The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
UCLA
No. 6 Women’s Tennis preview: at No. 16 UCLA
01.18.2024 | Women's Tennis
The Longhorns head to Los Angeles for two matches, starting with No. 16 UCLA on Friday, followed by No. 21 USC on Sunday.
No. 6 Women's Tennis preview: at No. 16 UCLA
Team Records: Texas (0-0, 0-0 Big 12), UCLA (0-0, 0-0 Pac-12)
When: Friday, January 19, 2024, 1:30 p.m. PT/3:30 p.m. CT
Where: Los Angeles Tennis Center, Los Angeles, Calif.
Live Stats: https://hookem.at/WTN-Stats
Live Video: https://hookem.at/WTN-Watch
Notes
-UCLA Series: Texas leads, 11-10
Texas leads the all-time series with UCLA, 11-10, however after regularly meeting in the mid-80s, late 90s and early 2000s, this will only be the third contest between the schools since 2005. The Longhorns won the last meeting in 2021, which took place at the ITA National Indoor Championships in Stillwater, Okla., by a score of 4-2 in a top-three matchup of No. 3 Texas versus No. 2 UCLA. The Bruins won by the same score in 2014, also at the ITA National Indoors, but in the Round of 16 and in Charlottesville, Va. The last contest in Los Angeles came in 2005, which UCLA won, 6-1.
Last Meeting
#3 Texas 4, #2 UCLA 2
Saturday, February 6, 2021
Greenwood Tennis Center • Stillwater, Okla. (ITA National Indoors Semifinals)
Singles – Order of finish (1, 4, 3, 2, 6)
#66 Peyton Stearns (UT) def. #9 Elysia Bolton (UCLA), 6-3, 6-2
#7 Abbey Forbes (UCLA) def. #5 Anna Turati (UT), 7-5, 6-1
#19 Jada Hart (UCLA) def. #94 Lulu Sun (UT), 1-6, 6-2, 6-4
#125 Charlotte Chavatipon (UT) def. Vivian Wolff (UCLA), 6-1, 6-4
Malaika Rapolu (UT) vs. Abi Altick (UCLA), 6-3, 5-7, 1-1, unf.
Kylie Collins (UT) def. Annette Goulak (UCLA), 7-5, 7-6 (7-1)
Doubles – Order of finish (3, 2, 1)
Kylie Collins/Lulu Sun (UT) def. #1 Elysia Bolton/Jada Hart (UCLA), 6-4
#48 Fernanda Labraña/Anna Turati (UT) def. Annette Goulak/Vivian Wolff (UCLA), 6-3
Abi Altick/Taylor Johnson (UCLA) def. Marta Perez Mur/Charlotte Chavatipon (UT), 6-2
-Texas vs. UCLA in 2023-24 tournament play
N/A
-ITA Team Rankings
Texas picked up where it left off last season at No. 7 in the preseason coaches poll released January 3 by the ITA and moved up one spot to No. 6 in the most recent release on January 17. The Longhorns have finished each of the last six 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, No. 1 in both 2021 and 2022, and No. 7 in 2023.
-ITA Individual National Rankings
Three UT singles players are included in the post-fall ITA national Top 125 singles rankings (Nov. 15): Tanya Sasnouskaya (No. 20), Malaika Rapolu (No. 45), Charlotte Chavatipon (No. 106), while one doubles pair is included in the current ITA national Top 60 doubles rankings: Charlotte Chavatipon and Tanya Sasnouskaya (No. 46). A second pair of Taisiya Pachkaleva and Nicole Rivkin is also currently listed in the rankings, however Rivkin elected to turn pro prior to the spring.
Texas
Singles
No. 20 Tanya Sasnouskaya
No. 45 Malaika Rapolu
No. 106 Charlotte Chavatipon
Doubles
No. 46 Tanya Sasnouskaya/Charlotte Chavatipon
UCLA
Singles
No. 99 Ahmani Guichard
Doubles
N/A
-Back in 2024
Texas returns seven players from its 2023 squad that won a share of the Big 12 Regular Season Championship, its third-straight Big 12 tournament title and advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight for the third-straight year. Included in that group is sophomore Susanna Brass, senior Charlotte Chavatipon, senior Gabby Cusano, sophomore Vivian Ovrootsky, senior Taisiya Pachkaleva, senior Malaik Rapolu and junior Sabina Zeynalova. Taisiya Pachkaleva was tabbed the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, Charlotte Chavatipon was 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. In addition, Zeynalova claimed Big 12 individual champion honors at No. 3 singles (5-1) and Pachkaleva was named the Big 12 individual champion at No. 4 singles (5-2). Year. Pachkaleva became just the third Longhorn in league history to earn Newcomer of the Year honors and first since the 2007, joining a group of former UT winners that includes Vanja Corovic (2007) and Vladka Uhlirova (2000).
-New faces in 2024
Several newcomers join the team, including Tanya Sasnouskaya, who is a graduate transfer from Old Dominion and is from Minsk Belarus and arrived for the fall semester. As a senior at Old Dominion in 2023, Sasnouskaya advanced to the second round of the NCAA Singles Championship and was No. 25 in the final ITA national singles rankings. She went undefeated in Sun Belt Conference play in singles and earned Sun Belt Player of the Year and first-team All-Sun Belt singles accolades. She also advanced to the second round of the NCAA Doubles Championship and was No. 26 in the final ITA national doubles rankings. Three freshmen will also be on the roster, including Charlotte Kempenaers-Pocz from Glengowrie, Australia; Shachf Lieberman from Modiin Israel; and Maddy MacNeille from Delray Beach, Fla. Kempenaers-Pocz is one of the top juniors players in the world with a career high ranking of No. 35, while she has also been ranked as high as No. 760 in singles and No. 447 in doubles by the WTA, while Lieberman has held a career-high juniors ranking of No. 358, and career-high WTA rankings of No. 1239 in singles and No. 1380 in doubles.
-Fall Wrap-Up
The Longhorns won several titles in the fall, highlighted by Malaika Rapolu taking the singles title at the ITA Texas Regionals prior to reaching the round of 16 at ITA Fall Nationals. It marked the 13th consecutive year head coach Howard Joffe has had a singles finalist or winner at the Texas Regionals with nine straight at Texas and the previous four at Texas A&M. At the 2023 tournament, Joffe had both, as Charlotte Chavatipon also made the singles final. Not only that, but the duo of Tanya Sasnouskaya and Sabina Zeynalova were doubles finalists. Rapolu also claimed the singles and doubles titles at the River Oaks Invitational to start the fall, partnering with Vivian Ovrootsky for that doubles championship. Meanwhile, Ovrootsky had singles success, as well, taking the title of the Texas A&M Invitational and reaching the final of the USTA SoCal Intercollegiate Championships. Overall, the Longhorns posted a 50-34 singles record in fall play, and an 18-11 doubles mark. Rapolu and Ovrootsky led the way in singles, registering 17-3 and 11-6 records, respectively. They also combined for a 9-4 record in doubles.
-Back in the Quarterfinals, Again
The Longhorns earned their third straight and 13th all-time appearance in the NCAA quarterfinals last season. Texas has now earned trips to the 'Elite Eight' in 1984, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2005, 2021, 2022 and 2023.
-Peaking at the Right Time
The Longhorns closed 2023 having won 14 of their last 16 matches dating back to a 6-1 win at K-State on March 19. Twelve of those 14 victories came 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). Texas only lost to eventual National Champion and No. 1 North Carolina in the NCAA Quarters.
-2023 Big 12 Champs
The Longhorns earned a share of the Big 12 regular-season championship with Oklahoma in 2023, 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).
-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 Nine
Head Coach Howard Joffe is in his ninth 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 six 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, No. 1 in both 2021 and 2022 and No. 7 in 2023. 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 165-41 (.801) mark in his nine years at Texas. During his 17 seasons as a collegiate head coach, he has tallied a 296-102 (.744) 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
