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No. 8 Women’s Tennis preview: No. 1 North Carolina (NCAA Quarterfinals)
05.15.2023 | Women's Tennis
The Longhorns face the Tar Heels in Lake Nona on Wednesday for a trip to the NCAA semifinals.
No. 8 TEXAS (24-4) vs. No. 1 North Carolina (32-1)
When: Wednesday, May 17 (5 pm ET/4 pm CT)
Where: USTA National Campus (Lake Nona, Fla.)
Live Video: www.hookem.at/WTen-Watch
Live Stats: www.hookem.at/WTen-Stats
Texas in the NCAA Championships: The No. 8 overall seed in the 2023 NCAA Championships, Texas is making its 38th NCAA Championship appearance in program history. The Longhorns have posted a 67-33 (.670) all-time record in NCAA Tournament play. Texas has captured NCAA team titles in 1993, 1995, 2021 and 2022 and posted NCAA runner-up finishes in 1992 and 2005.
Back in the Quarterfinals, Again: With their dramatic 4-3 victory over No. 9 Pepperdine on Saturday at the NCAA Austin Super Regional, the Longhorns earned their third straight and 13th all-time appearance in the NCAA quarterfinals. Texas has now earned trips to the 'Elite Eight' in 1984, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2005, 2021, 2022 and 2023.
Looking to Advance to the Final Four: Texas is seeking to claim its third straight and 10th all-time appearance in the NCAA semifinals with a win over North Carolina on Wednesday. The Longhorns have made nine previous trips to the 'Final Four' in program history (1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2005, 2021 and 2022).
Team Rankings: Texas is No. 8 in the latest ITA Collegiate Tennis rankings sponsored by Tennis-Point (May 4). UT earned the No. 1 spot in last year's final poll and was No. 1 in the first four polls this season (Jan. 4, Jan. 18, Jan. 25 and Feb. 1). Texas has finished each of the last five years in the Top 10 of the final ITA national polls. UT earned a No. 6 ranking in 2018, No. 9 in 2019, No. 4 in 2020 and No. 1 in both 2021 and 2022.
Individual Rankings: Four UT players are included in the current ITA national Top 125 singles rankings (May 4): Nicole Khirin (No. 74), Charlotte Chavatipon (No. 95), Sabina Zeynalova (No. 116) and Grace Thomas (121). One doubles pair is included in the current ITA national Top 90 doubles rankings (May 4): Charlotte Chavatipon and Sabina Zeynalova (No. 26).
Longhorns in the NCAA Singles and Doubles Draws: Charlotte Chavatipon and Sabina Zeynalova were selected to the 32-team draw at the 2023 NCAA Doubles Championship. The NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships will be held May 22-27 at the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona, Fla., after the conclusion of the team championship.
Peaking at the Right Time: Texas enters Wednesday's contest playing its best tennis of the season. The Longhorns have won seven straight and 14 of their last 15 matches dating back to a 6-1 win at K-State on March 19. Twelve of those 14 victories have come against opponents who were nationally ranked, including five top-25 foes. Texas recorded back-to-back 4-0 sweeps against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and No. 34 San Diego in the NCAA First and Second Rounds in Austin (May 5 and 6) before adding a 4-3 victory over No. 9 Pepperdine in the NCAA Austin Super Regional (May 13).
All-Big 12 Awards: The Longhorns had a total of five players claim spots on the All-Big 12 Conference awards teams. Nicole Khirin became the third student-athlete in Big 12 Women's Tennis history to earn both Player and Freshman of the Year honors in the same season. She joined Zuzana Zemenova (Baylor, 1995) and Petra Niedermayerova (K-State, 2011) as the only athletes to accomplish the feat. Taisiya Pachkaleva was tabbed the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year. Khirin and Charlotte Chavatipon were selected to the All-Big 12 singles first team, and Sabina Zeynalova was tabbed to the All-Big 12 singles second team. The duo of Chavatipon and Zeynalova were selected to the All-Big 12 doubles first team. Khirin and Nicole Rivkin were named to the league's six-person All-Freshman team. In addition, four Longhorns garnered recognition as the Big 12 individual champion in singles for having the most wins in league play at their respective spots. Khirin was named the Big 12 individual champion at No. 1 singles (7-2), and Zeynalova claimed the Big 12 individual champion honors at No. 3 singles (5-1). Pachkaleva was named the Big 12 individual champion at No. 4 singles (5-2), and Rivkin earned Big 12 individual champion accolades at No. 6 singles (6-2).
Big 12 CHAMPS: The Longhorns earned a share of the Big 12 regular-season championship with Oklahoma, as both Texas and Oklahoma posted 8-1 marks in league play during the regular season. The Longhorns claimed the No. 1 seed in the Big 12 Championship by virtue of their 5-2 win over the Sooners in Austin on March 10. Texas has now captured 24 regular-season league titles, including 12 in the Big 12 Conference (1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001-co, 2002, 2004, 2007-co, 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2023-co) and 12 in the Southwest Conference (1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988-co, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995 and 1996). The last four regular-season championships have come under the direction of head coach Howard Joffe.
Three-Peat as Big 12 Tournament CHAMPS: Texas claimed its third-consecutive Big 12 tourney title with a 3-0 mark in Lawrence, Kan. (April 20-23). The Longhorns topped No. 49 TCU (4-1) in the quarterfinals, No. 18 Oklahoma State (4-3) in the semifinals and No. 14 Oklahoma (4-2) in the championship match. UT won the championship for the fourth time in the last five events (won in 2018, 2021, 2022 and 2023; no tourney in 2020 due to COVID-19). Texas has captured the Big 12 Tournament championship title a total of 13 times (1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2012, 2013, 2018, 2021, 2022 and 2023), with the last four coming under the leadership of head coach Howard Joffe. The Longhorns have amassed a total of 22 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).
Big 12 Championship All-Tournament Team Honors: Texas had a league-best five selections to the 2023 Big 12 Championship All-Tournament Team. Nicole Khirin, who also earned recognition as the tournament's Most Valuable Player, claimed the honor at No. 1 singles, while Sabina Zeynalova received the award at No. 3 singles. Taisiya Pachkaleva claimed the honor at No. 4 singles, Nicole Rivkin garnered the accolade at No. 5 singles and Malaika Rapolu received the award at No. 6 singles.
Success in the Classroom: Charlotte Chavatipon, Malaika Rapolu and Sabina Zeynalova were selected to the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District Women's Tennis teams (May 9). The honor recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the court and in the classroom. The Academic All-District selections now advance to the CSC Academic All-America ballot which will be announced June 1. To be nominated, a student-athlete must be a starter or important reserve with at least a 3.50 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) and must have participated in at least 50-percent of the team's games. No student-athlete is eligible until he/she has completed one full calendar year at his/her current institution and been on a college roster in that sport for two years.
Dual-Match Success: Texas players have registered a 103-35 (.746) mark in dual-match singles play and a 46-19 (.708) record in dual-match doubles action entering Wednesday's contest. Six Longhorns have reached the 15-win mark in singles in dual matches, including Taisiya Pachkaleva (17-5), Malaika Rapolu (17-5), Nicole Khirin (16-5), Sabina Zeynalova (16-5), Charlotte Chavatipon (16-7), and Nicole Rivkin (15-6). On the doubles courts, the duos of Taisiya Pachkaleva and Nicole Rivkin (17-5) and Charlotte Chavatipon and Sabina Zeynalova (13-6) have paced the Longhorns in dual-match play.
Winning the Doubles Point: Texas has won the doubles point in 22 of its first 28 dual matches this season. The Longhorns are 21-1 this year when claiming the doubles point (lost 5-2 to then-No. 22 Stanford on Feb. 25). UT is 3-3 when dropping the doubles point this season.
Khirin on the Top Line: Freshman Nicole Khirin has hit the ground running in her first season on the Forty Acres. After playing in professional/ITF events during the fall, she has registered a 16-5 dual-match singles mark this spring (all at No. 1 singles) and is No. 74 in the current ITA national singles rankings. Khirin has won seven-straight singles contests entering Wednesday's match, including a 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-5) thriller over No. 34 Lisa Zaar in Saturday's NCAA Super Regional victory against Pepperdine. The native of Rishon LeZion, Israel tallied a 7-2 mark at the No. 1 line in Big 12 Conference play during the regular season. Khirin won the 2021 Israeli National Singles Championship and is a member of Israel's Billie Jean King Cup team (formerly Federation Cup). She has registered one ITF single title, winning the 15K event in Heraklion, Greece in December 2021, and has captured three ITF doubles championships, including the 25K crown in Akko, Israel in May 2022. This fall during her first semester on campus, Khirin advanced to the main draw singles semifinals at the ITF 25K event in Austin at the Texas Tennis Center before falling to eventual singles champion and former UT star Peyton Stearns.
Khirin Earns Big 12 MVP Honors: Nicole Khirin claimed Big 12 Championship Most Valuable Player recognition after posting a 3-0 mark at No. 1 singles during the tourney. She posted a 6-1, 1-6, 6-2 win against Tiphanie Lemaitre of TCU in the quarterfinals and followed with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 victory over Kristina Novak of Oklahoma State in the semifinals. Khirin added a dominant 6-2, 6-3 win against No. 52 Layne Sleeth of Oklahoma in the final.
Khirin Adds Pair of Big 12 Postseason Honors: Nicole Khirin was named Big 12 Player of the Year, becoming the second straight and seventh overall Longhorn to earn the prestigious accolade. Khirin joined a group of former UT winners that includes Peyton Stearns (2022), Bianca Turati (2018), Breaunna Addison (2014 and 2016), Janet Walker (2000), Sandy Sureephong (1997 and 1998) and Cristina Moros (1997, shared the award with Sureephong). Khirin also garnered Big 12 Freshman of the Year accolades, becoming the ninth Longhorn to claim the honor. She joined a group of former Texas winners that includes Peyton Stearns (2021), Bianca Turati (2017), Breaunna Addison (2013), Lina Padegimaite (2012), Aeriel Ellis (2010), Vanja Corovic (2007), Petra Dizdar (2004) and Kendra Strohm (2003).
Charlotte's Web: A key piece in UT's run to the NCAA team title in each of the last two seasons, junior Charlotte Chavatipon has posted a 17-9 overall mark in singles play this year, including a 16-7 record in dual-match action, and is No. 95 in the latest ITA national singles rankings. She tallied a 6-2 mark in Big 12 Conference play in the regular season. During her sophomore campaign in 2021-22, Chavatipon went 21-11 overall in singles, including a 17-9 mark in dual-match play (14-4 on court 4). She was very successful on the doubles court, posting a 29-6 overall record with a 22-4 mark in dual-match action. Chavatipon claimed All-Big 12 second-team honors in both singles and doubles. As a freshman in 2020-21, Chavatipon posted a 28-1 overall singles mark (25-1 in dual-match play) and ended the season by winning her final 18 singles matches. She earned All-Big 12 singles second-team honors and paired with Peyton Stearns to claim All-Big 12 doubles second-team accolades.
Chavatipon Claims Big 12 Honor: Charlotte Chavatipon was named the Big 12 Conference Women's Tennis Player of the Week (Jan. 24), marking the first weekly conference honor of her career. She posted a perfect 5-0 individual record, including a 3-0 mark in singles and a 2-0 record in doubles play against North Texas (Jan. 20), SMU (Jan. 21) and Tulane (Jan. 22). She played at the No. 1 line in all three singles matches and won all three in straight sets, surrendering just 13 games in six sets played. Her singles action was highlighted by a 6-4, 6-2 victory against No. 113 Hadley Doyle of SMU. On the doubles front, Chavatipon teamed with Sabina Zeynalova at the No. 1 line and earned a 2-0 record. The duo's weekend was highlighted by a dominant 6-1 victory against SMU's No. 32-ranked tandem of Jackie Nylander and Taylor Johnson (Jan. 21).
Sabina's Success Story: A consistent force in singles as a freshman last season during UT's run to the NCAA team title, sophomore Sabina Zeynalova has posted a 17-7 overall mark in singles play this year, including a 16-5 record in dual-match action, and is No. 116 in the latest ITA national singles rankings. She is 7-3 in singles against nationally-ranked opponents this season. Zeynalova tallied a 7-1 mark in Big 12 Conference play during the regular season. During her freshman season in 2021-22, she registered a 23-1 overall singles mark (all in dual matches), including a 16-1 mark at the No. 3 singles line. Zeynalova was named to the All-Big 12 singles second team, the league's six-person All-Freshman team and was tabbed the Big 12 individual champion at No. 3 singles (7-0 in league play).
Zeynalova Claims Big 12 Honor: Sabina Zeynalova was named the Big 12 Conference Women's Tennis Player of the Week (Mar. 28), marking the first weekly conference honor of her career. She posted a 2-0 singles mark and a 1-0 record in doubles while leading the Longhorns to home wins against No. 6 Iowa State (Mar. 24) and No. 72 West Virginia (Mar. 26). Zeynalova registered a pair of dominant straight-set wins in singles, only dropping a combined seven games over her two matches. During the 6-1 win against No. 6 Iowa State, Zeynalova posted a 6-1, 6-3 win on court 2 against No. 53 Ange Oby Kajuru. She also paired with Chavatipon and the duo led 5-3 on court 1 against the No. 52-ranked pair of Thasaporn Naklo and Anna Supapitch Kuearum before the match was halted. In the 7-0 sweep over No. 72 West Virginia, Zeynalova again paired with Chavatipon and posted a 6-3 win on court 1 against Camilla Bossi and Ting-Pei Chang. She returned to the courts in singles and completed the weekend with a 6-2, 6-1 victory on court 2 over Chang.
Pachkaleva Makes Immediate Impact: A two-year star at Pepperdine and native of Moscow, Russia, junior Taisiya Pachkaleva has tallied a 19-5 overall singles record (17-5 in dual-match play) this season in her first year on the Forty Acres. Pachkaleva rallied for an important 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 win on court 4 against Oklahoma's Alexandra Pisareva in the Big 12 Tournament final (Apr. 23) and added a dominant 6-1, 6-2 victory on court 4 over Pepperdine's Bunyawi Thamchaiwat in the NCAA Super Regional (May 13). She tallied a 5-2 mark in Big 12 Conference play in the regular season. During her two seasons with the Waves, Pachkaleva registered a 45-10 career singles mark (37-8 dual-match) and a 34-16 career doubles record (31-13 dual-match). A two-time All-West Coast Conference selection in singles and two-time ITA Scholar-Athlete selection, she helped lead Pepperdine to the NCAA Championship Match as a freshman in 2021 and the NCAA Quarterfinals as a sophomore in 2022.
Taisiya Earns Big 12 Postseason Honor: Taisiya Pachkaleva was named Big 12 Newcomer of the Year. She became just the third Longhorn in league history to earn the accolade and first since the 2007 season. Pachkaleva joined a group of former UT winners that includes Vanja Corovic (2007) and Vladka Uhlirova (2000).
Rivkin Running Her Own Race: Freshman Nicole Rivkin has tallied a 17-7 overall singles record, including a 15-6 mark in dual-match action, in her first season as a Longhorn. Rivkin provided the clinching point in UT's 4-2 win over No. 14 Oklahoma in the Big 12 Tournament championship match (Apr. 23) with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory on court 5 over Julia Garcia Ruiz. She tallied a 7-2 mark in Big 12 Conference play in the regular season. Prior to coming to Texas, the native of Bremen, Germany won four ITF junior singles and four ITF junior doubles titles. She also advanced to the singles final at the ITF 15K in Amines, France in March 2022.
Rapolu's Return: Junior Malaika Rapolu has posted a 25-8 overall singles record (leads the team in overall singles victories), including a 17-5 mark in dual-match action this season. She provided the clinching point in UT's NCAA Super Regional victory over No. 9 Pepperdine (May 13), rallying for a 2-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 win on court 6 against Anna Campana. Rapolu tallied a 6-1 mark in Big 12 Conference play in the regular season. During her sophomore season in 2021-22, she finished the year at No. 99 in the final ITA national singles rankings after registering a 13-7 overall singles mark, including a 6-3 record in dual-match play. As a freshman in 2020-21, Rapolu posted a 26-3 overall singles record, including a 19-2 mark in dual-match play, and was named the Big 12 individual champion at No. 6 singles (6-0 mark in league play).
ITA Texas Regional Champion: Malaika Rapolu captured the ITA Texas Regionals singles title in Fort Worth earlier this fall (Sept. 23-26). The third seed in the 64-player singles field, Rapolu won six consecutive matches over a span of four days en route to earning the title. She won five of her six matches in straight sets, as she was only pushed to a third set during her semifinal victory over SMU's Hadley Doyle. Rapolu defeated teammate Marlee Zein in the singles championship match by a score of 6-4, 6-3.
Back-to-Back NCAA Team Championships: Texas posted a 26-4 dual-match record during the 2022 season and captured their second-straight and fourth NCAA team title in program history with a 4-1 victory against Oklahoma in the championship match. UT previously won NCAA Championships in 1993, 1995 and 2021. The Longhorns joined Stanford and Florida as the only schools to repeat as NCAA Division I Women's Tennis national champions since 1982.
Joffe in Year Eight: Head Coach Howard Joffe is in his eighth season leading the UT program. Under Joffe's leadership, Texas claimed back-to-back NCAA team championships in 2021 and 2022 and has finished each of the last five years in the top 10 of the final ITA national polls, earning year-end rankings of No. 6 in 2018, No. 9 in 2019, No. 4 in 2020 and No. 1 in both 2021 and 2022. The Longhorns also have captured four Big 12 regular-season championships (2018, 2019, 2021 and 2023-co) and four Big 12 postseason tournament titles (2018, 2021, 2022 and 2023) in the last five opportunities (2020 season canceled due to COVID-19).
The 2021 ITA Division I Women's National Coach of the Year, Joffe has registered a 165-40 (.805) mark in his eight years at Texas. During his 16 seasons as a collegiate head coach, he has tallied a 296-101 (.746) dual-match record. Peyton Stearns claimed the Honda Sport Award for Tennis and the ITA National Player of the Year in 2022. Joffe has helped five Longhorns earn a total of seven ITA All-America honors in singles (Breaunna Addison in 2016, Bianca Turati in 2018, Anna Turati and Bianca Turati in 2020, Stearns in both 2021 and 2022 and Kylie Collins in 2022) and two duos earn ITA All-America accolades in doubles (Kylie Collins and Lulu Sun in 2021 and Stearns and Allura Zamarripa in 2022). Stearns became the first player in program history to win the NCAA Singles Championship in 2022, while Collins and Sun reached the finals of the NCAA Doubles Championship in 2021. In addition, 15 players have registered a combined 22 All-Big 12 singles and 20 All-Big 12 doubles selections in Joffe's tenure in Austin.
Players Mentioned
