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No. 18 Women’s Tennis earns 6-1 win at Iowa
01.30.2026 | Women's Tennis
The Longhorns picked up their first win of the 2026 season in their first-ever road match against the Hawkeyes.
Iowa City, Iowa – No. 18 Texas Women's Tennis earned a 6-1 win at Iowa on Friday in the first of a pair of weekend Big Ten road matches. The Longhorns picked up their first win of the 2026 season in their first-ever road match against the Hawkeyes.
Texas captured the doubles point with wins at Nos. 2 and 3 and followed with singles wins by sophomores Ariana Anazagasty-Pursoo at No. 5 and Carmen Herea at No. 1, freshman Elizabeth Ionescu at No. 4 for the clinch, sophomore Salma Drugdova at No. 6, and freshman Christasha McNeil at No. 3. For Ionescu, it was her first collegiate singles win, while for McNeil, it was her first dual match singles win.
The match began in doubles with the pair of McNeil and Drugdova falling to Daianne Hayashida and Mia Mack, 6-1, at No. 1. However, the Longhorns controlled the match from there, starting with the duo of Herea and Ionescu evening doubles with a 6-3 win over Pai Kranholdt and Emma Tothová at No. 2. Anazagasty-Pursoo and freshman Mathilde Ngijol-Carré followed by clinching the point with a 6-4 win over Eline Bex and Nikita Vishwase at No. 3.
Anazagasty-Pursoo then opened singles with an efficient 6-1, 6-1 win over Vishwase at No. 5 for a 2-0 overall lead, which Herea expanded to 3-0 with a 6-4, 6-0 victory over Daianne Hayashida at No. 1. Ionescu came through with the clinch with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Kranholdt at No. 4 before Drugdova pushed the lead to 5-0 with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Sally Xu at No. 6.
Iowa picked up its lone point as sophomore Eszter Meri was downed in three sets by Mack, 6-0, 1-6, 6-1, at No. 2. McNeil then closed the match with a 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 victory over Tothová at No. 3 for the 6-1 final.
Next up, the Longhorns travel to Wisconsin for their first-ever road match against the Badgers on Sunday at 12 p.m. CT.
No. 18 Texas 6, Iowa 1
Singles – Order of Finish (5,1,4,6,2,3)
1. #2 Carmen Herea (TEX) def. Daianne Hayashida (IOWA) 6-4, 6-0
2. Mia Mack (IOWA) def. Eszter Meri (TEX) 6-0, 1-6, 6-1
3. Christasha McNeil (TEX) def. Emma Tothová (IOWA) 6-2, 4-6, 7-5
4. Elizabeth Ionescu (TEX) def. Pia Kranholdt (IOWA) 6-3, 6-1
5. Ariana Anazagasty-Pursoo (TEX) def. Nikita Vishwase (IOWA) 6-1, 6-1
6. Salma Drugdova (TEX) def. Sally Xu (IOWA) 6-2, 6-4
Doubles – Order of Finish (1,2,3)
1. Hayashida Hayashida/Mia Mack (IOWA) def. Christasha McNeil/Salma Drugdova (TEX) 6-1
2. Carmen Herea/Elizabeth Ionescu (TEX) def. Pia Kranholdt/Emma Tothová (IOWA) 6-3
3. Ariana Anazagasty-Pursoo/Mathilde Ngijol-Carré (TEX) def. Eline Bex/Nikita Vishwase (IOWA) 6-4
Individual Match Key Moments
(by order of finish)
Doubles No. 1: Hayashida/Mack (IOWA) def. McNeil/Drugdova (TEX) 6-1
Texas won the opening game on a deuce-point hold, but Iowa closed on a 6-0 run.
Doubles No. 2: Herea/Ionescu (TEX) def. Kranholdt/Tothová (IOWA) 6-3
Iowa broke first for a 2-1 lead, but Texas broke back on a deuce point for 2-2. The Longhorns then claimed the only other break on a deuce point for 5-3.
Doubles No. 3: Anazagasty-Pursoo/Ngijol-Carré (TEX) def. Bex/Vishwase (IOWA) 6-4
Texas collected the only break of the match for a 2-1 lead and maintained it for the win.
Singles No. 5: Anazagasty-Pursoo (TEX) def. Vishwase (IOWA) 6-1, 6-1
Set One: Anazagasty-Pursoo broke in the opening game and held for 2-0, and after Vishwase held on a deuce point, Anazagasty-Pursoo went on a 4-0 run capped by a deuce-point break.
Set Two: Anazagasty-Pursoo again won the first two games, surrendered one game on a break for 2-1 and again finished 4-0.
Singles No. 1: Herea (TEX) def. Hayashida (IOWA) 6-4, 6-0
Match: Herea fell behind 3-0 on a deuce-point break in the second game, but won 12 of the next 13 games, only allowing a deuce-point hold for 5-4 in the first set. Herea won three deuce points in the second set.
Singles No. 4: Ionescu (TEX) def. Kranholdt (IOWA) 6-3, 6-1
Set One: Ionescu won the first two games on deuce points, including the only break of the set for 2-0.
Set Two: Ionescu began on a 4-0 run, including a deuce-point break for 3-0. She later broke again for the match.
Singles No. 6: Drugdova (TEX) def. Xu (IOWA) 6-2, 6-4
Set One: After holding her first two serves at deuce, Drugdova broke for a 3-2 lead, starting a 4-0 run for the set.
Set Two: Drugdova broke in the first game and again held her first two serves at deuce before breaking again for 4-1. Xu evened the match, but Drugdova claimed the last two games to win.
Singles No. 2: Mack (IOWA) def. Meri (TEX) 6-0, 1-6, 6-1
Set One: Mack swept the first set, holding all three of her serves on deuce points.
Set Two: Meri won five deuce points and finished the set on a 5-0 run.
Set Three: Mack started and finished on 3-0 runs and won four of five deuce points.
Singles No. 3: McNeil (TEX) def. Tothová (IOWA) 6-2, 4-6, 7-5
Set One: McNeil secured the only breaks of the set for leads of 2-1 and 5-2.
Set Two: McNeil won consecutive deuce points for a 3-1 lead that she extended to 4-2, however Tothová went on a 4-0 run for the set, including a deuce point for a 5-4 lead.
Set Three: The first four games were on serve, but the next four were breaks, including two at deuce for Tothová, who then held at deuce for a 5-4 lead before McNeil closed 3-0, including a deuce-point break.
Players Mentioned
