The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
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Wisconsin
No. 18 Women’s Tennis secures 5-2 win at Wisconsin
02.01.2026 | Women's Tennis
The Longhorns swept their two-match Big Ten road trip with a victory in Madison on Sunday.
Madison, Wisc. – No. 18 Texas Women's Tennis completed a sweep of their two-match Big Ten road trip with a 5-2 victory over Wisconsin at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium on Sunday. The Longhorns had defeated Iowa, 6-1, on Friday.
Texas used a top-five win at No. 1 doubles and combined it with a win at No. 3 to claim the doubles point. After Wisconsin picked up a win at No. 3 singles, the Longhorns followed with singles wins by sophomore Ariana Anazagasty-Pursoo at No. 5, freshman Elizabeth Ionescu at No. 6, sophomore No. 2 Carmen Herea at No. 1, and sophomore Eszter Meri at No. 4. The Badgers then closed the scoring with a win at No. 2.
The top-five win at No. 1 was provided by Anazagasty-Pursoo and freshman Anastasia Abbagnato over the No. 5 pair of Maria Sholokhova and Lucie Urbanova, 6-3. Herea and Ionescu then clinched the point with a 6-2 win over Tianna Rangan and Kaede Usui at No. 3. The remaining match at No. 2 had reached a match point for Wisconsin when play stopped with Ekaterina Ivanova and Ellison Reynoldson leading sophomore Salma Drugdova and freshman Christasha McNeil, 5-3, 40-30.
After Rangan evened the overall match with a 6-2, 6-0 win over McNeil at No. 3, the Longhorns ran off four-straight singles victories starting with Anazagasty-Pursoo over Kaja Jacobson, 6-3, 7-5, at No. 5.
Seconds later on the next court over, Ionescu posted a similar score to extend the lead to 3-1 with a 6-2, 7-5 win over Usui at No. 6. Herea then came through with the clinch by downing No. 47 Sholokhova, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, at No. 1.
The matches were then played out with sophomore Eszter Meri rallying from a set down to post a 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-1 win over Urbanova at No. 4. At that point, the final match at No. 2 between Abbagnato and Ivanova was just heading to its third set after split tiebreakers, leading to an extended third-set superbreaker where Ivanova emerged with a 7-6 (4), 6-7 (5), 1-0 (17-15) decision for the 5-2 final.
Next up, the Longhorns will return to Big Ten territory when they begin play in the ITA National Indoor Championships in Champaign, Ill., from February 6-9. The other half of the tournament and its final rounds will be held in Chicago.
#18 Texas 5, Wisconsin 2
Singles – Order of Finish (3,4,6,1,4,2)
1. #2 Carmen Herea (TEX) def. #47 Maria Sholokhova (WISC) 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
2. Ekaterina Ivanova (WISC) def. Anastasia Abbagnato (TEX) 7-6 (4), 6-7 (5), 1-0 (17-15)
3. Tianna Rangan (WISC) def. Christasha McNeil (TEX) 6-2, 6-0
4. Eszter Meri (TEX) def. Lucie Urbanova (WISC) 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-1
5. Ariana Anazagasty-Pursoo (TEX) def. Kaja Jacobson (WISC) 6-3, 7-5
6. Elizabeth Ionescu (TEX) def. Kaede Usui (WISC) 6-2, 7-5
Doubles – Order of Finish (1,3)
1. Anastasia Abbagnato/Ariana Anazagasty-Pursoo (TEX) def. #5 Maria Sholokhova/Lucie Urbanova (WISC) 6-3
2. Ekaterina Ivanova/Ellison Reynoldson (WISC) vs. Salma Drugdova/Christasha McNeil (TEX) 5-3, unf.
3. Carmen Herea/Elizabeth Ionescu (TEX) def. Tianna Rangan/Kaede Usui (WISC) 6-2
Individual Match Key Moments
(by order of finish)
Doubles No. 1: Abbagnato/Anazagasty-Pursoo (TEX) def. Sholokhova/Urbanova (WISC) 6-3
Texas broke for a 2-0 lead, which was the first of three-straight breaks, until the Longhorns held again for 4-1. Wisconsin's next two serves went to deuce, but the last five games were all held for the Texas 6-3 win.
Doubles No. 3: Herea/Ionescu (TEX) def. Rangan/Usui (WISC) 6-2
Texas broke first for a 3-1 lead and then won consecutive deuce points for 5-1 on the way to the 6-2 win.
Doubles No. 2: Ivanova/Reynoldson (WISC) vs. Drugdova/McNeil (TEX) 5-3, unf.
Wisconsin grabbed the only break of the match for a 3-1 lead on a deuce pont.
Singles No. 3: Rangan (WISC) def. McNeil (TEX) 6-2, 6-0
Set One: Rangan opened 3-0 with a break in the second game and broke again on a deuce point for 5-1. McNeil broke back at deuce, but Rangan broke again for the set.
Set Two: Rangan swept the second set with deuce-point wins start and finish the set.
Singles No. 5: Anazagasty-Pursoo (TEX) def. Jacobson (WISC) 6-3, 7-5
Set One: Anazagasty-Pursoo produced two deuce-point breaks around a Jacobson break before holding for 4-1. The players again exchanged breaks before Anazagasty-Pursoo held for the set, 6-3.
Set Two: Jacobson broke first on a deuce point for a 5-3 lead, but Anazagasty-Pursoo broke back at deuce to start a 4-0 run to the win.
Singles No. 6: Ionescu (TEX) def. Usui (WISC) 6-2, 7-5
Set One: Ionescu closed on a 4-0 run for the set.
Set Two: Usui broke and consolidated for a 3-1 lead. Ionescu got the break back for 3-3, but Usui broke and held on a deuce point for a 5-3 lead. Ionescu also held at deuce to begin a 4-0 run for the win.
Singles No. 1: Herea (TEX) def. Sholokhova (WISC) 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
Set One: Sholokhova broke in the opening game and after extending to a 3-1 lead, Herea held on a deuce point to start a 5-0 run for the set.
Set Two: Herea broke to start, but Sholokhova got the break back for 3-3 and then broke again for the set, 6-4.
Set Three: Herea broke and held on a deuce point for 2-0, but Sholokhova got the break back at deuce for 2-2. Herea broke again for a 4-3 lead, and after Sholokhova broke back, Herea broke again at deuce and then served out the match.
Singles No. 4: Meri (TEX) def. Urbanova (WISC) 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-1
Set One: Meri broke first for a 4-3 lead, but it was the first of four straight breaks until Urbanova held at deuce for a 6-5 lead, followed by Meri holding for a tiebreaker.
Set One Tiebreaker: Urbanova won consecutive points for a 4-2 lead and maintained to a 7-4 win.
Set Two: The first three games went to deuce with Urbanova winning two on the way to a 3-1 lead. Meri then held at deuce to start a 5-0 run including deuce wins in the last two games.
Set Three: The players traded breaks to start, but Meri went on another 5-0 to the finish, winning three deuce points in the stretch.
Singles No. 2: Ivanova (WISC) def. Abbagnato (TEX) 7-6 (4), 6-7 (5), 1-0 (17-15)
Set One: The first four games went to deuce with Ivanova winning three and then extending to 4-1. Abbagnato pulled even at 4-4 and the match stayed on serve to a tiebreaker.
Set One Tiebreaker: Abbagnato won the first two points, but Ivanova went on a 4-0 run and maintained the lead to a 7-4 win.
Set Two: The first four games were breaks until Abbagnato held for a 3-2 lead. She broke for a 5-3 lead, but Ivanova won consecutive deuce points to even it on the way to another tiebreaker.
Set Two Tiebreaker: Ivanova took leads of 3-0 and 5-1, but Abbagnato went on a 6-0 run to the win.
Set Three Superbreaker: Ivanova went up 6-4, but Abbagnato won five of the next six points and had match points up 9-7 and 9-8. From there, Abbagnato had four more match points and Ivanova had three before Ivanova emerged, 17-15.
Players Mentioned
