The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Arizona
No. 17 Women's Tennis preview: ITA Kickoff Weekend
01.23.2026 | Women's Tennis
The Longhorns open against Arizona on Saturday, while also hosting No. 15 Cal and No. 25 Baylor.
No. 17 Women's Tennis preview: ITA Kickoff Weekend
Team Records: Texas (0-1, 0-0 SEC), Cal (0-0, 0-0 ACC), Baylor (2-0, 0-0 Big 12), Arizona (3-1, 0-0 Big 12)
Where: Weller Indoor Tennis Center, Austin, Texas
Live Stats: https://hookem.at/WTN-Stats
Live Video: https://hookem.at/WTN-Watch
Broadcast: Cracked Racquets (YouTube)
Tournament Homepage: https://wearecollegetennis.com/kickoff-weekend/
Tournament Schedule
Saturday, January 24
No. 17 Texas vs. Arizona, 3:30 p.m.
No. 15 Cal vs. No. 25 Baylor, 6:30 p.m.
Sunday, January 25
Championship: Texas-Arizona winner vs. Cal-Baylor winner, 11 a.m.
Consolation: Texas-Arizona loser vs. Cal-Baylor loser, 2 p.m.
Notes
-ITA Kickoff Weekend
Texas is hosting an ITA Kickoff Weekend regional for the eighth-straight year with the last time not hosting being 2018 when the team traveled to Berkeley, Calif. During that trip, the Longhorns defeated Mississippi State and Cal to begin a 16-match winning streak in ITA Kickoff regionals that has led them to the ITA National Indoor Championships for the past eight years. In that stretch, Texas has faced Baylor five times (2019, '21, '23, '24, '25) and won all five contests, including in the second round last season after defeating Maryland in the first round. The Longhorns last loss in a regional came in 2017 when they were downed by UNC in Chapel Hill in the championship match.
-Arizona Series: Texas leads, 13-5
Texas leads Arizona in the all-time series, 13-5, in records dating back to 1978, however this will be the first meeting between the teams since 2004 after playing regularly in the 1990s and 2000s. The Longhorns won that contest in 2004, 4-3 in Austin. Arizona had won, 7-0, the year before, but prior to that, Texas had won four straight from 1999-2002. Arizona had won four of five before that after the Longhorns opened the all-time series with six consecutive wins from 1979-1991.
-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 were then No. 17 on January 21. 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. Meanwhile, Cal is No. 15, Baylor is No. 25, and Arizona is unranked.
-ITA Individual National Rankings
Texas
Singles
No. 2 Carmen Herea
Doubles
N/A
Arizona
Singles
N/A
Doubles
No. 72 Haylee Conway/Zoya Chulak
Cal
Singles
No. 9 Berta Passola Folch
No. 63 Naomi Xu
No. 73 Mao Mushika
No. 92 Greta Greco Lucchina
Doubles
No. 77 Mao Mushika/Greta Greco Lucchina
Baylor
Singles
No. 40 Na Dong
No. 57 Zuzanna Kubacha
No. 99 Mu Jie Tzeng
Doubles
No. 38 Kennedy Gibbs/Na Dong
No. 61 Na Dong/Zuzanna Kubacha
-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 206-58 (.780) mark in his time at Texas. During his 20 seasons as a collegiate head coach, he has tallied a 337-119 (.739) 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
