The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
West Virginia
No. 7 Women’s Tennis sweeps West Virginia, 7-0
03.08.2024 | Women's Tennis
The Longhorns improved to 2-0 in Big 12 Conference play with a sweep over the Mountaineers on Friday afternoon.
Austin – No. 7 Texas Women's Tennis (9-3, 2-0) claimed a 7-0 sweep over West Virginia (11-4, 0-3) on Friday afternoon at the Texas Tennis Center.
After clinching the doubles point with wins at Nos. 3 and 2, the Longhorns received singles victories from senior No. 21 Malaika Rapolu at No. 1, sophomore Vivian Ovrootsky at No. 5, senior Charlotte Chavatipon at No. 3, graduate No. 39 Tanya Sasnouskaya at No. 2, senior Taisiya Pachkaleva at No. 4, and freshman Shachf Lieberman at No. 6.
Rapolu earned Texas' first singles win of the match with an efficient 6-0, 6-0 win over Love-Star Alexis on court 1. Rapolu claimed all four of the match's games that were decided on deuce points, taking consecutive deuce points in both sets.
Ovrootsky gave the Longhorns a 3-0 overall lead with a speedy 6-2, 6-1 victory over Michaela Kucharova on court 5. Ovrootsky earned the match's first break for 3-1, but Kucharova broke back for 3-2. Ovrootsky answered with another break which began a 4-0 run to close out the first set and provide a 1-0 advantage in the second set. In the final game of the first set, Ovrootsky also broke on a deuce-point to win. After Kucharova held her first serve of the second set for 1-1, Ovrootsky set out on a 5-0 run to finish the match and complete a stretch of winning nine of the final 10 games.
The clinching match for Texas was Chavatipon's 6-0, 6-4 win over Maja Dodik on court 3. Chavatipon opened the match on a 7-0 run which saw her claim two deuce-point wins in the process. In the second set, the first three games were all breaks before Chavatipon held for 3-1. Dodik got the break back for 4-4, but Chavatipon responded with another break for 5-4, then closed out the match with a deuce-point hold.
Sasnouskaya was the next of the singles courts with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Momoko Nagato at No. 2. The match's first three games were all held, with the third being on a deuce point for a 2-1 Sasnouskaya lead. The graduate broke then held for 4-1, but Nagato broke back for 4-2. Sasnouskaya responded with another break, then held serve to claim the first set. In the second, the first six games stayed on serve starting with Sasnouskaya with games three and four being on deuce points. Sasnouskaya earned the set's first break for 4-3, but Nagato broke back on a deuce point for 4-4. Sasnouskaya finished the match with a break then a hold in the following two games.
Pachkaleva tallied another win for Texas with a 6-0, 6-3 win over Ting-Pei Chang on court, opening the match on a 9-0 run with two of those on deuce points. Chang was able to end the run in the second set with a hold for 3-1, but Pachkaleva held on a deuce point then broke for 5-1. Chang broke back for 5-2 then held on a deuce point for 5-3, but Pachkaleva would hold serve in the following game to take the match.
In her first collegiate singles match, Lieberman completed the sweep with a 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (6) win over Tatiana Lipatova at No. 6. At 3-3, the freshman broke for a 4-3 advantage, then held for 5-3. Both players held serve in the set's final two games, earning Lieberman the set. The first three games of the second set featured two deuce points, with Lipatova holding on a deuce point for 1-0 and Lieberman breaking on one for a 2-1 advantage. Lipatova was able to break back then hold for a 3-2 lead, and the next four games stayed on serve for a 5-4 Lipatova lead. However, Lipatova would finish the trend with a break to win the second set and send it to a third-set superbreaker. There, Lieberman jumped out to a 6-1 lead before Lipatova held both of her serves to narrow it to 6-3. Lieberman then held for 7-3, but Lipatova responded with a mini-break for 7-4 before pulling within 7-5 on serve. However, Lieberman answered the mini-break for 8-5 and extended to 9-5 on serve, and the players exchanged mini-breaks on the last two points with Lieberman's providing her first win as a Longhorn.
Earlier in the match in doubles, Rapolu and Sasnouskaya dropped their match to Nagato and Kucharova, 6-1, at No. 1. The Mountaineers began with a 3-0 run, which was capped off with a deuce-point break. Rapolu and Sasnouskaya ended the run by breaking back on a deuce point for 3-1, but the West Virginia tandem responded with a deuce-point break in the following game, sparking another 3-0 run to close out the match.
On court 3, Lieberman and Pachkaleva defeated Chang and Lipatova, 6-2, in Lieberman's Longhorn debut. The Texas tandem opened with a deuce-point break, then held for 2-0. The next four games stayed on serve before the Longhorns broke again for 5-2. In their following service game, the tandem found themselves trailing, 0-40, before storming back to force a deuce point, which they managed to hold for the win.
The doubles point was then clinched by Chavatipon and Ovrootsky on court 2 with their 6-4 victory over Alexis and Dodik. Texas opened the match by earning what proved to be a pivotal break followed by a hold for a 2-0 advantage. The match stayed on serve from there, with Chavatipon and Ovrootsky managing a deuce-point hold for 5-3 before breaking and holding again for the win.
The Longhorns will be back at the Texas Tennis Center on Sunday, March 10, at 11 a.m. CT to take on Cincinnati.
#7 Texas 7, West Virginia 0
Singles – Order of Finish (1,5,3,2,4,6)
1. #21 Malaika Rapolu (TEXAS) def. Love-Star Alexis (WVU) 6-0, 6-0
2. #39 Tanya Sasnouskaya (TEXAS) def. Momoko Nagato (WVU) 6-2, 6-4
3. Charlotte Chavatipon (TEXAS) def. Maja Dodik (WVU) 6-0, 6-4
4. Taisiya Pachkaleva (TEXAS) def. Ting-Pei Chang (WVU) 6-0, 6-3
5. Vivian Ovrootsky (TEXAS) def. Michaela Kucharova (WVU) 6-2, 6-1
6. Shachf Lieberman (TEXAS) def. Tatiana Lipatova (WVU) 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (10-6)
Doubles – Order of Finish (1,3,2)
1. Momoko Nagato/Michaela Kucharova (WVU) def. Malaika Rapolu/Tanya Sasnouskaya (TEXAS) 6-1
2. Charlotte Chavatipon/Vivian Ovrootsky (TEXAS) def. Love-Star Alexis/Maja Dodik (WVU) 6-4
3. Shachf Lieberman/Taisiya Pachkaleva (TEXAS) def. Ting-Pei Chang/Tatiana Lipatova (WVU) 6-2
Players Mentioned
