The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
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Oklahoma
No. 7 Women’s Tennis punches ticket to Big 12 Championship Final
04.19.2024 | Women's Tennis
The Longhorns defeated No. 18 Oklahoma, 4-2, on Friday to reach the title match for sixth-consecutive season.
Stillwater, Okla. – No. 7 Texas Women's Tennis (21-4, 12-1) advanced to the Big 12 Championship Final with a 4-2 victory over No. 18 Oklahoma (18-6, 11-2) in the semifinals on Friday evening at the Greenwood Tennis Center.
It marks the sixth-straight year the Longhorns have reached the tournament title match, and they will now play for their fourth-straight championship and fifth total in those six years.
Texas received four singles victories from sophomore Vivian Ovrootsky at No. 5, senior No. 120 Taisiya Pachkaleva at No. 4, graduate No. 37 Tanya Sasnouskaya at No. 3, senior No. 22 Malaika Rapolu at No. 1 to clinch.
After the Sooners won the doubles point, Ovrootsky was first off the singles court with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Chloe Noel at No. 5. Noel earned the first break of the match for a 3-1 lead, and while she had an opportunity to consolidate it, Ovrootsky instead got the break back on a deuce point and followed with a hold for 3-3. Noel briefly regained the lead on serve for 4-3, but Ovrootsky won the final three games to take the set starting with a deuce-point hold. In the second set, the Texas sophomore earned a break for a 2-1 lead then won back-to-back games decided at deuce for 4-1. Noel broke back for 4-2, but Ovrootsky went on to win the match's final two games and even the overall score, 1-1.
Pachkaleva was the next to finish with a 6-2, 6-4 win over No. 60 Florencia Urrutia on court 4. Pachkaleva began the match with consecutive deuce points and a hold for 3-0. The next two games were held for 4-1 before Pachkaleva earned a break for 5-1, and although Urrutia broke back on a deuce point for 5-2, Pachkaleva broke again to take the first set. The senior then picked up the first break of the second set for a 3-1 lead on a deuce point before consolidating for 4-1. Urrutia got the break back two games later to get within 4-3, but it also began a run of four straight breaks with the last one giving the match to Pachkaleva for a 2-1 Texas lead.
Sasnouskaya the extended the Texas lead to 3-1 lead with a 6-3, 6-4 win against No. 115 Alina Shcherbinina on court 3. Sasnouskaya opened with a deuce-point break, spurring a 3-0 run to start the match. Shcherbinina broke then held on a deuce point for 3-2, but Sasnouskaya answered with a hold then a deuce-point break for 5-2. The graduate was on match point in the following game, but Shcherbinina fended it off with a deuce-point break for 5-3. From there, Sasnouskaya broke to take the first set and begin a 5-0 run which saw her claim two deuce-point holds for 1-0 and 3-0 leads in the second set. At 4-0, the match's next four games all went to deuce. After Sasnoukaya had taken a 5-1 lead with the second of those, Shcherbinina won the next two, which had both been match points for Sasnouskaya, and then broke to pull within 5-4. However, Sasnouskaya answered the break to close out the match.
Freshman Shachf Lieberman next dropped her match to Emma Staker, 0-6, 6-2, 6-3, at No. 6, narrowing Texas' lead to 3-2. After Lieberman swept the first set including winning all three of its deuce points, Staker found momentum when she earned the second set's first break for 4-2. From there, Staker claimed consecutive games decided by deuce points to take the set and cap off a 4-0 run. In the third set, Staker earned a crucial break for 3-2 that was the first of a 3-0 run. At 5-2, the next two games were held with Staker winning on a deuce-point decision.
Rapolu then clinched the match for the Longhorns with a 7-6 (1), 6-4 victory over No. 31 Julia Garcia on court 1. Rapolu earned deuce-point holds for 4-1 and 5-2 before Garcia went on a 3-0 run to even the first set, 5-5. The set's next two games stayed on serve, setting up a tiebreaker. In that frame, Garcia held for the opening point, but Rapolu took it from there with a 7-0 run for the set. The second once again saw Rapolu earn a deuce-point hold for 5-2, but this time the Texas senior put an end to Garcia's 2-0 run with a deuce-point break to win the match and send Texas to the Big 12 Championship title match.
Senior No. 122 Charlotte Chavatipon's match against No. 43 Dana Guzman was left unfinished with a 6-2, 3-6, 1-5 score when Rapolu clinched. Chavatipon won nine of the match's first 12 games, taking three deuce-point holds in the process, the last of which established a 3-1 lead for her in the second set. Guzman got the second set break back for 3-3 and the wone eight of the next nine games before play ended.
Earlier in the match, the Sooners took the doubles point with wins at Nos. 2 and 3. On court 2, the No. 15 duo of Pachkaleva and junior Sabina Zeynalova fell to No. 48 Garcia and Zdena Safarova, 6-1. Pachkaleva and Zeynalova held in the fifth game to trail, 4-1, and had a deuce point on serve at 5-1, but Oklahoma was able to break for the win.
The doubles point was clinched on court 3 when Chavatipon and Ovrootsky were defeated by Shcherbinina and Noel, 6-4. The Longhorn duo benefited from back-to-back deuce point wins for leads of 2-1 and 3-1, but at 3-3, the Oklahoma pair took three of the match's final four games. The last match between No. 36 Rapolu and Sasnouskaya and No. 20 Guzman and Roisin Gilheany on court 1 was left unfinished with the Texas tandem trailing, 5-3. At 2-2, the match's next three games were deuce-point decisions with Guzman and Gilheany winning two of the three.
The Longhorns will face the host and top-seeded No. 1 Oklahoma State in the final on Saturday, April 20 at 6 p.m. CT.
#7 Texas 4, #18 Oklahoma 2
Singles – Order of Finish (5,4,3,6,1)
1. #22 Malaika Rapolu (UT) def. #31 Julia Garcia (OU) 7-6 (7-1), 6-4
2. #122 Charlotte Chavatipon (UT) vs. #43 Dana Guzman (OU) 6-2, 3-6, 1-5, unf.
3. #37 Tanya Sasnouskaya (UT) def. #115 Alina Shcherbinina (OU) 6-3, 6-4
4. #120 Taisiya Pachkaleva (UT) def. #60 Florencia Urrutia (OU) 6-2, 6-4
5. Vivian Ovrootsky (UT) def. Chloe Noel (OU) 6-4, 6-2
6. Emma Staker (OU) def. Shachf Lieberman (UT) 0-6, 6-2, 6-3
Doubles – Order of Finish (2,3)
1. #36 Malaika Rapolu/Tanya Sasnouskaya (UT) vs. #20 Dana Guzman/Roisin Gilheany (OU) 3-5, unf.
2. #48 Julia Garcia/Zdena Safarova (OU) def. #15 Taisiya Pachkaleva/Sabina Zeynalova (UT) 6-1
3. Alina Shcherbinina/Chloe Noel (OU) def. Charlotte Chavatipon/Vivian Ovrootsky (UT) 6-4
Players Mentioned
