The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Houston
No. 7 Women’s Tennis sweeps Houston, 4-0
03.15.2024 | Women's Tennis
The Longhorns improved to 4-0 in Big 12 play with their conference road opener sweep over the Cougars on Friday.
Houston – No. 7 Texas Women's Tennis (11-3, 4-0) swept Houston (1-10, 0-5), 4-0, on Friday afternoon at the Barbara Wallace Winston Tennis Facility in Houston. It was the third-straight sweep for the Longhorns in Big 12 play.
After clinching the doubles point with wins at Nos. 1 and 3, Texas received singles victories from seniors No. 21 Malaika Rapolu at No. 1, Charlotte Chavatipon at No. 3, and Taisiya Pachkaleva at No. 4.
In doubles, Rapolu and graduate Tanya Sasnouskaya were the first to finish with a 6-1 win over Sophie Schouten and Sonya Kovalenko at No. 1. The match's first three games were broken, giving the Texas tandem a 2-1 advantage. At 2-1, Sasnouskaya and Rapolu held for 3-1 then proceeded to win the match's remaining games.
Pachkaleva and freshman Shachf Lieberman then clinched the doubles point for Texas with a 6-2 victory over Gabriela Cortes and Elena Trencheva at No. 3. The Longhorn duo opened the match on a 4-0 run before Cortes and Trencheva managed to hold serve for 4-1. The match stayed on serve for the final four games, earning Lieberman and Pachkaleva the win.
Chavatipon and sophomore Vivian Ovrootsky's match against Laura Slisane and Maria Dzemeshkevich at No. 2 was left unfinished with the Texas pair leading, 4-2, before play was stopped.
Rapolu earned Texas' first singles win of the match with an efficient 6-0, 6-0 win over Slisane on court 1. Rapolu's win marks the second time in conference play where she swept a singles match with the first time being against West Virginia. In the four conference singles matches that Rapolu has played, she has only dropped six out of 54 games.
Chavatipon gave the Horns a 3-0 lead in the match with a speedy 6-1, 6-2 victory over Dzemeshkevich at No. 3. With Chavatipon leading the first set 3-1, the senior closed the frame out in its remaining games and carried her momentum into the second set where she opened with a 4-0 run. The last four games were then all breaks on the way to Chavatipon's win.
The clinching match for Texas was Pachkaleva's 6-1, 7-5 win over Cortes on court 4. Pachkaleva began the match on a 3-0 run before Cortes held her serve for 3-1. Pachkaleva answered by ending the first set with another 3-0 run. In the second set, Pachkaleva trailed 5-2 before she surged back to win the next five games and clinch the match for the Horns.
The remaining matches for Sasnouskaya, Ovrootsky, and freshman Maddy MacNeille were all left unfinished after the clinch. Sasnouskaya led Sophie Schouten, 7-6 (2), 3-1, on court 2 before play stopped. On court 5, Ovrootsky was one point away from clinching the match herself as she was ahead of Nina Skoric, 6-4, 5-3. At 5-2 in the second set, Ovrootsky was serving with a match point at deuce, but Skoric was able to break for 5-3. At court 6, MacNeille made her dual match debut at Texas in a competitive contest against Trencheva. Trencheva narrowly edged MacNeille in a first-set tiebreaker, 7-6 (5), and led 3-2 in the second set when play stopped.
Up next, the Longhorns will travel to Orlando, Fla., to take on No. 57 UCF on Sunday, March 17, at 12 p.m. ET/11 a.m. CT.
#7 Texas 4, Houston 0
Singles – Order of Finish (1,3,4)
1. #21 Malaika Rapolu (UT) def. Laura Slisane (UH) 6-0, 6-0
2. Sophie Schouten (UH) vs. #39 Tanya Sasnouskaya (UT) 6-7 (2), 1-3, unf.
3. Charlotte Chavatipon (UT) def. Maria Dzemeshkevich (UH) 6-1, 6-3
4. Taisiya Pachkaleva (UT) def. Gabriela Cortes (UH) 6-1, 7-5
5. Nina Skoric (UH) vs. Vivian Ovrootsky (UT) 4-6, 3-5, unf.
6. Elena Trencheva (UH) vs. Maddy MacNeille (UT) 7-6 (5), 3-2, unf.
Doubles – Order of Finish (1,3)
1. Malaika Rapolu/Tanya Sasnouskaya (UT) def. Sophie Schouten/Sonya Kovalenko (UH) 6-1
2. Laura Slisane/Maria Dzemeshkevich (UH) vs. Charlotte Chavatipon/Vivian Ovrootsky (UT) 2-4, unf.
3. Shachf Lieberman/Taisiya Pachkaleva (UT) def. Gabriela Cortes/Elena Trencheva (UH) 6-2
Players Mentioned
