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No. 11 Women’s Tennis comes up just short to No. 6 Texas A&M, 4-3
02.23.2025 | Women's Tennis
The Longhorns held a 3-0 lead, but the Aggies rallied with four singles wins, including in the third set of the final match.
Austin – No. 11 Texas Women's Tennis came up just short against No. 6 Texas A&M, 4-3, in the Cotton Holdings Lone Star Showdown on Sunday at the Texas Tennis Center. The match was the Longhorns' SEC debut and came down to the third set of the final singles match.
Texas took the doubles point with wins at Nos. 2 and 1 and then followed with singles victories by freshman No. 54 Ariana Anazagasty-Pursoo and senior No. 87 Sabina Zeynalova at No. 1. However, Texas A&M responded with wins at Nos. 2, 5, 3 and 4, including the match at No. 5 that was decided by two 7-5 sets, the match at No. 3 that was determined by two tiebreaker sets, and the match at No. 4 that came down to a break at the end of the third set.
In a dramatic doubles point, Texas rebounded from dropping the match at No. 3, and claimed the remaining two. That started with senior Sabina Zeynalova and freshman Charlotte Kempenaers-Pocz topping Nicole Khirin and Lexington Reed, 6-3, at No. 2. The Longhorns broke on a deuce point to open the match and had a chance to do so again for a potential 4-1 lead, but the Aggies managed to hold for 3-2 and then got the break back on a deuce point to even it. However, Texas took it from there with a 3-0 run that concluded with a deuce-point break for the match.
With doubles split, all attention turned to court 1 where freshmen Ariana Anazagasty-Pursoo and Ashton Bowers clinched with a 6-4 win over Mia Kupres and Daria Smetannikov. Texas jumped out on a 3-0 run that included an opening break followed by consecutive deuce-point wins for a hold and a break. However, Texas A&M followed the exact same scoring pattern to tie it, 3-3. In the third-straight and fifth overall game to reach deuce, the Longhorns broke again, which would be all they would need as the final three games were on serve to their win.
In the match at No. 3, freshmen Carmen Herea and Salma Drugdova had fallen to Lucciana Perez and Lizanne Boyer, 6-4. The Aggies held in the opening game on a deuce point, and the match stayed on serve from there all the way to 4-4 when Texas A&M picked up the only break for 5-4 and served out in the next game.
In singles, Anazagasty-Pursoo produced an efficient 6-1, 6-2 win over Boyer. In the first set, Anazagasty-Pursoo opened on a 3-0 run that included two deuce-point breaks and a hold. Boyer got one of the breaks back at deuce in the next game for 3-1, but Anazagasty-Pursoo on a 6-0 run to take the first set and establish a 3-0 lead in the second. The next four games were then holds until Anazagasty-Pursoo broke again for the win and 2-0 Texas lead.
Zeynalova then secured a top-15 victory with a 6-3, 6-3 win over former Longhorn teammate No. 15 Khirin. The match began with a deuce-point break by Khirin, but Zeynalova set out on a 4-0 run, capped by a deuce-point hold for 4-1. The rest of the set was then held to Zeynalova's 6-3 win. In the second set, Khirin again began with a deuce-point win, this time for a hold, and again Zeynalova responded with a 3-0 run that started with consecutive deuce-point wins. The game after the run also went to deuce, but Khirin managed to hold for 3-2. Zeynalova then held and broke again for 5-2, and although Khirin broke back for 5-3, Zeynalova broke again to win for a 3-0 Texas lead.
At that point, Texas A&M began to rally with as freshman No. 124 Eszter Meri fell to No. 90 Kupres, 6-3, 6-3, at No. 2. Kupres began the match with consecutive deuce-point wins for a hold and a break. The players then exchanged breaks for a 3-1 lead for Kupres and the rest of the set stayed on serve. The first three games of the second set were also on serve, and Meri broke through first for a 3-1 lead. She might have made it 4-1 but her next game went to deuce and Kupres was able to break back for 3-2. That was the start of a 5-0 run for Kupres that included two more deuce-point breaks.
That match at No. 5 was the second dual contest in singles for Kempenaers-Pocz since she became eligible, but she was downed, 7-5, 7-5 by Reed. The first six game stayed on serve despite three deuce points, two of which were won by Reed for 2-2 and 3-3. Reed then collected another deuce point for the first break of the match for a 4-3 lead and consolidated it for 5-3. Kempenaers-Pocz fought back with consecutive deuce-point wins to even it, but Reed broke and held in the next two games to win. Reed also broke to begin the second set, but Kempenaers-Pocz broke right back to start a 4-0 run that had two deuce-point holds. Reed responded with a 3-0 run to tie it and later grabbed the only other break of the set for a 6-5 lead before serving out the win.
The set scores at No. 3 were even closer as No. 104 Bowers was slipped past by No. 55 Perez, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (7). Bowers broke first in the first set for a 2-1 lead that she extended to 4-1. The next game was the first of the match to go to deuce, and Perez claimed it to stay within 4-2 while starting a 3-0 run to even it. Bowers broke again to regain the lead, but Perez also broke before the last two games were held for a tiebreaker. There, the players alternated points until Perez took consecutive ones for a 4-2 lead. The next three points also alternated before Bowers tied it, 5-5, as did the next three until Perez won, 8-6. In the second set, Bowers again broke first for a 3-1 lead, and after the next two games were also breaks, Bowers held for a 5-2 lead. However, Perez came back with a 4-0 run to take a 6-5 lead, and Bowers answered the last break to keep the match alive to another tiebreaker. The second breaker was as close as the first, and although Bowers fell behind, 3-1, she tied it, 3-3, and the players alternated points until Bowers took her first lead, 7-6. Although she then had a set point, Perez closed on a 3-0 run to win.
That left the match at No. 4, which at that point was in its third set, but No. 25 Herea eventually fell to Smetannikov, 6-4, 1-6, 6-4. In the first set, Smetannikov broke on a deuce point in the opening game as the first four games were all breaks. Herea finally held for a 3-2 lead, but Smetannikov held and broke again to take a 4-3 advantage. The final three games of the first set all went to deuce and were all holds to give Smetannikov the win. The first two games of the second also went to deuce with each player breaking, and Herea's set her out on a 6-0 to take the set. In the third, the first three games were all held, including a deuce point in the second game for Herea. Her next service game also went to deuce, but this time it resulted in a break and a 3-1 lead for Smetannikov. That would be the first of seven-straight breaks to end the match in Smetannikov's favor, 6-4.
Texas will next play No. 12 Oklahoma on Friday at 2 p.m. CT at the Texas Tennis Center.
#6 Texas A&M 4, #11 Texas 3
Singles – Order of Finish (6,1,2,5,3,4)
1. #87 Sabina Zeynalova (TEX) def. #15 Nicole Khirin (TAMU) 6-3, 6-3
2. #90 Mia Kupres (TAMU) def. #124 Eszter Meri (TEX) 6-3, 6-3
3. #55 Lucciana Perez (TAMU) def. #104 Ashton Bowers (TEX) 7-6 (6), 7-6 (7)
4. Daria Smetannikov (TAMU) def. #25 Carmen Herea (TEX) 6-4, 1-6, 6-4
5. Lexington Reed (TAMU) def. Charlotte Kempenaers-Pocz (TEX) 7-5, 7-5
6. #54 Ariana Anazagasty-Pursoo (TEX) def. Lizanne Boyer (TAMU) 6-1, 6-2
Doubles – Order of Finish (3,2,1)
1. #63 Ariana Anazagasty-Pursoo/Ashton Bowers (TEX) def. Mia Kupres/Daria Smetannikov (TAMU) 6-4
2. Sabina Zeynalova/Charlotte Kempenaers-Pocz (TEX) def. Nicole Khirin/Lexington Reed (TAMU) 6-3
3. Lizanne Boyer/Lucciana Perez (TAMU) def. Carmen Herea/Salma Drugdova (TEX) 6-4
Players Mentioned
