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Oklahoma
No. 18 Women’s Tennis comes up just short against No. 6 Oklahoma, 4-3, at ITA Indoors
02.06.2026 | Women's Tennis
The overall match was decided at the end of the third set of the last singles match on Friday in Urbana.
Urbana, Ill. – No. 18 Texas Women's Tennis came up just short in a 4-3 defeat to No. 6 Oklahoma in the round of 16 of the ITA National Indoor Championships on Friday in Urbana.
The overall match came down to a close third set in the final singles match at No. 6 with the score tied, 3-3. Oklahoma had taken the doubles point with wins at Nos. 3 and 2 after Texas had won at No. 1. After the Sooners used a win at No. 4 singles for a 2-0 lead, the Longhorns rallied with three straight victories by freshman No. 63 Anastasia Abbagnato at No. 2, freshman Christasha McNeil at No. 3 and sophomore No. 2 Carmen Herea at No. 1 to take a lead of their own. However, Oklahoma was able to respond with wins at Nos. 5 and 6 to clinch the match.
All three doubles matches were decided by a 6-2 score with Abbagnato and sophomore Ariana Anazagasty-Pursoo first off the court against Roisin Gilheany and Evialina Laskevich at No. 1. The matches at Nos. 3 and 2 then finished quickly one after the other with Herea and Ionescu downed at No. 3 by Laura Brunkel and Barakat Quadre, and then McNeil and sophomore Salma Drugdova defeated by Julia Garcia Ruiz and Salakthip Ounmuang at No. 2.
Sophomore Eszter Meri then fell to Edda Mamedova, 6-0, 6-0, at No. 4, but Texas bounced back starting with a top-12 win for Abbagnato over No. 12 Garcia Ruiz at No. 2. A few minutes later, the Longhorns found themselves in front after McNeil tied it with a 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 ranked victory over No. 123 Chloe Noel at No. 3, and Herea completed a significant comeback after losing the first nine games of the match to Laskevich before winning, 0-6, 6-4, 6-3.
Oklahoma evened it again when Ounmuang posted a 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-0 win over Anazagasty-Pursoo at No. 5, and then clinched when Brunkel came back from down a set and 1-3 in the second to Ionescu for a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win. Ionescu trailed, 4-5, in the final set and needed to break to even it, but Brunkel was able to hold for the win.
The Longhorns will next face No. 12 Vanderbilt in a consolation match at 9 a.m. CT on Saturday.
#18 Texas 3, #6 Oklahoma 4
Singles – Order of Finish (4,2,3,1,5,6)
1. #2 Carmen Herea (TEX) def. Evialina Laskevich (OU) 0-6, 6-4, 6-3
2. #63 Anastasia Abbagnato (TEX) def. #12 Julia Garcia Ruiz (OU) 6-4, 6-2
3. Christasha McNeil (TEX) def. #123 Chloe Noel (OU) 2-6, 6-1, 6-4
4. Edda Mamedova (OU) def. Eszter Meri (TEX) 6-0, 6-0
5. Salakthip Ounmuang (OU) def. Ariana Anazagasty-Pursoo (TEX) 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-0
6. Laura Brunkel (OU) def. Elizabeth Ionescu (TEX) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
Doubles – Order of Finish (1,3,2)
1. #34 Anastasia Abbagnato/Ariana Anazagasty-Pursoo (TEX) def. Roisin Gilheany /Evialina Laskevich (OU) 6-2
2. Julia Garcia Ruiz/Salakthip Ounmuang (OU) def. Salma Drugdova/Christasha McNeil (TEX) 6-2
3. Laura Brunkel/Barakat Quadre (OU) def. Carmen Herea/Elizabeth Ionescu (TEX) 6-2
Individual Match Key Moments
(by order of finish)
Doubles No. 1: Abbagnato/Anazagasty-Pursoo (TEX) def. Gilheany/Laskevich (OU) 6-2
Match: Texas broke for 3-1 and consolidated at deuce for 4-1 before breaking at deuce for 6-2
Doubles No. 3: Garcia Ruiz/Ounmuang (OU) def. Drugdova/McNeil (TEX) 6-2
Match: Oklahoma broke and then held at deuce for 3-0. The last three games went to deuce with the Sooners winning the first and last of those.
Doubles No. 3: Brunkel/Quadre (OU) def. Herea/Ionescu (TEX) 6-2
Oklahoma broke at deuce in the opening game before breaking again for 5-2.
Singles No. 4: Mamedova (OU) def. Meri (TEX) 6-0, 6-0
Set One: Mamedova held at deuce in the first game.
Set Two: Mamedova won three deuce points, including in the last two games.
Singles No. 2: Abbagnato (TEX) def. Garcia Ruiz (OU) 6-4, 6-2
Set One: Abbagnato broke in the opening game and consolidated on a deuce point.
Set Two: Abbagnato won consecutive deuce points to start and then broke again for 4-1.
Singles No. 3: McNeil (TEX) def. Noel (OU) 2-6, 6-1, 6-4
Set One: The players exchanged breaks and then deuce-point holds before Noel broke for 3-2 and then again at deuce for 5-2.
Set Two: McNeil won the first three games, capped by a deuce-point hold, and the last three games.
Set Three: After the players opened with deuce-point holds, Noel collected another for 3-2 and broke for 4-2. McNeil finished on a 4-0 run with a deuce-point wins for 4-4 and a 5-4 lead.
Singles No. 1: Herea (TEX) def. Laskevich (OU) 0-6, 6-4, 6-3
Set One: Laskevich had deuce-point holds for 3-0 and 5-0.
Set Two: Laskevich won consecutive deuce points to start on a 3-0 run. Herea held, including a point penalty for 3-1 and after Laskevich also held, Herea closed on a 5-0 run.
Set Three: Herea earned the only breaks for a 4-3 win and at deuce for the match as part of a 4-0 run that she started with a deuce-point hold.
Singles No. 5: Ounmuang (OU) def. Anazagasty-Pursoo (TEX) 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-0
Set One: The players exchanged breaks to open and then Anazagasty-Pursoo broke for 2-1. Ounmuang won three straight for a 4-2 lead, but Anazagasty-Pursoo evened it 4-4 and held on a deuce-point for a tiebreaker.
Set One Tiebreaker: Anazagasty-Pursoo took a 4-2 lead, but Ounmuang won three straight and five of the last six.
Set Two: Anazagasty-Pursoo won the first three games starting with a deuce-point hold and the rest of the set was on serve, including the last three games at deuce.
Set Three: The fourth game went to deuce, but Ounmuang was able to break.
Singles No. 6: Brunkel (OU) def. Ionescu (TEX) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
Set One: The first three games and five of the first six went to deuce with Ionescu taking the first four of those as part of a 5-0 lead. Brunkel won the next three games, but Ionescu held at deuce to win.
Set Two: Brunkel started with a deuce-point hold, and Ionescu won three-straight for a 3-1 lead, but Brunkel took the last five games, including a deuce-point break for a 5-3 lead.
Set Three: Brunkel broke at deuce for both 1-0 and 4-1. Ionescu got one break back for 4-2, but the rest of the set remained on serve.
Players Mentioned
