The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Baylor
No. 10 Women’s Tennis preview: ITA Kickoff Weekend
01.25.2024 | Women's Tennis
The Longhorns host Baylor, Florida State and SMU from Jan. 26-27 beginning with a match against the Bears on Friday at 1 p.m. CT.
No. 10 Women's Tennis preview: ITA Kickoff Weekend
Team Records: Texas (0-1, 0-0 Big 12), Baylor (0-1, 0-0 Big 12), Florida State (1-0, 0-0 ACC), SMU (1-2, 0-0 AAC)
Where: Texas Tennis Center, Austin, Texas
Live Stats: https://hookem.at/WTN-Stats
Live Video: https://hookem.at/WTN-Watch
Broadcast: Cracked Racquets/ESPN+ (Alex Gruskin, pbp) - Texas vs. Baylor and Championship Match
Tournament Homepage: https://hookem.at/ITA-Kickoff-23
Tournament Schedule
Should play be forced indoors due to weather an alternate schedule will be posted and no live video will be available.
Friday, Jan. 26
No. 10 Texas vs. Baylor, 1 p.m., North Courts
Florida State vs. SMU, 4 p.m., North Courts
Saturday, Jan. 27
Texas-Baylor winner vs. Florida State-SMU winner, 3 p.m., TBD Courts
Texas-Baylor loser vs. Florida State-SMU loser, 3 p.m., TBD Courts
Notes
-ITA Kickoff Weekend
Texas is hosting an ITA Kickoff Weekend regional for the sixth-straight year with the last time not hosting being 2018 when the team traveled to Berkeley, Calif. During that trip, the Longhorns defeated Mississippi State and Cal to begin a 12-match winning streak in ITA Kickoff regionals that has led them to the ITA National Indoor Championships for the past six-straight years. In that stretch, Texas has faced Baylor three times (2019, '21, '23) and won all three contests. The Longhorns last loss in a regional came in 2017 when they were downed by UNC in Chapel Hill in the championship match.
-Baylor Series: Texas leads, 44-19
Texas leads the all-time series with Baylor, 44-19, dating back to 1983. In a series of streaks, the Longhorns won the first 29 contests, before the Bears broke through with one in 2005. Texas won later that year, but Baylor won the next 13, followed by one win for the Longhorns in 2012 and five for Baylor after that. Texas has since won the last 13 meetings, including two in Austin last sea-son, 6-1 to conclude the regular season and claim the Big 12 Championship, and 4-0 in the champi-onship match of last year's ITA Kickoff, which was played indoors.
Last Two Meetings
#10 Texas 6, #43 Baylor 1
Saturday, April 15, 2023
Texas Tennis Center • Austin, Texas
Singles – Order of finish (6, 3, 4, 2, 1, 5)
#91 Nicole Khirin (UT) def. #103 Alina Shcherbinina (BU), 2-6, 6-4, 6-4
#88 Charlotte Chavatipon (UT) def. Anita Sahdiieva (BU), 7-6 (2), 6-3
#113 Sabina Zeynalova (UT) def. #87 Isabella Harvison (BU), 6-1, 6-3
Liubov Kostenko (BU) def. Taisiya Pachkaleva (UT), 6-4, 6-2
Malaika Rapolu (UT) def. Daniella Dimitrov (BU), 1-6, 7-5, 6-3
Nicole Rivkin (UT) def. Paula Baranano (BU), 6-1, 6-0
Doubles – Order of finish (3, 1, 2)
#45 Charlotte Chavatipon/Sabina Zeynalova (UT) def. Daniella Dimitrov/Paula Baranano (BU), 6-2
Taisiya Pachkaleva/Nicole Rivkin (UT) def. Isabella Harvison/Anita Sahdiieva (BU), 6-3
Brooke Thompson/Alina Shcherbinina (BU) def. Nicole Khirin/Malaika Rapolu (UT), 6-0
#1 Texas 4, Baylor 0
Saturday, January 28, 2023
Weller Tennis Center • Austin, Texas
Singles – Order of finish (4, 5, 6)
Nicole Khirin (UT) vs. Alina Shcherbinina (BU), 6-4, 3-2, unf.
Charlotte Chavatipon (UT) vs. Isabella Harvison (BU), 6-1, 5-2, unf.
Sabina Zeynalova (UT) vs. Anita Sahdiieva (BU), 7-5, 0-1, unf.
#85 Malaika Rapolu (UT) def. Paula Baranano (BU), 6-0, 6-0
Taisiya Pachkaleva (UT) def. Daniella Dimitrov (BU), 6-1, 6-2
Nicole Rivkin (UT) def. Danielle Tuhten (BU), 6-1, 6-1
Doubles – Order of finish (1, 3, 2)
Daniella Dimitrov/Paula Baranano (BU) def. Charlotte Chavatipon/Nicole Khirin (UT), 6-4
Taisiya Pachkaleva/Nicole Rivkin (UT) def. Anita Sahdiieva/Alina Shcherbinina (BU), 7-6 (3)
Marlee Zein/Sabina Zeynalova (UT) def. Danielle Tuhten/Isabellar Harvison (BU), 7-6 (2)
-Texas vs. Baylor in 2023-24 tournament play
ITA Texas Regionals
3 seed #74 Charlotte Chavatipon (UT) def. 2 seed #59 Isabella Harvison (BU), 6-3, 6-3
2 seed #59 Isabella Harvison (BU) def. 10 seed Vivian Ovrootsky (UT), 2-6, 7-6 (2), 6-2
-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 went up one spot to No. 6 on January 17 before moving to No. 10 on January 24. 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
Baylor
Singles
No. 102 Zuzanna Kubacha
Doubles
No. 51 Lyubov Kostenko/Daniella Dimitrova
-Strange things afoot in California
The Longhorns traveled to Los Angeles with intensions of playing two matches against No. 16 UCLA and No. 21 USC on Jan. 19 and 21, respectively, however in challenging circumstances, only the match against the Bruins was played, and during that, Texas found itself extremely shorthanded in a 5-2 defeat. Due to illness within the team, Texas was able to fight its way through doubles against the Bruins, falling in a tiebreaker in the third and deciding match, but then was forced to remove two players from singles, leading to an adjusted lineup with two forfeits and a 3-0 deficit before singles play even began. The Longhorns still managed to win two singles contests by Malaika Rapolu and Taisiya Pachkaleva at Nos. 2 and 3, but came up short at Nos. 1 and 4. The match at USC was then postponed due to inclement weather and is planned for a February 25 make-up date.
-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 165-42 (.797) mark in his nine years at Texas. During his 17 seasons as a collegiate head coach, he has tallied a 296-103 (.742) 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
