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No. 10 Women’s Tennis comes up short at No. 5 Texas A&M in Cotton Holdings Lone Star Showdown
02.22.2026 | Women's Tennis
The Longhorns went the distance in doubles and won four first sets in singles, but the Aggies emerged with a 4-3 win.
College Station, Texas – No. 10 Texas Women's Tennis fell at No. 5 Texas A&M, 4-3, on Sunday in the Cotton Holdings Lone Star Showdown at the Mitchell Tennis Center in College Station.
The Longhorns went the distance in the doubles point, pushing the deciding match at No. 1 to a deuce point that resulted in a 7-5 win by the Aggies. Just before that, Texas had taken a 6-4 victory at No. 2 after Texas A&M claimed a 6-2 win at No. 3.
The Aggies followed with singles wins at Nos. 2 and 5 for a 3-0 lead, but the Longhorns had won the first set in the other four matches. Texas secured two of those matches by freshmen Christasha McNeil at No. 4 and Elizabeth Ionescu at No. 6 to pull within 3-2, but Texas A&M rallied from down a set for a win at No. 3 to clinch. Sophomore No. 3 Carmen Hera then completed the match with a three-set victory at No. 1 for the final.
In doubles, with two regulars out of the lineup for Texas, all three doubles pairs were playing together for the first time in their UT careers. Sophomores Eszter Meri and Salma Drugdova partnered but fell to Daria Smetannikov and Lexington Reed, 6-2, at No. 3. Herea and freshman Mathilde Ngijol-Carré then evened it with a 6-4 win over Violeta Martinez and Ilinca Amariei at No. 2. That left it to No. 1 where Ionescu and McNeil had a deuce point for a break chance to go to a tiebreaker against No. 15 Mia Kupres and Lucciana Perez, but the Aggies held for the win and the point.
Although freshman No. 21 Anastatsia Abbagnato didn't play doubles, she did compete in singles, however she was downed by No. 5 Perez, 6-1, 6-1, at No. 2. Freshman Kate Mansfield then fell to Martinez, 6-2, 6-3, for a 3-0 lead for Texas A&M.
Texas responded with three-set win by McNeil over Reed, 6-3, 0-6, 6-2, at No. 4, meanwhile Ionescu won in straight sets, including a second-set tiebreaker, 6-4, 7-6 (5), at No. 6. Two matches remained at that point, both of which were in third sets after the Longhorns had won the first set in each. The teams split those matches, but the first to finish was No. 4 where Meri came up short to Amariei, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3. Herea then provided the final margin with a top-40 win over No. 35 Kupres, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, at No. 1.
The Longhorns will return to road for a match at Missouri on Friday, November 27, at 1 p.m. CT.
#10 Texas 3, #5 Texas A&M 4
Singles – Order of Finish (2,5,4,6,3,1)
1. #3 Carmen Herea (TEX) def. #35 Mia Kupres (TAMU) 6-2, 4-6, 7-5
2. #5 Lucciana Perez (TAMU) def. #21 Anastasia Abbagnato (TEX) 6-1, 6-1
3. Ilinca Amariei (TAMU) def. Eszter Meri (TEX) 3-6, 6-3, 6-3
4. Christasha McNeil (TEX) def. Lexington Reed (TAMU) 6-3, 0-6, 6-2
5. Violeta Martinez (TAMU) def. Kate Mansfield (TEX) 6-2, 6-3
6. Elizabeth Ionescu (TEX) def. #125 Daria Smetannikov (TAMU) 6-4, 7-6 (5)
Doubles – Order of Finish (3,2,1)
1. #15 Mia Kupres/Lucciana Perez (TAMU) def. Elizabeth Ionescu/Christasha McNeil (TEX) 7-5
2. Carmen Herea/Mathilde Ngijol-Carré (TEX) def. Violeta Martinez/Ilinca Amariei (TAMU) 6-4
3. Daria Smetannikov/Lexington Reed (TAMU) def. Eszter Meri/Salma Drugdova (TEX) 6-2
Individual Match Key Moments
(by order of finish)
Doubles No. 3: Smetannikov/Reed (TAM) def. Meri/Drugdova (TEX) def. 6-2
Match: Texas A&M broke for 3-1, and although Texas had a break chance in the next game, the Aggies held at deuce for 4-1. The Longhorns held for 4-2 and had another deuce break chance, but the Aggies again held and broke to win.
Doubles No. 2: Herea/Ngijol-Carré (TEX) def. Martinez/Amariei (TAM) 6-4
Match: The first four games were breaks, including three deuce points with two for Texas, until Texas A&M held for 3-2. The Longhorns also held at deuce, starting a 3-0 run for 5-3 and served out two games later.
Doubles No. 1: Kupres/Perez (TAM) def. Ionescu/McNeil (TEX) 7-5
Match: Just like court 2, the first four games were breaks, including three deuce points with two for Texas. The Longhorns held first for 3-2, but the Aggies went on a 3-0 run. Texas won consecutive deuce points to fend off match points for 5-5, but Texas A&M broke again and held on a deuce point to win.
Singles No. 2: Perez (TAM) def. Abbagnato (TEX) 6-1, 6-1
Set One: Perez won the last four games, including a deuce-point hold for 5-1.
Set Two: Perez won the first five games, including a deuce-point hold for 3-0.
Singles No. 5: Martinez (TAM) def. Mansfield (TEX) 6-2, 6-3
Set One: After consecutive deuce points, Martinez broke for 3-1. Mansfield broke back, but Martinez closed on a 3-0 run including deuce points in the last two games.
Set Two: Mansfield broke at deuce and held for 2-0 before holding at deuce for 3-1, however Martinez went on a 5-0 run, including two deuce points.
Singles No. 4: McNeil (TEX) def. Reed (TAM) 6-3, 0-6, 6-2
Set One: McNeil opened with a pair of breaks for 3-0. Reed got one break back on a deuce point for 3-1, but McNeil broke again and held at deuce for 5-1. Reed broke again for 5-3, but so did McNeil at deuce for the set.
Set Two: Reed broke twice at deuce for 3-0 and 5-0 as part of a 6-0 set.
Set Three: The first five games were on serve with one deuce point for each player and McNeil closed on a 4-0 run.
Singles No. 6: Ionescu (TEX) def. Smetannikov (TAM) 6-4, 7-6 (5)
Set One: Ionescu held and broke on deuce points for 2-0, but Smetannikov broke back and won consecutive deuce points for a 3-2 lead. Ionescu put it back on serve with a deuce-point break and later closed the set with consecutive deuce points.
Set Two: Ionescu opened with consecutive deuce points as part of a 4-0 start. Smetannikov came back with a 3-0 run capped by a deuce-point break. After Ionescu broke back at deuce for 5-3, Smetannikov went 3-0 again, including deflecting a match point at deuce with Ionescu up, 5-4. Trailing, 6-5, Ionescu broke back for a tiebreaker.
Set Two Tiebreaker: Smetannikov led 2-0, 3-1 and 4-2, but Ionescu set out on a 4-0 run for a 6-4 lead before winning 7-5.
Singles No. 3: Amariei (TAM) def. Meri (TEX) 3-6, 6-3, 6-3
Set One: Meri broke first for the start of five-straight breaks until Meri held again for 6-3.
Set Two: Amariei moved out to a 4-0 lead with a deuce-point hold for 3-0. Meri broke and held at deuce to get withing 4-2, but the last three games were also held.
Set Three: Amariei broke and held for 2-0, and although Meri evened it with consecutive deuce-point wins, Amariei broke again and the rest of the set was on serve including a deuce point on match point.
Singles No. 1: Herea (TEX) def. Kupres (TAM) 6-2, 4-6, 7-5
Set One: Herea held at deuce twice around a break for a 3-0 lead. She broke again for 5-1, and although Kupres broke back at deuce, Herea broke again for the set.
Set Two: Kupres won consecutive deuce points to break first for 3-1 and hold for 4-1. Herea held and broke at deuce to pull within 4-3, the first of four-straight breaks for 6-4 for Kupres.
Set Three: Herea broke first for 4-2, and Kupres broke back for 4-3. The rest of the set was on serve until Herea broke again for the match on the second of consecutive deuce points.
Players Mentioned
