The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Georgia Tech
No. 9 Women’s Tennis defeats No. 24 Georgia Tech to advance to NCAA Sweet 16
05.05.2024 | Women's Tennis
The Longhorns prevailed over the Yellow Jackets, 4-3, to reach the Round of 16 for the fourth-straight year and sixth time in the last eight.
Austin – No. 9 Texas Women's Tennis (23-5, 12-1 Big 12) prevailed over No. 24 Georgia Tech (14-10, 9-4 ACC), 4-3, on Sunday at the Texas Tennis Center in a contest that endured a two-and-a-half-hour rain delay. It marks the fourth-straight year and the sixth time in the last eight that the Longhorns have reached the Round of 16. Texas will next travel to Los Angeles where they will face 8 seed No. 8 UCLA with a specific match time to be determined.
After taking the doubles point with wins at Nos. 2 and 1, the Longhorns secured three singles matches with wins from senior No. 85 Charlotte Chavatipon at No. 3, graduate No. 42 Tanya Sasnouskaya at No. 4, and sophomore Vivian Ovrootsky at No. 6 to clinch it in the deciding singles match.
With the overall score of the match even at 3-3, it came down to Ovrootsky, who was able to defeat Given Roach, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1. Down a set, Ovrootsky had also trailed, 5-3, in the second set, but rallied to win and send the Longhorns to the Sweet 16.
"I had been pretty frustrated because I wasn't playing to the standard that I liked, and I honestly think that rain delay was a blessing in disguise because I took 20 minutes to just mediate and calm my mind," Ovrootsky said. "I told myself, 'We need to turn this around, not just for yourself, but for your team,' and that's kind of what I did. Even though I wasn't playing the way I wanted to, I didn't let that really bother me, and I think that really helped. Also, a huge shoutout to Texas Men's Tennis because they were providing so much good energy (cheering in the stands), and it was just great to play in front of."
After Ovrootsky broke to begin the match, Roach won back-to-back games decided on deuce points for 2-1. The Texas sophomore answered with a hold followed by a deuce-point break for 3-2, but Roach came back with a 3-0 run, including a deuce-point hold. Ovrootsky was able to break for 5-4 and keep the set going, but Roach earned another break to win it. About halfway into the second set with Ovrootsky behind 2-3, the weather paused the match. Once court 6 was dried off and in playable condition, the next three games went to deuce with Roach winning two of the three for a 5-3 lead. From there, however, it was almost all Ovrootsky, as she secured the match for Texas by winning 10 of the final 11 games.
"When I saw we lost four first sets, I was thinking I needed to turn my match around to give us a chance," Ovrootsky said. "When I was down, 3-5 (in the second set), I wasn't necessarily banking that it would be me being the one clinching, but I just told myself to prolong the match as much as I could for Malaika (Rapolu)'s benefit, and as it turned out, Howard (Joffe) came to me, and we came up with a different tactic for my match, and it started working. I knew I had to step up, and I was able to do that, ignore the noise – even though it was good energy – and just play tennis."
Just prior to that, senior No. 20 Rapolu had also come back from a set down to even her match against Kylie Bilchev at No. 2 ,but ultimately fell, 6-3, 0-6, 6-2, evening the overall match at 3-3. After Rapolu broke the match's opening game, Bilchev won the next four games with the first three being on deuce points. At 4-1, the first set's remaining games stayed on serve, with the latter two being deuce-point holds, earning Bilchev the set. Rapolu fired out of the gates in the second set by taking a 4-0 lead, which featured a deuce-point hold for 3-0, right before the rain delay. After the delay, Rapolu picked up where she left off with a hold and a deuce-point break to sweep the second set. However, Bilchev flipped the script in the third set as she started with a 5-0 run that saw her rally in each of the set's first three games to win on deuce points. Rapolu got one break back and then held for 5-2, but Bilchev held in the following game to win.
That had been the second-straight win for Georgia Tech, after junior No. 30 Sabina Zeynalova was downed by No. 38 Carol Lee, 6-3, 6-4, at No. 1. It was Zeynalova's first singles match since March 3 against Oklahoma, which was a span of 16 team matches. With the first three games staying on serve starting with Lee, Zeynalova held on a deuce-point for 2-2. Lee held then collected a deuce-point break for 4-2, but Zeynalova answered with a deuce-point break of her own for 4-3. From there, Lee broke back then held to take the first set. The second set's first break occurred in the fifth game, which provided Lee a 3-2 advantage. Lee held the following game just before the showers suspended play. After the skies cleared, Zeynalova evened the set with a hold and a deuce-point break for 4-4, but Lee broke back then held serve for the win.
The two straight wins by the Yellow Jackets had been preceded by two straight by the Longhorns that had given them a 3-1 lead.
The first of those had been by Chavatipon, who earned Texas' first singles win of the day by taking down Cruz, 6-3, 6-2, at No. 3. With Chavatipon leading the first set 3-0, Cruz held then broke on a deuce point for 3-2. Chavatipon answered by breaking back then holding for 5-2. Chavatipon had a break point for the set in the following game, and although Cruz managed to earn a deuce-point hold for 5-3, the Texas senior closed out the set on her serve in the next game. In the second set, after Cruz collected a deuce-point hold and Chavatipon held, the Longhorn broke for 2-1, which was the second win of what would become a 5-0 run that was capped off with a deuce-point break for 5-1. Cruz ended the run with a break of her own just before rain showers halted play, but within minutes of it resuming, Chavatipon broke again and re-established Texas' lead.
A few minutes after that, Sasnouskaya won both of her games that were played after the delay to take the match against Nicholson, 6-3, 6-1, on court 4. Trailing, 3-2 in the first set, Sasnouskaya won the next eight games to claim the set and lead the second, 4-0. From there, Nicholson managed a deuce-point break in response to one by Sasnouskaya in the game prior for 4-1 just before the stoppage. When the players returned to the courts, Sasnouskaya broke then held to give Texas a 3-1 overall lead.
The first singles match to finish had been on court 5 where senior No. 122 Taisiya Pachkaleva fell to Kate Sharabura, 6-4, 6-2. The story of the match was deuce points, as after Pachkaleva won the first one to hold serve in the opening game, Sharabura took all of the remaining six of the contest. At 3-3 in the first set, Pachkaleva held serve for the lead, but from there, the next four games were deuce-point decisions, which saw Sharabura win them all to take the first set and begin the second set with a 1-0 advantage. The Yellow Jacket rode her momentum to a 3-0 lead in that set before Pachkaleva broke for 3-1, but Sharabura answered with consecutive deuce-point victories for 5-1. The match's final two games stayed on serve, evening the contest, 1-1.
Earlier in doubles, Pachkaleva and freshman Shachf Lieberman's had dropped the first match to finish, 6-2, to Nicholson and Bilchev at No. 3. Nicholson and Bilchev earned the match's first break on a deuce point for 3-1, and it began a three-game streak of breaks. At 4-2, the Yellow Jacket tandem ended the trend with a deuce-point hold and finished the match with another break in the eighth game.
The next match to finish was at No. 2 where Chavatipon and Ovrootsky defeated the No. 63 pair Roach and Cruz, 6-2. The Yellow Jackets broke on a deuce point in the match's opening game, but the Longhorns answered with a 3-0 run for 3-1. Roach and Cruz earned a second deuce-point break for 3-2, but the Texas tandem responded with another 3-0 run to capture the match.
All eyes then turned to court 1 where the No. 34 pair of Rapolu and Sasnouskaya clinched the point for the Longhorns with a 7-5 win over the No. 21 tandem of Sharabura and Lee. The Yellow Jackets held serve to begin the contest, but the Longhorns responded with a 3-0 run that was capped off with a deuce point hold for 3-1. From there, the match's next five games also stayed on serve for 5-4 before the Georgia Tech duo broke on Rapolu and Sasnouskaya's match point at deuce for 5-5. The Longhorn pair answered with a break followed by a hold in the match's final two games, providing Texas its 1-0 lead.
#9 Texas 4, #24 Georgia Tech 3
Singles – Order of Finish (5,3,4,1,2,6)
1. #38 Carol Lee (GT) def. #30 Sabina Zeynalova (TEXAS) 6-3, 6-4
2. Kylie Bilchev (GT) def. #20 Malaika Rapolu (TEXAS) 6-3, 0-6, 6-2
3. #85 Charlotte Chavatipon (TEXAS) def. Alejandra Cruz (GT) 6-3, 6-2
4. #42 Tanya Sasnouskaya (TEXAS) def. Scarlett Nicholson (GT) 6-3, 6-1
5. Kate Sharabura (GT) def. #122 Taisiya Pachkaleva (TEXAS) 6-4, 6-2
6. Vivian Ovrootsky (TEXAS) def. Given Roach (GT) 4-6, 7-5, 6-1
Doubles – Order of Finish (3,2,1)
1. #34 Malaika Rapolu/Tanya Sasnouskaya (TEXAS) def. #21 Kate Sharabura/Carol Lee (GT) 7-5
2. Charlotte Chavatipon/Vivian Ovrootsky (TEXAS) def. #63 Given Roach/Alejandra Cruz (GT) 6-2
3. Scarlett Nicholson/Kylie Bilchev (GT) def. Taisiya Pachkaleva/Shachf Lieberman (TEXAS) 6-2
Players Mentioned
