The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Wisconsin
No. 18 Women's Tennis preview: at Wisconsin
01.31.2026 | Women's Tennis
The Longhorns continue their Big Ten road trip with their first-ever match at Wisconsin.
No. 18 Women's Tennis preview: at Wisconsin
Team Records: Texas (1-1, 0-0 SEC), Wisconsin (4-1, 0-0 Big Ten)
When: Sunday, February 1, 2026, 12 p.m. CT
Where: Nielsen Tennis Stadium, Madison, Wisc.
Live Stats: https://hookem.at/WTN-Stats
Live Video: https://hookem.at/WTN-Watch
Notes
-Wisconsin Series: Texas leads, 3-0
Texas leads the all-time series with Wisconsin, 3-0, in records dating back to 1978. The teams met just two years ago in Austin in 2024, which resulted in a 7-0 sweep for the No. 10 Longhorns over the No. 25 Badgers. They faced each other two other times in Austin with Texas winning both, including a 5-4 victory in 1989, and a 6-3 win in 1979. However, the Longhorns have competed in the Nielsen Tennis Stadium in Madison previously during the ITA National Indoor Championships, most recently in 2022.
Last Meeting
#10 Texas 7, #25 Wisconsin 0
Saturday, February 3, 2024
Austin Texas • Weller Indoor Tennis Center
Singles – Order of Finish (2,5,6,1,4,3)
1. Sabina Zeynalova (UT) def. #61 Maria Sholokhova (WIS) 6-3, 6-2
2. #20 Tanya Sasnouskaya (UT) def. Alina Mukhortova (WIS) 6-4, 6-0
3. #106 Charlotte Chavatipon (UT) def. Taylor Cataldi (WIS) 7-6 (2), 7-6 (1)
4. #45 Malaika Rapolu (UT) def. #87 Xinyu Cai (WIS) 6-1, 7-5
5. Taisiya Pachkaleva (UT) def. Kaja Jacobson (WIS) 7-5, 6-0
6. Vivian Ovrootsky (UT) def. Ariel Johnson (WIS) 7-5, 6-2
Doubles – Order of Finish (1,3)
1. Sabina Zeynalova/Taisiya Pachkaleva (UT) def. #50 Maria Sholokhova/Alina Mukhortova (WIS) 6-1
2. Malaika Rapolu/Tanya Sasnouskaya (UT) vs. Xinyu Cai/Ellison Reynoldson (WIS) 4-4, unf.
3. Vivian Ovrootsky/Charlotte Chavatipon (UT) def. Ariel Johnson/Taylor Cataldi (WIS) 6-3
-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 and No. 18 on January 28. 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, Wisconsin is not ranked.
-ITA Individual National Rankings
Texas
Singles
No. 2 Carmen Herea
Doubles
N/A
Wisconsin
Singles
No. 47 Maria Sholokhova
Doubles
No. 5 Maria Sholokhova/Lucie Urbanova
-Victory in first visit to Iowa City
The Longhorns earned a 6-1 win at Iowa on January 30 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 Ariana Anazagasty-Pursoo at No. 5 and Carmen Herea at No. 1, Elizabeth Ionescu at No. 4 for the clinch, Salma Drugdova at No. 6, and Christasha McNeil at No. 3.
-Back to the ITA National Indoors
Although matches for the ITA Kickoff Weekend in Austin were canceled due to inclement weather, the Longhorns advanced to the ITA National Indoor Championships as the high seed of the regional. As a result, Texas will be making its ninth-straight trip to the national tournament, which will be played this year from February 6-9 in Champaign and Chicago, Ill., with the Longhorns having been assigned play in Champaign.
-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 207-58 (.781) mark in his time at Texas. During his 20 seasons as a collegiate head coach, he has tallied a 338-119 (.740) 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
