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No. 4 Women’s Tennis edged at No. 3 Stanford, 4-3
02.23.2024 | Women's Tennis
The Longhorns led the overall match, 2-0, before it went deep into the third set of the final singles contest when the Cardinal was able to prevail.
Stanford, Calif. – No. 4 Texas Women's Tennis (7-3) was edged by No. 3 Stanford (9-1), 4-3, Friday afternoon at the Taube Family Tennis Center in Stanford, Calif.
The overall match went deep into the third set of the final singles match before the Cardinal was able to prevail. After Texas secured the doubles point and senior No. 36 Malaika Rapolu was first off the singles court with her win at No. 3 for a 2-0 lead, Stanford took singles matches at Nos. 5, 2 and 1 for a 3-2 advantage. Sophomore No. 103 Vivian Ovrootsky equalized the overall contest with a victory at No. 6 before the Cardinal earned the final win at No. 4.
In doubles, the No. 11 pair of junior Sabina Zeynalova and senior Taisiya Pachkaleva gave Texas its first win of the day at No. 1 as they defeated the No. 46 duo of Angelica Blake and Alexis Blokhina, 6-1. Texas opened with consecutive deuce-point victories for a hold and a break to take a 2-0 lead before extended the lead to 4-0. Stanford managed to break to get one game back on a break, but Texas closed it out from there and took the 6-1 victory.
At No. 2, Rapolu and graduate Tanya Sasnouskaya fell to No. 41 Connie Ma and Alexandra Yepifanova, 6-2. Stanford opened with a break and a hold to take a 2-0 lead, which they maintained to 4-2 when they earned a deuce-point break for 5-2 and served out the match in the following game.
Minutes later at No. 3, Ovrootsky and senior Charlotte Chavatipon defeated Katerine Hui and Valencia Xu, 6-2, to clinch the doubles point for Texas. After Stanford broke to open the match and take a 1-0 lead, Texas answered by going on a 4-0 run. Stanford managed to get one game back for 4-2, but the Longhorns closed it out with a hold and a break to clinch the victory.
In singles play, Rapolu efficiently defeated No. 21 Alexandra Yepifanova, 6-1, 6-2, at No. 3. In the first set, Rapolu held and broke to open things before Yepifanova broke for 2-1. Rapolu got a deuce-point break in the next game that kicked off a 4-0 run to close out the first set. The second nearly played out the same way, with Rapolu getting off to a 2-0 lead before Yepifanova made it 2-1. This time, Rapolu went on a 3-0 run, but before she could close it out, Yepifanova managed a deuce-point hold for 5-2, but Rapolu served it out in the next game to get the win and give Texas a 2-0 overall lead.
At No. 5, Pachkaleva was downed by Katherine Hui, 7-6 (3), 6-3, with the first set turning into a thriller. After Hui got out to a 2-0 lead, Pachkaleva went on a 3-0 run. The next few games stayed on serve until Pachkaleva managed to earn another break for a 5-3 lead, but Hui earned a deuce-point break to stay alive and kick off a 3-0 run to take a 6-5 lead. At that point, Hui served for the set, but Pachkaleva broke to tie things, 6-6, and force a tiebreaker. In the breaker, Hui went on a 6-0 run. Pachkaleva fought back, earning three consecutive points, but the deficit was too much to overcome, and Hui took the first set 7-6 (3). In the second set, things began with a 2-2 tie after a deuce-point break from Pachkaleva, but Hui proceeded to go on a 3-0 run to make it 5-2. Pachkaleva got one game back, but Hui took the set, 6-3, to get Stanford on the board.
Next, No. 33 Sasnouskaya fell to No. 12 Connie Ma, 7-5, 6-1, on No. 2. Sasnouskaya earned a big deuce-point win to make it 5-2 and had the first set within her grasp, but Ma rallied for a hold, a deuce-point break and a deuce-point hold to get it back to 5-5. Ma then completed her run with another hold and break to end the first set on a 5-0 run and win it, 7-5, on a deuce point. In the second set, Ma's momentum continued. Ma got off to a 4-0 lead to extended her run to 9-0, and although Sasnouskaya got on the board with a hold for 4-1, Ma closed it out in the next two games to take the second set, 6-1, and get the win. Ma's win tied things up in the overall match 2-2.
Later on No. 1, No. 45 Blake earned Stanford's third consecutive singles victory by defeating No. 22 Zeynalova, 6-3, 0-6, 6-4. After going down 1-0, Zeynalova earned a deuce-point hold and a deuce-point break to take a 2-1 lead before Blake won a deuce point to tie things up at 2-2. After a sequence of holds gave Blake a 4-3 lead, Blake broke to make it 5-3. In the next game, Blake was able to serve for the set and capitalize, 6-3. The second set was a different story, as Zeynalova shutout Blake 6-0 while allowing only one game to go to deuce point. Zeynalova's swift second set victory forced a third set. Blake got out to a 3-0 lead in the third and never relinquished it. After Blake's hot start, Zeynalova answered with a hold and a break for 3-2, but that was as close as she'd come. After a sequence of holds, Blake won the third set, 6-4, and took the match to give Stanford a 3-2 lead.
On No. 6, No. 103 Vivian Ovrootsky defeated No. 82 Valencia Xu, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, to give Texas their third point. After Xu earned a deuce-point hold to open the first set at 1-0, Ovrootsky went on a 3-0 run. However, Xu earned a deuce-point hold, a break, and another hold as part of her own 3-0 run to get the lead back, 4-3. After that sequence, Ovrootsky went on her second 3-0 run of the set to win, 6-4. In the second set, Ovrootsky managed to take a 3-2 lead before Xu went on a 3-0 run to make it 5-3. Ovrootsky got one game back for 5-4, but Xu got a deuce-point hold in the game after to win the set, 6-4, and force a third set. Ovrootsky got out to a hot start in the third set by way of a 3-0 run, but Xu answered with her own 3-0 run before Ovrootsky held and broke to go up 5-3. Xu got a break back in the next game to make it 5-4, but Ovrootsky broke in the next game to close it out and win the set, 6-4.
With the match tied up, 3-3, it came down the battle on court No. 4 between No. 125 Chavatipon and No. 70 Blokhina. After Chavatipon took a 1-0 lead, Blokhina answered with a hold and a deuce-point break for a 2-1 lead. Chavatipon answered with a break and a hold to retake a 3-2 lead before Blokhina went on a 3-0 run for a 5-3 advantage. Chavatipon got one game back for 5-4, but Blokhina took the first set 6-4. In the second, Chavatipon jumped out to a 4-0 lead. However, Blokhina rallied with her own 4-0 run that included three deuce point wins at 4-1, 4-3 and 4-4. After both players held to make it 5-5, Blokhina broke for 6-5. Chavatipon managed to break back and force a second set tiebreaker, which she went on to win, 7-6 (5). In the decisive third set, Blokhina got off to a 3-0 start, but Chavatipon held her next serve for 3-1. Blokhina got a big-deuce point hold for 4-1, but Chavatipon answered with a hold and a break to inch closer and make it 4-3 before Blokhina broke on a deuce point to go up 5-3. Chavatipon then came up with clutch consecutive deuce-point wins to thwart Blokhinas efforts to close out the match and knot it up at 5-5, but Blokhina held in the next game and broke to take the third set, 7-5, to give Stanford the 4-3 victory.
Up next, the Longhorns will begin Big 12 Conference play by taking on Oklahoma on March 3 in Austin at the Texas Tennis Center.
#3 Stanford 4, #4 Texas 3
Singles – Order of Finish (3,5,2,1,6,4)
1. #45 Angelica Blake (STAN) def. #22 Sabina Zeynalova (TEXAS) 6-3, 0-6, 6-4
2. #12 Connie Ma (STAN) def. #33 Tanya Sasnouskaya (TEXAS) 7-5, 6-1
3. #36 Malaika Rapolu (TEXAS) def. #21 Alexandra Yepifanova (STAN) 6-1, 6-2
4. #70 Alexis Blokhina (STAN) def. #125 Charlotte Chavatipon (TEXAS) 6-4, 6-7 (5), 7-5
5. Katherine Hui (STAN) def. Taisiya Pachkaleva (TEXAS) 7-6 (3), 6-3
6. #103 Vivian Ovrootsky (TEXAS) def. #82 Valencia Xu (STAN) 6-4, 4-6, 6-4
Doubles – Order of Finish (1,2,3)
1. #11 Sabina Zeynalova/Taisiya Pachkaleva (TEXAS) def. #46 Angelica Blake/Alexis Blokhina (STAN) 6-1
2. #41 Connie Ma/Alexandra Yepifanova (STAN) def. Malaika Rapolu/Tanya Sasnouskaya (TEXAS) 6-2
3. Vivian Ovrootsky/Charlotte Chavatipon (TEXAS) def. Katherine Hui/Valencia Xu (STAN) 6-2
Players Mentioned
