The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
No. 11 Women’s Tennis’ Meri named SEC Freshman of the Week
01.29.2025 | Women's Tennis
Meri went a combined 3-1 in two matches, including clinching a 4-3 win over Baylor, in leading the Longhorns to an ITA Kickoff regional championship.
Austin – Texas Women's Tennis freshman Eszter Meri was named the SEC Freshman of the Week, the conference announced Wednesday. It is her first career conference award, and the first SEC award ever for the program.
Meri went a combined 3-1 in wins over Maryland and Baylor, including clinching a 4-3 victory over the Bears in a third-set tiebreaker of the final singles match to deliver an ITA Kickoff Weekend regional championship. It also advanced the Longhorns to the ITA National Indoor Championships for the eighth-straight year.
Meri responded numerous times throughout her 5-7, 6-2, 7-6 (6) win over Liubov Kostenko of Baylor at No. 2 singles, but none more so than the deciding tiebreaker, which she opened with a mini-break on the way to a 4-1 lead. Although Kostenko would rally to even it twice, 4-4 and 6-6, Meri would never trail, taking the final two points on a mini-break and a hold to send her teammates sprinting on the court to her.
The day before, Meri paired with fellow freshman Ariana Anazagasty-Pursoo to clinch doubles against Maryland with a 6-4 win over Tamari Gagoshidze and Diya Challa at No. 3. Meri was then first off the singles court in a decisive 6-1, 6-0 win over Danielle Hack at No. 2 in a match that Meri closed on a 9-0 run, helping the Longhorns to a 4-0 sweep of the Terrapins.
In Meri's only defeat of the week, she and Anazagasty-Pursoo had held a 5-2 lead over Zuzanna Kubacha and Wenfei Yu of Baylor, but came up just short in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (3).
Meri, who began competing with the program in the spring season, is now 3-0 in dual match singles contests, including a win over No. 45 Emma Charney of USC.
Players Mentioned
