The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Pepperdine
No. 8 Women’s Tennis defeats No. 9 Pepperdine, 4-3, in NCAA Round of 16
05.13.2023 | Women's Tennis
The Longhorns advance to the NCAA quarterfinals for the third-straight season and 13th time in program history.
AUSTIN, Texas — The No. 8 University of Texas Women's Tennis team (24-4) registered a thrilling 4-3 victory against No. 9 Pepperdine (20-4) in a NCAA Round of 16 match on Saturday afternoon indoors at the Edgar O. and Melanie A. Weller Tennis Center. In a match that was moved indoors due to rain and lasted three hours and 50 minutes, the Longhorns won the doubles point and received singles victories from junior Taisiya Pachkaleva, freshman Nicole Khirin and junior Malaika Rapolu to claim the dual-match win.
With the win, the Longhorns advance to face No. 1 North Carolina in the NCAA quarterfinals on Wednesday, May 17 (time TBD) at the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona, Fla. UNC posted a 4-1 home victory against No. 16 Florida on Friday to earn its spot in the Elite Eight. The quarterfinals, semifinals (Friday, May 19) and championship match (Saturday, May 20) of the NCAA Championship will all be held at the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona.
Texas earned its third consecutive and 13th all-time appearance in the NCAA quarterfinals in program history with Saturday's victory. The Longhorns have now earned trips to the 'Elite Eight' in 1984, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2005, 2021, 2022 and 2023.
The Longhorns grabbed a 1-0 advantage after claiming a lengthy doubles point. The tandem of Khirin and Rapolu earned a 6-2 victory on court 3 over Nikki Redelijk and Anna Campana. Khirin and Rapolu raced out to a 5-0 lead, before Redelijk and Campana won back-to-back games to trim the margin to 5-3. Khirin and Rapolu earned a service break in the following game to finish out the victory.
Pepperdine's top-ranked pair of Janice Tjen and Savannah Broadus responded with a 6-3 win on court 1 against the No. 26-ranked tandem of junior Charlotte Chavatipon and sophomore Sabina Zeynalova. Trailing 3-2, Chavatipon and Zeynalova earned a service break on a deciding point to even the set at 3-3. Tjen and Broadus answered with a service break on a deciding point and won the following two games to finish off their victory.
The duo of Pachkaleva and freshman Nicole Rivkin clinched the doubles point for the Longhorns by rallying for a 7-5 victory on court 2 over the No. 59-ranked pair of Lisa Zaar and Bunyawi Thamchaiwat. Trailing 5-4 and facing a 40-15 deficit, Pachkaleva and Rivkin saved three match points and earned a service break on a deciding point to even the set at 5-5. Pachkaleva and Rivkin held serve on a deciding point in the following game and then closed out the win with another service break to improve to 19-5 overall in doubles this year, including a 17-5 mark in dual-match action.
The Longhorns extended their advantage to 2-0 when Pachkaleva opened singles action with a dominant 6-1, 6-2 win on court 4 over Thamchaiwat. Leading 2-1 in her opening set, Pachkaleva won four-straight games to finish out the first-set win. She jumped out to a 3-0 advantage in the second set, before Thamchaiwat won two of the next three games to cut the deficit to 4-2. Pachkaleva claimed a service break on a deciding point in the following game and then held serve on a deciding point to close out the win and move to 19-5 overall in singles this season, including a 17-5 record in dual-match play.
No. 16 Tjen responded with a 7-5, 6-4 victory on court 3 against No. 116 Zeynalova to give the Waves their first team point of the match. Zeynalova jumped out to a 4-0 lead in her opening set, but Tjen rallied to win seven of the next eight games to close out the first set. Tied at 2-2 in the second set, Tjen claimed four of the next six games to finish off her win. The remaining four singles matches all advanced to a third set.
No. 74 Khirin increased UT's advantage to 3-1 with a 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-5) win on court 1 against No. 34 Zaar. Zaar held a 4-2 cushion in the decisive third set, before Khirin won four of the next five games to grab a 6-5 lead. Zaar saved a pair of match points in the following game to force a third-set tiebreaker. In the breaker, Zaar raced out to a 3-0 advantage before Khirin won three-straight points to even the breaker at 3-3. Later tied at 5-5, Khirin won back-to-back points to finish off her win and improve to 16-5 overall in singles action this year.
No. 19 Broadus rallied for a 6-7 (3-7), 6-1, 6-3 win on court 2 against No. 95 Chavatipon, and No. 117 Redelijk added a 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 victory on court 5 over Rivkin to even the overall match score at 3-3. That set the stage for the decisive match on court 6 featuring Rapolu against Anna Campana.
Campana earned a 6-2 win in the opening set, before a back-and-forth second set extended into a tiebreaker. Campana won the first point in the breaker, but Rapolu responded by claiming four-straight points to build a 4-1 cushion. Campana won back-to-back points to trim the margin to 4-3, before Rapolu claimed three-straight points to take a 7-3 win in the breaker.
After Campana won the opening game of the third set, Rapolu ran off four-straight games to take a 4-1 lead. Campana answered by winning back-to-back games to pull to within 4-3. Rapolu earned a service break on a deciding point in the following game to build a 5-3 cushion. Campana saved a match point in the next game and claimed a service break on a deciding point to make it 5-4. Rapolu then closed out the dual-match victory for the Longhorns by earning a service break and improved to 25-8 overall in singles this year, including a 17-5 record in dual-match play.
#8 Texas 4, #9 Pepperdine 3
Singles – Order of finish (4, 3, 1, 2, 5, 6)
- #74 Nicole Khirin (UT) def. #34 Lisa Zaar (Pepp), 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-5)
- #19 Savannah Broadus (Pepp), 7-6 (7-3) def. #95 Charlotte Chavatipon (UT), 6-7 (3-7), 6-1, 6-3
- #16 Janice Tjen (Pepp) def. #116 Sabina Zeynalova (UT), 7-5, 6-4
- Taisiya Pachkaleva (UT) def. Bunyawi Thamchaiwat (Pepp), 6-1, 6-2
- #117 Nikki Redelijk (Pepp) def. Nicole Rivkin (UT), 4-6, 6-4, 6-0
- Malaika Rapolu (UT) def. Anna Campana (Pepp), 2-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4
Doubles – Order of finish (3, 1, 2)
- #1 Janice Tjen/Savannah Broadus (Pepp) def. #26 Charlotte Chavatipon/Sabina Zeynalova (UT), 6-3
- Taisiya Pachkaleva/Nicole Rivkin (UT) def. #59 Lisa Zaar/Bunyawi Thamchaiat (Pepp), 7-5
- Nicole Khirin/Malaika Rapolu (UT) def. Nikki Redelijk/Anna Campana (Pepp), 6-2
Players Mentioned
