemaitre (TCU), 6-1, 1-6, 6-2
- #97 Charlotte Chavatipon (UT) vs. #114 Mercedes Aristegui (TCU), 1-6, 6-4, 3-2, unfinished
- #108 Sabina Zeynalova (UT) def. Destinee Martins (TCU), 6-4, 6-4
- Taisiya Pachkaleva (UT) def. Yu-Chin Tsai (TCU), 6-4, 7-5
- Nicole Rivkin (UT) vs. Jade Otway (TCU), 7-5, 2-6, 0-1, unfinished
- Helena Narmont (TCU) def. Malaika Rapolu (UT), 6-1, 6-3
Doubles – Order of finish (2, 1)
- #54 Charlotte Chavatipon/Sabina Zeynalova (UT) def. Mercedes Aristegui/Jade Otway (TCU), 6-3
- Taisiya Pachkaleva/Nicole Rivkin (UT) def. Helena Narmont/Yu-Chin Tsai (TCU), 6-0
- Nicole Khirin/Malaika Rapolu (UT) vs. Tiphanie Lemaitre/Destinee Martins (TCU), 4-4, unfinished
Players Mentioned
