The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Pepperdine
No. 12 Women’s Tennis preview: No. 21 Pepperdine
01.17.2026 | Women's Tennis
The Longhorns open the 2026 season with a ranked contests against the Waves on Sunday at 11 a.m.
No. 12 Women's Tennis preview: No. 21 Pepperdine
Team Records: Texas (0-0, 0-0 SEC), Pepperdine (1-0, 0-0 WCC)
When: Sunday, January 18, 2026, 11 a.m. CT
Where: Texas Tennis Center, Austin, Texas (South Courts)
Live Stats: https://hookem.at/WTN-Stats
Live Video: https://hookem.at/WTN-Watch
Notes
-Pepperdine Series: Texas leads, 16-12
Texas and Pepperdine have met 28 times in their history in records dating back to 1978. The Longhorns have won 16 of those, including the last two, both of which came in the NCAA Tournament and were 4-3 decisions. The last was in 2023 in Austin in the Round of 16, while the one prior in 2021 provided the Longhorns with the first of their back-to-back National Championships and was played in Orlando at the USTA National Campus. Lulu Sun provided the clinching point of an epic match in which she defeated eventual Longhorn Taisiya Pachkaleva. Prior to that, Pepperdine won five in a row in a span from 2011-2020. Texas took another pair of victories in 2009 and 2010, and although the Waves won a 2007 matchup, the Longhorns captured the previous 10 from 1991-2001. Pepperdine won six of the first eight in the series, five of which were in Malibu with one in Los Angeles.
Last 10 Matches
2023: 4-3 W, Austin, Texas (NCAA Round of 16)
2021: 4-3 W, Orlando, Fla. (NCAA Final)
2020: 0-7 L, Malibu, Calif.
2019: 2-5 L, Austin, Texas
2016: 0-4 L, Stillwater, Okla. (NCAA Round of 16)
2015: 2-5 L, Malibu, Calif.
2011: 3-4 L, Malibu, Calif.
2010: 5-2 W, Austin, Texas
2009: 4-1 W, Berkeley, Calif. (NCAA First Round)
2007: 3-4 L, Austin, Texas
Last Two Meetings
#8 Texas 4, #9 Pepperdine 3
Saturday, May 13, 2023
Austin, Texas • Weller Indoor Tennis Center (NCAA Round of 16)
Singles – Order of Finish (4,3,1,2,5,6)
1. #74 Nicole Khirin (TEXAS) def. #34 Zaar, Lisa (PEPPW) 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-5)
2. #19 Broadus, Savannah (PEPPW) def. #95 Charlotte Chavatipon (TEXAS) 6-7 (3-7), 6-1, 6-3
3. #16 Tjen, Janice (PEPPW) def. #116 Sabina Zeynalova (TEXAS) 7-5, 6-4
4. Taisiya Pachkaleva (TEXAS) def. Thamchaiwat, Bunyawi (PEPPW) 6-1, 6-2
5. #117 Redelijk, Nikki (PEPPW) def. Nicole Rivkin (TEXAS) 4-6, 6-4, 6-0
6. Malaika Rapolu (TEXAS) def. Campana, Anna (PEPPW) 2-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4
Doubles – Order of Finish (3,1,2)
1. #1 Tjen, Janice/Broadus, Savannah (PEPPW) def. #26 Charlotte Chavatipon/Sabina Zeynalova (TEXAS) 6-3 2. Taisiya Pachkaleva/Nicole Rivkin (TEXAS) def. #59 Zaar, Lisa/Thamchaiwat, Bunyawi (PEPPW) 7-5
3. Nicole Khirin/Malaika Rapolu (TEXAS) def. Redelijk, Nikki/Campana, Anna (PEPPW) 6-2
#2 Texas 4, #5 Pepperdine 3
Saturday, May 23, 2021
Orlando, Fla. • USTA National Campus (NCAA Final)
Singles – Order of Finish (4,2,5,1,6,3)
#37 Peyton Stearns (UT) def. #77 Ashley Lahey (Pepp), 2-6, 6-0, 6-2
#21 Jessica Failla (Pepp) def. #35 Anna Turati (UT), 6-2, 6-3
#62 Lulu Sun (UT) def. #89 Taisiya Pachkaleva (Pepp), 6-4, 6-7 (3-7), 7-5
#76 Charlotte Chavatipon (UT) def. #118 Shiori Fukuda (Pepp), 6-3, 6-2
Lisa Zaar (Pepp) def. #72 Kylie Collins (UT), 6-3, 7-6 (7-3)
Nikki Redelijk (Pepp) def. Malaika Rapolu (UT), 6-4, 7-5
Doubles – Order of Finish (2,1,3)
#19 Kylie Collins/Lulu Sun (UT) def. Lisa Zaar/Ashley Lahey (Pepp), 7-6 (7-3)
Shiori Fukuda/Taisiya Pachkaleva (Pepp) def. Fernanda Labraña/Anna Turati (UT), 6-1
#47 Peyton Stearns/Charlotte Chavatipon (UT) vs. Anastasia Iamachkine/Jessica Failla (Pepp), 7-6 (7-5)
-ITA Team Rankings
Texas was tabbed No. 12 in the preseason poll released January 7 by the ITA after finishing last season at No. 13. The Longhorns closed 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
Texas
Singles
No. 2 Carmen Herea
Doubles
N/A
Pepperdine
Singles
No. 7 Anastasiia Grechkina
Doubles
No. 78 Alexia Harmon/Anastasiia Grechkina
-Joffe in Year 11
Head Coach Howard Joffe is in his 11th 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 eight years in the top 13 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, No. 11 in 2024, and No. 13 in 2025. The Longhorns also 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 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 206-57 (.783) mark in his time at Texas. During his 20 seasons as a collegiate head coach, he has tallied a 337-118 (.741) 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 2025
Texas will have a different look from 2025, but at the same time return a few familiar faces. The roster will feature six returners, four of whom had match experience, including sophomores Carmen Herea, Eszter Meri, Ariana Anazagasty-Pursoo and Salma Drugdova, along with redshirt freshman Audrey Deatherage and Lucy Schmeil.
-Five newcomers arrive for their first dual match season on the 40
The Longhorns add five new faces for 2026, all who are expected to be impact players, starting with Christasha McNeil of Lindenhurst, N.Y., and Mathilde Ngijol-Carré of Paris, France, who arrived in the fall. Three more joined the team in January, including Anastasia Abbagnato from Palermo, Italy, Elizabeth Ionescu from York, Pa., and Kate Mansfield of London, England.
-Summer/Fall Wrap-up
A number of players on the roster spent the summer and fall nursing injuries, leading to some of them not qualifying for fall ITA rankings. However, Eszter Meri captured the singles gold medal at the FISU World University Games in July, while Carmen Herea finished as the singles runner-up at one of the fall majors in the ITA All-Americans, and then was a quarterfinalist in the NCAA Singles Championships.
Players Mentioned
