The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Oklahoma State
No. 12 Women’s Tennis advances to Big 12 Championship final
04.22.2023 | Women's Tennis
The Longhorns rally for a 4-3 win over No. 18 Oklahoma State in the semifinals and will look to capture their third-straight Big 12 Tournament title on Sunday (4 p.m. CT).
LAWRENCE, Kan. — The No. 12 University of Texas Women's Tennis team rallied for a 4-3 victory against No. 18 Oklahoma State in the Big 12 Championship semifinals on Saturday afternoon at the Jayhawk Tennis Center. With the win against the Cowgirls (15-7), the Longhorns (20-4) advance to the Big 12 Championship finals and will face either No. 11 Iowa State or No. 14 Oklahoma on Sunday, April 23 at 4 p.m. CT.
UT, which shared the Big 12 regular-season title with Oklahoma, will be looking to claim its third-consecutive Big 12 Tournament title on Sunday. Texas has captured the Big 12 tourney championship a total of 12 times entering Sunday's match (1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2012, 2013, 2018, 2021 and 2022), with the last three coming under the leadership of head coach Howard Joffe. The Longhorns have amassed a total of 21 conference tournament titles in program history, as UT previously claimed nine Southwest Conference tourney crowns (1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995 and 1996).
In Saturday's semifinal matchup against Oklahoma State, Texas took an early 1-0 lead after claiming the doubles point. The pair of junior Taisiya Pachkaleva and freshman Nicole Rivkin tallied a 6-2 win on court 2 over Kristina Novak and Alana Wolfberg. Pachkaleva and Rivkin jumped out to a 4-0 advantage, before Novak and Wolfberg responded with a service break and held serve in the following game to trim the margin to 4-2. Pachkaleva and Rivkin held serve and closed out the match with a service break to improve to 16-5 overall in doubles this year, including a 14-5 mark in dual-match action.
Oklahoma State evened the count in doubles when the duo of Lucia Peyre and Sofia Rojas tallied a 6-3 victory on court 3 over the tandem of freshman Nicole Khirin and junior Malaika Rapolu. The No. 54-ranked pair of junior Charlotte Chavatipon and sophomore Sabina Zeynalova clinched the doubles point for the Longhorns with a 7-5 win on court 1 against the No. 14-ranked duo of Raquel Gonzalez and Ayumi Miyamoto. Tied at 5-5, Chavatipon and Zeynalova held serve to gain a 6-5 lead. Trailing 40-30 in the following game, the Texas duo won back-to-back points to earn the service break and finish out the victory. Chavatipon and Zeynalova moved to 12-4 in dual-match doubles play this spring with the win.
The Longhorns increased their lead to 2-0 when Rapolu posted a 6-4, 6-2 victory on court 6 over Gonzalez. Rapolu jumped out to a 4-1 advantage in her opening set, before Gonzalez won three of the next four games to pull to within 5-4. Rapolu held serve at-love in the following game to close out the first set. Trailing 2-1 in the second set, Rapolu won five-straight games to close out the match and improve to 23-8 overall in singles this season, including a 15-5 mark in dual-match play.
The Cowgirls responded with a trio of straight-set victories to grab a 3-2 lead in the match. Miyamoto claimed a 6-2, 6-4 win on court 4 against Pachkaleva, and Peyre followed with a 6-4, 6-2 victory on court 3 over No. 108 Zeynalova. Rojas added a 7-5, 6-4 win on court 5 against Rivkin.
Both of the remaining singles matches advanced to three sets, setting up for a dramatic finish. No. 92 Khirin evened the overall match score at 3-3 with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 win on court 1 over Novak. After dropping the opening set and trailing 1-0 in the second, Khirin won five-straight games to build a 5-1 advantage. Novak rallied to claim three-straight games and pull to within 5-4, but Khirin held serve to close out the set and force a decisive third frame. Khirin opened the set with a service break and held serve to take a 2-0 lead. Novak held serve on a deciding point to cut the deficit to 2-1, but Khirin held serve on a deciding point in the following game to grab a 3-1 cushion and won the next three games to finish off the victory and improve to 12-5 in dual-match singles play this spring.
No. 97 Chavatipon clinched the overall dual-match win with a 6-0, 5-7, 6-4 victory on court 2 against No. 112 Wolfberg. Chavatipon earned a 6-0 shutout in her opening set and had a 3-1 cushion in the second set, before Wolfberg responded by winning three-straight games to take a 4-3 lead. Both players held serve in the next three games to even the set at 5-5. Wolfberg held serve on a deciding point in the following game and earned a service break on a deciding point to close out the second set. Chavatipon opened the third set with a service break and jumped out to a 4-1 advantage. Wolfberg claimed a service break on a deciding point and then held serve on a deciding point to trim the margin to 4-3. Both players held serve in the next two games to make it 5-4, and Chavatipon held serve at-love to finish off the victory and send the Longhorns to the championship match. Chavatipon moved to 15-5 in dual-match singles play this spring.
Sunday's championship match will be streamed nationally by Big 12 Now/ESPN+.
#12 Texas 4, #18 Oklahoma State 3
Singles – Order of finish (6, 4, 3, 5, 1, 2)
- #92 Nicole Khirin (UT) def. Kristina Novak (OSU), 4-6, 6-4, 6-1
- #97 Charlotte Chavatipon (UT) def. #112 Alana Wolfberg (OSU), 6-0, 5-7, 6-4
- Lucia Peyre (OSU) def. #108 Sabina Zeynalova (UT), 6-4, 6-2
- Ayumi Miyamoto (OSU) def. Taisiya Pachkaleva (UT), 6-2, 6-4
- Sofia Rojas (OSU) def. Nicole Rivkin (UT), 7-5, 6-4
- Malaika Rapolu (UT) def. Raquel Gonzalez (OSU), 6-4, 6-2
Doubles – Order of finish (2, 3, 1)
- #54 Charlotte Chavatipon/Sabina Zeynalova (UT) def. #14 Raquel Gonzalez/Ayumi Miyamoto (OSU), 7-5
- Taisiya Pachkaleva/Nicole Rivkin (UT) def. Kristina Novak/Alana Wolfberg (OSU), 6-2
- Lucia Peyre/Sofia Rojas (OSU) def. Nicole Khirin/Malaika Rapolu (UT), 6-3
Players Mentioned
