The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Texas A&M
No. 10 Women’s Tennis preview: vs. No. 9 Texas A&M (ITA Indoors Round of 16)
02.08.2024 | Women's Tennis
The Longhorns and Aggies will square off for the first time since 2019 on Friday in the ITA Indoors Round of 16 in Seattle.
No. 10 Women's Tennis preview: vs. No. 9 Texas A&M (ITA Indoors Round of 16)
No. 10 (6 seed) Texas vs. No. 9 Texas A&M
When: Friday, Feb. 9, 2024, 6:30 p.m. PT/8:30 p.m. CT
Where: Seattle Tennis Club, Seattle, Wash.
Team Records: Texas (4-1, 0-0 Big 12), Texas A&M (4-3, 0-0 SEC)
Live Stats: https://hookem.at/WTN-Stats
Live Video: https://hookem.at/WTN-Watch
Web Broadcast: Cracked Racquets (YouTube)
-Tournament Schedule
NTC (Nordstrom Tennis Center), STC (Seattle Tennis Center)
Friday, February 9 (Round of 16)
California vs. Michigan (4) (NTC) – 9 a.m. PT
Florida vs. Stanford (2) (STC) – 9 a.m. PT
Virginia vs. Pepperdine (5) (NTC) – 12 p.m. PT
Ohio State vs. Georgia (7) (STC) – 12 p.m. PT
USC vs. North Carolina (1) (NTC) – 3:30 p.m. PT
Auburn vs. Oklahoma State (3) (STC) – 3:30 p.m. PT
Washington vs. NC State (8) (NTC) – 6:30 p.m. PT
Texas A&M vs. Texas (6) (STC) – 6:30 p.m. PT/8:30 p.m. CT
Saturday, February 10 (Quarterfinals and Consolation)
Sunday, February 11 (Semifinals and Consolation)
Monday, February 12 (Finals)
Notes
-Seven-straight trips to the ITA National Indoor ChampionshipsIn winning the 2024 ITA Kickoff Weekend Texas Regional, the Longhorns advanced to the ITA National Indoor Championships for the seventh-straight year. Texas has reached the quarterfinals in four of those trips, including the last three (2019, 2021-23), while advancing all the way to the final in 2021 when they were edged by then No. 1 North Carolina, 4-3, in what would be the only loss of the season on the way to winning the first of back-to-back NCAA National Championships. That was UT's second all-time appearance in the final, along with 2006 against Stanford. The Longhorns have also won two matches in each of the last four tournaments, including consolation matches in 2020, 2022 and 2023 (2021 began in the quarters). Last season, after a Round of 16 win over host Washington, Texas fell to No. 14 Iowa State in the quarters before defeating No. 15 Oklahoma in a consolation match.
-Texas A&M Series: Texas leads, 49-10
Texas leads the all-time series with Texas A&M, 49-10, dating back to 1979, however the Aggies have won four of the last five meetings, which have all come in either ITA Indoors or NCAA Tournament play. The last two contests have been played at the Texas Tennis Center with Texas A&M winning, 4-1 in 2019 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, and Texas prevailing in the same scenario, 4-0 in 2018. The teams have met twice at the ITA Indoors, doing so in consecutive years in 2013 and 2014 with the Aggies winning, 4-2, in consolation play on both occasions.
Last Two Meetings
#18 Texas A&M 4, #9 Texas 2
Sunday, May 6, 2019
Austin, Texas • Texas Tennis Center (NCAA Second Round)
Singles – Order of finish (6-4-3-1)
#52 Katya Townsend (A&M) def. #28 Bianca Turati (UT), 6-3, 6-3
#38 Anna Turati (UT) vs. #75 Jayci Goldsmith (A&M), 5-7, 1-3, unf.
Tatiana Makarova (A&M) def. #54 Petra Granic (UT), 6-2, 6-4
Fernanda Labraña (UT) def. Renee McBryde (A&M), 6-4, 6-2
Katie Poluta (UT) vs. Riley McQuaid (A&M), 7-5, 3-3, unf.
Lucia Quiterio (A&M) def. Tijana Spasojevic (UT), 6-3, 6-3
Doubles – Order of finish (3-1)
#33 Tatiana Makarova/Jayci Goldsmith (A&M) def. #68 Anna Turati/Bianca Turati (UT), 6-3
Fernanda Labraña/Tijana Spasojevic (UT) vs. Katya Townsend/Renee McBryde (A&M), 6-5, unf.
Riley McQuaid/Lucia Quiterio (A&M) def. Petra Granic/Katie Poluta (UT), 6-3
#9 Texas 4, #30 Texas A&M 0
Saturday, May 12, 2018
Austin, Texas • Texas Tennis Center (NCAA Second Round)
Singles – Order of Finish: 3, 6, 5
1 No. 1 Bianca Turati (UT) vs. Domenica Gonzalez (TAMU), 6-6, unf.
2 No. 30 Anna Turati (UT) vs. No. 86 Macarena Olivares (TAMU), 6-3, 2-1, unf.
3 No. 64 Petra Granic (UT) def. Eva Paalma (TAMU), 6-3, 6-0
4 Bojana Markovic (UT) vs. Riley McQuaid (TAMU), 6-2, 2-4, unf.
5 Marta Perez-Mur (UT) def. Tatiana Makarova (TAMU), 6-3, 6-3
6 Dani Wagland (UT) def. Iulia Ivascu (TAMU), 6-2, 6-3
Doubles – Order of Finish: 2, 1
1 No. 55 Petra Granic/Bojana Markovic (UT) def. No. 62 Eva Paalma/Domenica Gonzalez (TAMU), 6-3
2 Marta Perez-Mur/Dani Wagland (UT) def. Tatiana Makarova/Macarena Olivares (TAMU), 6-3
3 Anna Turati/Bianca Turati (UT) vs. Iulia Ivascu/Riley McQuaid (TAMU), 5-3, unf.
-Texas vs. Texas A&M in 2023-24 tournament play
River Oaks Invitational
#99 Malaika Rapolu (UT) def. Jeanette Mireles (TAM), 6-1, 6-2
Kayal Gownder (TAM) def. Maddy MacNeille (UT), 6-2, 6-1
Vivian Ovrootsky (UT) def. Jeanette Mireles (TAM), 6-2, 6-2
Malaika Rapolu/Vivian Ovrootsky (UT) def. Jeanette Mireles/Lizanne Boyer (TAM), 6-3
Malaika Rapolu/Vivan Ovrootsky (UT) def. Jeanette Mireles/Gianna Pielet (TAM), 6-3
Wolfpack Invitational
#19 Mary Stoiana/Mia Kupres (TAM) def. #35 Tanya Sasnouskaya/Charlotte Chavatipon (UT), 7-5
Nicole Khirin/Daria Smetannikov (TAM) def. Tanya Sasnouskaya/Charlotte Chavatipon (UT), 6-3
ITA Texas Regionals
10 seed Vivian Ovrootsky (UT) def. Ellie Pittman (TAM), 6-4, 6-2
3 seed Malaika Rapolu/Vivian Ovrootsky (UT) def. Kayal Gownder/Avery Esquivel (TAM), 8-3
2 seed Tanya Sasnouskaya/Sabina Zeynalova (UT) def. 10 seed Sydney Fitch/Daria Smetannikov (TAM), 8-6
Texas A&M Invitational
Kayal Gownder (TAM) def. Maddy MacNeille (UT), 6-1, 6-1
#94 Daria Smetannikov (TAM) def. Vivian Ovrootsky (UT), 6-1, 5-7, 7-6 (7)
Jeanette Mireles (TAM) def. Taisiya Pachkaleva (UT), 7-6 (5), 7-6 (6)
Elise Robbins (TAM) def. Maddy MacNeille (UT), 4-6, ret.
-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 on January 17 before moving to No. 10 on January 24, where it remained on January 31 with the next poll due to be released on Feb. 15. 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 first ITA national Top 125 singles rankings of the spring (Feb. 7): Tanya Sasnouskaya (No. 29), Malaika Rapolu (No. 36), Charlotte Chavatipon (No. 120), while two pairs are included in the Top 60 doubles rankings: Taisiya Pachkaleva and Sabina Zeynalova at No. 37 and Zeynalova with Sasnouskaya at No. 43.
Texas
Singles
No. 29 Tanya Sasnouskaya
No. 36 Malaika Rapolu
No. 120 Charlotte Chavatipon
Doubles
No. 37 Taisiya Pachkaleva/Sabina Zeynalova
No. 43 Tanya Sasnouskaya/Sabina Zeynalova
Texas A&M
Singles
No. 1 Mary Stoiana
No. 24 Mia Kupres
No. 32 Nicole Khirin
Doubles
No. 3 Mary Stoiana/Mia Kupres
-Pachkaleva named Big 12 Player of the Week
Taisiya Pachkaleva was named Big 12 Women's Tennis Player of the Week for the week ending Feb. 4, to earn the first conference weekly honor in her Big 12 career at Texas. Pachkaleva went a combined 4-0 in singles and doubles leading Texas to two ranked wins over No. 25 Wisconsin and No. 4 Georgia. Both doubles victories came against top-60 opponents, including a strong 6-1 win over No. 50 Maria Sholokhova and Alina Mukhortova of Wisconsin, and a 6-3 win over No. 58 Aysegul Mert and Dasha Vidmanova of Georgia that clinched the doubles point in that match. Pachkaleva also clinched the overall match against the Bulldogs with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 win over Guillermina Grant at No. 5 in the one-point UT victory. Against the Badgers, Pachkaleva's 7-5, 6-0 singles victory over Kaja Jacobson at No. 5 provided the Longhorns a 3-0 overall lead.
-Turning around for a top-five victory
Texas topped No. 4 Georgia, 4-3, on Feb. 4 at the Weller Indoor Tennis Center. The Longhorns clinched at 4-2 and earned their second ranked win in as many days in a span just over 24 hours. After taking the doubles point with wins at Nos. 3 and 1, Texas earned singles victories from seniors Charlotte Chavatipon at No. 4, Malaika Rapolu at No. 3, and Taisiya Pachkaleva at No. 5 to clinch.
-7-0 sweep of No. 25 Wisconsin
The Longhorns claimed a 7-0 sweep against No. 25 Wisconsin on Feb. 3 at the Weller Indoor Tennis Center, completing the match without dropping a set. After taking the doubles point with wins at Nos. 1 and 3, the Longhorns earned singles victories from Tanya Sasnouskaya at No. 2, Taisiya Pachkaleva at No. 5, Vivian Ovrootsky at No. 6, Sabina Zeynalova at No. 1, Malaika Rapolu at No. 4, and Charlotte Chavatipon at No. 3.
-ITA Kickoff Weekend Texas Regional Champions
Texas hosted an ITA Kickoff Weekend regional for the sixth-straight year and produced a pair of 4-0 sweeps, first over Baylor in the first round, and then Florida State in the championships match from January 26-27. With the wins, the Longhorns advanced to the ITA National Indoor Championships for the seventh-straight time. Against Baylor, Texas took the doubles point with wins at Nos. 1 and 2, received singles victories within minutes of each other from Malaika Rapolu at No. 3, Charlotte Chavatipon at No. 4 and Tanya Sasnouskaya at No. 2. The Longhorns then captured doubles against Florida State with wins at Nos. 1 and 2, and had singles victories from Vivian Ovrootsky at No. 6, Chavatipon at No. 4, and Rapolu at No. 3.
-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 169-42 (.801) mark in his nine years at Texas. During his 17 seasons as a collegiate head coach, he has tallied a 300-103 (.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
