The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Oklahoma State
No. 11 Women’s Tennis preview: vs. No. 3 Oklahoma State
02.06.2025 | Women's Tennis
The Longhorns open play in the ITA National Indoor Championships round of 16 on Friday in Illinois.
No. 11 (5 seed Illinois) Texas vs. No. 3 (4 seed Illinois) Oklahoma State
Team Records: Texas (4-1, 0-0 SEC), Oklahoma State (5-1, 0-0 Big 12)
When: Friday, Feb. 7, 2025, 3:30 p.m. CT
Where: Atkins Tennis Center, Champaign, Ill.
Live Stats: https://hookem.at/WTN-Stats
Live Video: https://hookem.at/WTN-Watch
Web Broadcast: Cracked Racquets (YouTube)
Updated Team Stats
Tournament Central
-Tournament Schedule
Friday, February 7 (Round of 16)
Northwestern site
Tennessee (6) vs Virginia (3) 9 a.m. CT
Pepperdine (7) vs North Carolina (2) 12 p.m. CT
Auburn (5) vs Stanford (4) 3:30 p.m. CT
Northwestern (8) vs Georgia (1) 6:30 p.m. CT
Illinois site
LSU (7) vs Michigan (2) 9 a.m. CT
Oklahoma (6) vs UCLA (3) 12 p.m. CT
Texas (5) vs Oklahoma State (4) 3:30 p.m. CT
Illinois (8) vs Texas A&M (1) 6:30 p.m. CT
Saturday, February 8 (Quarterfinals and Consolation)
Sunday, February 9 (Consolation)
Monday, February 10 (Semifinals and Consolation)
Tuesday, February 11 (Finals)
Notes
-Eight-straight trips to the ITA National Indoor Championships
In winning the 2025 ITA Kickoff Weekend Texas Regional, the Longhorns advanced to the ITA National Indoor Championships for the eighth-straight year. Texas has reached the quarterfinals in five of those trips, including the last four (2019, 2021-24), while advancing all the way to the final in 2021 when they were edged by then No. 1 North Carolina, 4-3, in what would be the only loss of the season on the way to winning the first of back-to-back NCAA National Championships. That was UT's second all-time appearance in the final, along with 2006 against Stanford. The Longhorns have also won two matches in each of the last five tournaments, including consolation matches in 2020, 2022 and 2023 (2021 began in the quarters). Last season, after a Round of 16 win over host No. 9 Texas A&M, Texas fell to No. 3 Oklahoma State in the quarters before defeating No. 12 Ohio State in a consolation match.
-Oklahoma State Series: Texas leads, 35-13
Texas leads the all-time series with Oklahoma State, 35-13, in records dating back to 1978 with the Cowgirls taking the last four, however the Longhorns won the six meetings prior to that. The teams faced each other three times last year, first in February in the ITA National Indoors in Seattle with Texas rallying from a 3-0 deficit and pushing Oklahoma State all the way to a third-set tiebreaker in the final singles match before coming up just short. A little over a month later, the Longhorns again came back, this time from trailing, 3-1, until the Cowgirls again emerged from the final singles match. Texas registered 26 straight victories from 1990-2012, while Oklahoma State then won six out of seven through 2017.
Last Three Meetings
#1 Oklahoma St. 4, #7 Texas 0
Saturday, April 20, 2024
Stillwater Oklahoma • Greenwood Tennis Center (Big 12 Championship final)
Singles – Order of Finish (6,2,3)
1. #15 Anastasiya Komar (OSU) vs. #22 Malaika Rapolu (UT) 6-3, 2-5, unf.
2. #2 Ange Oby Kajuru (OSU) def. #122 Charlotte Chavatipon (UT) 7-5, 6-1
3. #55 Lucia Peyre (OSU) def. #37 Tanya Sasnouskaya (UT) 6-2, 6-2
4. #62 Safiya Carrington (OSU) vs. #120 Taisiya Pachkaleva (UT) 2-6, 6-2, unf.
5. #93 Ayumi Miyamoto (OSU) vs. Vivian Ovrootsky (UT) 6-3, 4-6, unf.
6. Kristina Novak (OSU) def. Shachf Lieberman (UT) 6-1, 6-2
Doubles – Order of Finish (2,3)
1. #5 Ange Oby Kajuru/Anastasiya Komar (OSU) vs. #36 Malaika Rapolu/Tanya Sasnouskaya (UT) 4-3, unf.
2. Raquel Gonzalez/Ayumi Miyamoto (OSU) def. Charlotte Chavatipon/Vivian Ovrootsky (UT) 6-2
3. Safiya Carrington/Kristina Novak (OSU) def. Taisiya Pachkaleva/Shachf Lieberman (UT) 6-3
#1 Oklahoma St. 4, #7 Texas 3
Friday, March 22, 2024
Austin, Texas • Texas Tennis Center
Singles – Order of Finish (4,2,6,5,3,1)
1. #10 Anastasiya Komar (OSUW) def. #32 Tanya Sasnouskaya (TEXAS) 6-2, 3-6, 6-4
2. #4 Ange Oby Kajuru (OSUW) def. #23 Malaika Rapolu (TEXAS) 6-2, 6-4
3. Charlotte Chavatipon (TEXAS) def. #65 Lucia Peyre (OSUW) 6-3, 6-2
4. #77 Safiya Carrington (OSUW) def. #111 Taisiya Pachkaleva (TEXAS) 6-3, 6-2
5. Vivian Ovrootsky (TEXAS) def. #81 Ayumi Miyamoto (OSUW) 7-5, 6-2
6. Kristina Novak (OSUW) def. Shachf Lieberman (TEXAS) 6-4, 6-2
Doubles – Order of Finish (3,1)
1. Malaika Rapolu/Tanya Sasnouskaya (TEXAS) def. #8 Anastasiya Komar/Ange Oby Kajuru (OSUW) 6-4
2. Charlotte Chavatipon/Vivian Ovrootsky (TEXAS) vs. Ayumi Miyamoto/Raquel Gonzalez (OSUW) 3-5
3. Taisiya Pachkaleva/Shachf Lieberman (TEXAS) def. Safiya Carrington/Kristina Novak (OSUW) 6-2
#3 Oklahoma State 4, #10 Texas 3
Saturday, February 10, 2024
Seattle, Wash. • Seattle Tennis Center (ITA Indoors Quarterfinals)
Singles – Order of Finish (6,2,3,1,5,4)
1. Sabina Zeynalova (TEXAS) def. #17 Anastasiya Komar (OSUW) 6-3, 6-4
2. #5 Ange Oby Kajuru (OSUW) def. #29 Tanya Sasnouskaya (TEXAS) 6-2, 6-2
3. #36 Malaika Rapolu (TEXAS) def. #54 Lucia Peyre (OSUW) 6-1, 6-4
4. #122 Safiya Carrington (OSUW) def. #120 Charlotte Chavatipon (TEXAS) 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (2)
5. Vivian Ovrootsky (TEXAS) def. #46 Ayumi Miyamoto (OSUW) 6-1, 7-6 (3)
6. Kristina Novak (OSUW) def. Taisiya Pachkaleva (TEXAS) 6-1, 6-3
Doubles – Order of Finish (3,1,2)
1. #13 Anastasiya Komar/Ange Oby Kajuru (OSUW) def. #37 Taisiya Pachkaleva/Sabina Zeynalova (TEXAS) 6-3
2. Ayumi Miyamoto/Raquel Gonzalez (OSUW) def. Tanya Sasnouskaya/Malaika Rapolu (TEXAS) 6-2
3. Charlotte Chavatipon/Vivian Ovrootsky (TEXAS) def. Safiya Carrington/Kristina Novak (OSUW) 6-2
-ITA Team Rankings
Just like last season, Texas was ranked No. 7 in the ITA preseason coaches poll, which was released January 6, however after falling in the season opener at USC, fell to No. 12, but rose to No. 11 after winning the ITA Kickoff Weekend regional title. The Longhorns finished the 2023-24 season No. 11, just outside of the Top 10 where they had finished each of the previous six years. UT earned a No. 6 ranking in 2018, No. 9 in 2019, No. 4 in 2020, No. 1 in both 2021 and 2022, and No. 7 in 2023.
-ITA Individual National Rankings
Six UT singles players were included in the latest ITA singles rankings that were released on February 5. All four are in the top-105, four of which are freshmen with two in the top-40.
Texas
Singles
No. 25 Carmen Herea
No. 39 Ariana Anazagasty-Pursoo
No. 71 Sabina Zeynalova
No. 78 Vivian Ovrootsky
No. 92 Eszter Meri
No. 105 Ashton Bowers
Doubles
No. 33 Sabina Zeynalova/Ashton Bowers
Oklahoma State
Singles
No. 15 Ange Oby Kajuru
No. 40 Gracie Epps
No. 65 Anastasiya Komar
No. 69 Marcela Lopez
Doubles
No. 39 Ange Oby Kajuru/Anastasiya Komar
No. 41 Gracie Epps/Marcela Lopez
No. 86 Rose Marie Nijkamp/Anastasiya Komar
-Back-to-back SEC Freshmen of the Week
Carmen Herea was named the SEC Freshman of the Week, the conference announced Feb. 5. It is her first career conference award, and the second-straight week a Longhorn has earned the honor, following Eszter Meri on Jan. 29. Herea posted both singles and doubles wins in helping Texas to a 4-3 win over No. 19 NC State. Her singles victory came over Kristina Paskauskas at No. 2 and evened the overall score at 3-3 before the Longhorns won, 4-3. She and partner Salma Drugdova had evened the doubles point with a win against Anna Zyryanova and Mia Slama before the Wolf Pack took the deciding doubles match in a tiebreaker. 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.
-Quick work of the Wildcats
Texas swept Abilene Christian, 5-0, on Feb. 2 at the Weller Indoor Tennis Center. The Longohrns earned doubles wins at Nos. 2 and 3 and followed with singles victories by Shachf Lieberman at No. 5, Ashton Bowers at No. 3, Ariana Anazagasty-Pursoo at No. 4 for the clinch, and Vivian Ovrootsky at No. 6. In the six combined singles and doubles wins, Texas lost a total of just seven games.
-Send them Packing
Texas prevailed, 4-3, over No. 19 NC State on Jan. 31 at the Weller Indoor Tennis Center. For the second time in a week, Longhorns came away with a victory after securing a third-set tiebreaker in the final singles match. After NC State took the doubles point in a tiebreaker of the final match at No. 1, Texas answered with the first two singles wins by Sabina Zeynaolva at No. 1 and Ariana Anazagasty-Pursoo at No. 5. The Wolf Pack retook the lead with wins at Nos. 2 and 4, but the Longhorns captured the last two matches, first by Carmen Herea at No. 3, and this time, Vivian Ovrootsky did the honors with the clinch at No. 6.
-Back to the ITA Indoors
Texas won the championship of the ITA Kickoff Weekend Austin Regional with a 4-3 comeback win over Baylor at the Texas Tennis Center on Jan. 25. With the win, the Longhorns advanced to the ITA National Indoor Championships for the eighth-straight year with this year's tournament taking place from February 7-10 in Evanston and Champaign, Ill. After Baylor won the doubles point and the first singles match at No. 3 for a 2-0 lead, Texas ran off three-straight singles victories by Vivian Ovrootsky at No. 6, Carmen Herea at No. 5 and Sabina Zeynalova at No. 1. The Bears then evened the score with a win at No. 4 before Eszter Meri clinched the victory in a third-set tiebreaker at No. 2. Prior to that, Texas swept Maryland, 4-0, on Jan. 24. The Longhorns took the doubles point with wins at Nos. 2 and 3 and continued with singles victories from a trio of freshmen in Eszter Meri at No. 2, Salma Drugdova at No. 4, and Carmen Herea at No. 5, who clinched the overall match.
-So close in LA
Texas came up just short, 4-3, at No. 17 USC in Los Angeles on January 17 in the 2025 season opener, however they earned three individual wins against top-50 opponents. The ranked wins were led by a top-10 doubles victory for senior Sabina Zeynalova and Ashton Bowers over the No. 7 pair of Grace Piper and Lily Fairclough at No. 1. Meanwhile, Zeynalova also defeated No. 37 Piper at No. 1 singles, and Eszter Meri topped No. 45 Emma Charney at No. 2 singles. The other singles win came from Vivian Ovrootsky at No. 6 singles. Despite the win at No. 1 doubles, USC had taken the doubles point with wins at Nos. 3 and 2, and then collected singles wins at Nos. 5, 3 and 4 to clinch the overall match.
-Horns host Texas Invite
The Longhorns hosted players from San Diego, Tennessee and Wisconsin at the Texas Invite from January 10-12 in Austin. Day one was forced indoors to the Weller Tennis Center due to weather, but the last two days were able to be held at the Texas Tennis Center. Both freshman Ariana Anazagasty-Pursoo and junior Vivian Ovrootsky posted 6-0 records over the three days, playing in the maximum number of three singles matches and three doubles matches and winning them all. Freshman Carmen Herea also posted a top-10 victory over No. 10 Elza Tomase of Tennessee on the second day, while Anazagasty-Pursoo downed No. 19 Catherine Aulia, also of Tennessee. In all, Texas posted a combined 16 singles and doubles wins.
-Joffe in Year 10
Head Coach Howard Joffe is in his 10th season leading the UT program. Under Joffe's leadership, Texas claimed back-to-back NCAA team championships in 2021 and 2022 and has finished each of the last seven years in the top 11 of the final ITA national polls, earning year-end rankings of No. 6 in 2018, No. 9 in 2019, No. 4 in 2020, No. 1 in both 2021 and 2022, No. 7 in 2023 and No. 11 in 2024. The Longhorns also have captured four Big 12 regular-season championships (2018, 2019, 2021 and 2023-co) and four Big 12 postseason tournament titles (2018, 2021, 2022 and 2023) in their last seven opportunities in the last six chances (2020 season canceled due to COVID-19).
The 2021 ITA Division I Women's National Coach of the Year, Joffe has registered a 192-47 (.803) mark in his time at Texas. During his 18 seasons as a collegiate head coach, he has tallied a 323-108 (.749) dual-match record. Peyton Stearns claimed the Honda Sport Award for Tennis and the ITA National Player of the Year in 2022. Joffe has helped six Longhorns earn a total of eight ITA All-America honors in singles (Breaunna Addison in 2016, Bianca Turati in 2018, Anna Turati and Bianca Turati in 2020, Stearns in both 2021 and 2022, Kylie Collins in 2022, and Malaika Rapolu in 2024) and two duos earn ITA All-America accolades in doubles (Kylie Collins and Lulu Sun in 2021 and Stearns and Allura Zamarripa in 2022). Stearns became the first player in program history to win the NCAA Singles Championship in 2022, while Collins and Sun reached the finals of the NCAA Doubles Championship in 2021. In addition, 19 players have registered a combined 26 All-Big 12 singles and 22 All-Big 12 doubles selections in Joffe's tenure in Austin.
-Back from 2024
Texas will have a different look from 2024, but at the same time return five familiar faces. Senior Sabina Zeynalova, who has significant experience at the top of the singles lineup is back after being limited much of last season due to injury. Junior Vivian Ovrootsky also returns after compiling a 27-12 singles record last year and a 26-9 doubles mark. Following Zeynalova's injury, sophomore Shachf Lieberman stepped into the lineup admirably as a true freshman and posted a 7-4 singles record at No. 6, and a 7-5 doubles mark at No. 3. Sophomore Maddy MacNeille, who played in one dual match last season, and redshirt freshman Charlotte Kempenaers-Pocz also return.
-Seven newcomers arrive for their first dual match season on the 40
The Longhorns add seven new faces for 2025 with three of those already earning ITA singles rankings following the fall in freshmen No. 28 Carmen Herea from Bucharest, Romania, No. 44 Ariana Anazagasty-Pursoo from Westbury, N.Y., and No. 65 Aston Bowers from Alpharetta, Ga. In addition to those, a pair of freshmen from Slovakia in Eszter Meri of Trstena na Ostrove, and Salma Drugdova of Zvolen, are expected to be impact players in the lineup. The Longhorns also added a pair of native Texans in Lucy Schmeil of Austin and Audrey Deatherage of Tyler.
-Fall/Summer Wrap-up
In the first year of the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships being moved to the fall, freshmen Ariana Anazagasty-Pursoo and Ashton Bowers both received singles bids. Anazagasty-Pursoo fell to top-30 player Carson Tanguilig of North Carolina in the round of 64, while Bowers was forced to withdraw due to injury. However, prior to that, both reached the singles final of the ITA Texas Regionals with Anazagasty-Pursoo winning the title. Additionally, Vivian Ovrootsky had reached the semifinals to give the Longhorns three out of four in that round, and Ovrootsky won the third-place match. The pairing of Ovrootsky and Bowers also reached the doubles quarterfinals.
-Year eight at the Texas Tennis Center
Texas is in its eighth year at the Texas Tennis Center with a 73-7 (.913) overall record, including a 2-0 record this season. Last year, the Longhorns posted a 10-1 mark with wins over No. 12 Auburn and No. 15 Oklahoma, and the only loss being 4-3 to No. 1 Oklahoma State. Last season, the Longhorns were 11-2, highlighted by a 6-1 win over No. 6 Iowa State. The season before that, the Longhorns posted a 9-1 record with the only losses coming in a 4-3 decision to No. 4 NC State. Texas went undefeated in 2021 with a 13-0 mark, which included a 7-0 sweep over No. 7 Baylor. In a shortened season in 2020, UT recorded a 7-1 record with the only defeat being 4-3 to No. 12 Stanford. The Longhorns finished 2019 at 8-2, with a pair of wins over top-20 foes Florida State and Kansas, while their only defeats were also to top-20 opponents in Pepperdine and Texas A&M. During its inaugural season, Texas registered another undefeated 13-0 season, including winning the 2018 Big 12 Tournament and logging top-15 wins over No. 6 Stanford, No. 12 Oklahoma State and No. 14 Texas Tech.
Players Mentioned
