The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Duke
No. 18 Women’s Tennis downs No. 7 Duke, 4-3, at ITA Indoors
02.08.2026 | Women's Tennis
The Longhorns defeated the Blue Devils in dramatic fashion in the third set of the deciding singles match on Sunday to secure their second-straight top-12 victory.
Urbana, Ill. – No. 18 Texas Women's Tennis downed No. 7 Duke, 4-3, in a consolation match at the ITA National Indoor Championships on Sunday at the Atkins Tennis Center in Urbana, Ill. The win was the Longhorns' second-straight against a top-12 opponent after topping No. 12 Vanderbilt the day before.
Texas prevailed in dramatic fashion, going all the way to a 7-5 win in the third set of the deciding singles match by freshman Kate Mansfield, who broke for the victory, sending her teammates streaming onto her court at No. 5.
Prior to that, the Longhorns had rallied from a 2-0 deficit after Duke claimed the doubles point and the first singles contest at No. 4. Texas then put together three-straight singles wins by sophomore Eszter Meri at No. 3, and freshmen Elizabeth Ionescu at No. 6 and No. 63 Anastasia Abbagnato at No. 2. The Blue Devils evened the overall match at 3-3 with a win at No. 1, setting the stage for Mansfield to come through with the clinch.
The match began with the Longhorns winning the first doubles contest at No. 1, where Ionescu and sophomore Carmen Herea were first off the court with a top-20 win over No. 19 Liv Hovde and Shavit Kimchi, 6-3. Duke responded with their own 6-3 win at No. 2 by the No. 29 pair Eleana Yu and Clair An over sophomore Salma Drugdova and freshman Christasha McNeil after the Longhorns had two break chances in the last game to get back on serve, but the Blue Devils managed to hold.
That left doubles to No. 3 where Abbagnato and freshman Mathilde Ngijol-Carré came up just short to Irina Balus and Aspen Shuman in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (2). The Longhorns held a break lead in the early part of the match that the Blue Devils got back for 4-4, and the rest of the match stayed on serve to the tiebreaker.
In singles, the first match to finish was at No. 4 where McNeil fell to Yu, 7-5, 6-3. The Texas rally then began with Meri starting it with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-0 win over Schuman at No. 3. Ionescu leveled the overall score with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 victory over An at No. 6, and a short time later, Abbagnato gave the Longhorns their first lead with her 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-3 win over No. 120 An at No. 2.
No. 2 Herea's match at No. 1 also went down to the wire, but she came up just short to No. 28 Balus, 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-4, after a deuce-point break in the final game for Balus. That turned all attention to No. 5 where Mansfield had been down a break at 4-2 in her deciding set, but consecutive deuce-point wins got it back on serve until her break in the last game provided the win.
The Longhorns will return to the court for a doubleheader against UTRGV on Sunday, February 15, starting at 11 a.m. CT.
#18 Texas 4, #7 Duke 3
Singles – Order of Finish (4,3,6,2,1,5)
1. #28 Irina Balus (DUKE) def. #2 Carmen Herea (TEX) 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-4
2. #63 Anastasia Abbagnato (TEX) def. #120 Liv Hovde (DUKE) 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-3
3. Eszter Meri (TEX) def. Aspen Schuman (DUKE) 6-3, 4-6, 6-0
4. Eleana Yu (DUKE) def. Christasha McNeil (TEX) 7-5, 6-3
5. Shavit Kimchi (DUKE) vs. Kate Mansfield (TEX) 7-6 (5), 4-6, 7-5
6. Elizabeth Ionescu (TEX) def. Claire An (DUKE) 6-3, 2-6, 6-2
Doubles – Order of Finish (1,2,3)
1. Elizabeth Ionescu/Carmen Herea (TEX) def. #19 Liv Hovde/Shavit Kimchi (DUKE) 6-3
2. #29 Claire An/Eleana Yu (DUKE) def. Christasha McNeil/Salma Drugdova (TEX) 6-3
3. Aspen Schuman/Irina Balus (DUKE) def. Anastasia Abbagnato/Mathilde Ngijol-Carré (TEX) 7-6 (2)
Individual Match Key Moments
(by order of finish)
Doubles No. 1: Ionescu/Herea (TEX) def. Hovde/Kimchi (DUKE) def. 6-3
Match: After Duke held to start, Texas went on a 4-0 run starting with consecutive deuce points. Duke got one break back to trail, 4-2, and the Longhorns later broke again for the match.
Doubles No. 2: Yu/An (DUKE) def. McNeil/Drugdova (TEX) 6-3
Match: Duke opened on a 5-0 run, including a deuce-point break for 4-0. Texas rallied with three-straight games that included deflecting a match point at deuce to break for 5-2. Down, 5-3, the Longhorns had two break chances to get back on serve but lost at deuce.
Doubles No. 3: Balus/Schuman (DUKE) def. Abbagnato/Ngijol-Carré (TEX) 7-6 (2)
Match: Texas broke at deuce for a 2-1 lead and maintained that until Duke got the break back at deuce for 4-4 on the way to a tiebreaker.
Tiebreaker: Duke served first and each team had a mini-break leading to a 3-2 lead for the Blue Devils, but from there they went on a 4-0 run for the match.
Singles No. 4: Yu (DUKE) def. McNeil (TEX) 7-5, 6-3
Set One: After Yu held to start, McNeil went on a 5-0 run with the last three at deuce. However Yu answered with a 6-0 run, including a deuce-point break for the set.
Set Two: After consecutive deuce-point holds, Yu broke for a 3-1 lead. The players later exchanged deuce-point breaks before Yu broke again for 5-3.
Singles No. 3: Meri (TEX) def. Schuman (DUKE) 6-3, 4-6, 6-0
Set One: Meri earned the set's only break for a 3-1 lead on the way to the win.
Set Two: Despite the players exchanging deuce-point breaks, the first five games were on serve until Schuman broke for a 4-2 lead. Meri broke back at deuce and Schuman later held at deuce for 5-4 before breaking for the set.
Set Three: Meri swept the set with three deuce-point wins, including two breaks and a hold for the match.
Singles No. 6: Ionescu (TEX) def. An (DUKE) 6-3, 2-6, 6-2
Set One: The first four games were breaks, including the first two of those at deuce, until Ionescu won consecutive deuce points and held to complete a 4-0 run for a 5-2 lead.
Set Two: Ionescu broke and held for 2-0, but An responded with a 6-0 run with two deuce wins, including break for the set.
Set Three: An held at deuce to start, but Ionescu went on a 3-0 run capped by a deuce-point hold. She then broke again for 5-2 and held at deuce for the match after trailing 15-40.
Singles No. 2: Abbagnato (TEX) def. Hovde (DUKE) 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-3
Set One: The first three games went to deuce with Abbagnato holding and breaking in the first two and Hovde breaking back. The next four games were on serve with two at deuce until Abbagnato broke for 5-3 and served it out.
Set Two: The players exchanged breaks and the next five were on serve with the last two of those at deuce until Hovde broke for a 5-3 lead. Abbagnato broke back and deflected a set point at deuce in the next game.
Set Two Tiebreaker: Hovde won the first two pointes and never trailed despite ties of 2-2, 4-4 and 5-5.
Set Three: Abbagnato jumped out to a 3-0 lead, and after Hovde got the break back at deuce for 3-2, Abbagnato broke again for 4-2 and the last three games were held, including the final one at deuce.
Singles No. 1: Balus (DUKE) def. Herea (TEX) 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-4
Set One: The first three games were break until Balus held for 3-1. Herea got the break back for 3-3 and the set was on serve to the tiebreaker.
Set One Tiebreaker: Balus won the first two points and moved out to a 5-1 lead.
Set Two: The players exchanged earlier breaks, but Herea broke again at deuce for 4-3 and held at deuce for both 5-3 and 6-4.
Set Three: Herea broke at deuce in the opening game, but Balus got the break back for 2-2. That was the first of three-straight breaks with the last for Balus at deuce for 3-3. Balus held at deuce and later rallied from 40-15 to break for the match.
Singles No. 5: Kimchi (DUKE) vs. Mansfield (TEX) 7-6 (5), 4-6, 7-5
Set One: The players alternated two breaks and two holds throughout the set, including five deuce points.
Set One Tiebreaker: Manfield won the first two points and never trailed despite ties of 4-4 and 5-5.
Set Two: The first three games were breaks until Kimchi held for 3-1 and the rest of the set was held with the last three games coming at deuce.
Set Three: Kimchi broke and held for 2-0. Mansfield later won consecutive deuce points for 4-4. After holding on another for a 6-5 lead, Mansfield broke for the clinch.
Players Mentioned
