The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
South Carolina
No. 9 Women’s Tennis defeats No. 22 South Carolina, 4-2
03.12.2026 | Women's Tennis
The Longhorns won their fifth-straight match, the last four of which have been against top-40 opponents, and posted their eighth victory in their last nine contests.
Austin – No. 9 Texas Women's Tennis defeated No. 22 South Carolina, 4-2, on Thursday at the Texas Tennis Center. The Longhorns won their fifth-straight match, the last four of which have been against top-40 opponents, and posted their eighth victory in their last nine contests.
Texas opened by taking the doubles point with wins at Nos. 2 and 3 and followed with singles wins by sophomores No. 81 Eszter Meri at No. 3 and No. 1 Carmen Herea at No. 1, along with the clinch from freshman Christasha McNeil at No. 4. Meanwhile, South Carolina had taken singles wins at Nos. 2 and 6, and freshman Elizabeth Ionescu was sitting on three match points at No. 5 when play stopped.
In doubles, the No. 50 duo of McNeil and freshman Elizabeth Ionescu were first off the court with an efficient 6-1 victory over Jane Dunyon and Sara Borkop at No. 2. South Carolina then evened doubles as freshman Anastasia Abbagnato and sophomore Salma Drugdova fell to No. 21 Helena Buchwald and Lauren Friedman at No. 1. That left it to No. 3 where Herea and freshman Mathilde Ngijol-Carré combined for a 6-4 win over Kaitlyn Carnicella and Jana Stojanova to clinch.
The Longhorns took a 2-0 overall lead as Meri was first off the singles court with a decisive 6-2, 6-0 win over Borkop at No. 3. The Gamecocks made it 2-1 as No. 16 Abbagnato was downed by No. 77 Buchwald, 6-3, 6-4, at No. 2.
Herea then expanded the lead back to two with a straight-sets top-50 win over No. 47 Carnicella at No. 1 before Drugdova came up just short in her first set in a tiebreaker and was defeated by Stojanova, 7-6 (2), 6-4.
That left two matches in their third sets at Nos. 4 and 6 where South Carolina had taken break leads in both of 2-0. However, both Longhorns broke back and rallied. McNeil was the first to the finish line by a matter of potential seconds over Ionescu, as McNeil topped Taylor Goetz, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, at No. 4. At that time, Ionescu led Dunyon, 6-3, 5-7, 5-3, and was up 15-40 against Dunyon's serve, but did not get to finish with the match clinched before the next point started.
The Longhorns will next host No. 1 Georgia at the Texas Tennis Center on Saturday, March 14, at 12 p.m. CT.
#9 Texas 4, #22 South Carolina 2
Singles – Order of Finish (3,2,1,6,4)
1. #1 Carmen Herea (TEX) def. #47 Kaitlyn Carnicella (SC) 6-4, 6-4
2. #77 Helena Buchwald (SC) def. #16 Anastasia Abbagnato (TEX) 6-3, 6-4
3. #81 Eszter Meri (TEX) def. Sara Borkop (SC) 6-2, 6-0
4. Christasha McNeil (TEX) def. Taylor Goetz (SC) 2-6, 6-3, 6-2
5. Elizabeth Ionescu (TEX) vs. Jane Dunyon (SC) 6-3, 5-7, 5-3, unf.
6. Jana Stojanova (SC) def. Salma Drugdova (TEX) 7-6 (2), 6-4
Doubles – Order of Finish (2,1,3)
1. #21 Helena Buchwald/Lauren Friedman (SC) def. Anastasia Abbagnato/Salma Drugdova (TEX) 6-3
2. #50 Elizabeth Ionescu/Christasha McNeil (TEX) def. Jane Dunyon/Sara Borkop (SC) 6-1
3. Carmen Herea/Mathilde Ngijol-Carré (TEX) def. Kaitlyn Carnicella/Jana Stojanova (SC) 6-4
Individual Match Key Moments
(by order of finish)
Doubles No. 2: Ionescu/McNeil (TEX) def. Dunyon/Borkop (SC) 6-1
Match: Texas allowed only a deuce-point break in the third game on the way to a 6-1 win.
Doubles No. 1: Buchwald/Friedman (SC). Abbagnato/Drugdova (TEX) 6-3
Match: The first five games were on serve for a 3-2 lead for South Carolina with the last two coming at deuce. The next game also went to deuce, and the Gamecocks collected the only break of the match for 4-2. The last game also went to deuce, but South Carolina held.
Doubles No. 3: Herea/Ngijol-Carré (TEX) def. Carnicella/Stojanova (SC) 6-4
Match: South Carolina broke for 2-0, but Texas went on a 4-0 run with the last two at deuce. South Carolina held at deuce for 4-3 and got the break back for 4-4, but the Longhorns broke again for 5-4 and served out on a deuce point.
Singles No. 3: Meri (TEX) def. Borkop (SC), 6-2, 6-0
Set One: The first four games were breaks, but the last one by Meri started a 5-0 run to her win.
Set Two: Meri swept the second set with only one deuce point in the second game.
Singles No. 2: Buchwald (SC) def. Abbagnato (TEX), 6-3, 6-4
Set One: Abbagnato broke in the opening game, but Buchwald went on a 4-0 run. Abbagnato held and then broke at deuce to get within 4-3, but Buchwald broke back and served out the set.
Set Two: The first five games were breaks, including two at deuce, for a 3-2 lead for Buchwald, who held for 4-2 and the rest of set was on serve.
Singles No. 1: Herea (TEX) def. Carnicella, 6-4, 6-4
Set One: Carnicella broke in the second game for a 3-0 lead, but Herea broke Carnicella's next two service games at deuce for a 4-0 run. Carnicella's next service game also went to deuce, and although she held, Herea held and broke for the win.
Set Two: Carnicella broke first for 2-1 and consolidated for 3-1. After Carnicella held at deuce for 4-2, Herea closed on a 4-0 run.
Singles No. 6: Stojanova (SC) def. Drugdova (TEX) 7-6 (2), 6-4
Set One: Stojanova broke first for 2-0, but Drugdova broke back. Drugdova broke again for a 5-4 lead and had a set point at deuce, but Stojanova broke and the last two games were on serve to a tiebreaker, including at deuce in the final game.
Set One Tiebreaker: Stojanova took leads of 2-0, 3-1 and 4-2, but closed 3-0 for the win.
Set Two: After deuce-point holds for 1-1 and 2-1, Drugdova broke first for 3-1. However, Stojanova broke back at deuce and held for 3-3. Drugdova held for a 4-3 lead, but held both her serves at deuce around break for a 3-0 run to win.
Singles No. 4: McNeil (TEX) def. Goetz (SC) 2-6, 6-3, 6-2
Set One: After McNeil led, 2-1, Goetz went on a 5-0 run to close the set.
Set Two: McNeil broke for 2-0, and although Goetz broke back at deuce, McNeil won consecutive deuce points for 4-1. She also held at deuce for 5-2 on the way to the win.
Set Three: After Goetz held and broke on a deuce point, McNeil broke back at deuce to start a 6-0 run to the win, capped by a deuce-point hold.
Singles No. 5: Ionescu (TEX) vs. Dunyon (SC) 6-3, 5-7, 5-3
Set One: Dunyon broke in the opening game and held for 2-0, but Ionescu went on a 5-0 run, including four deuce points. Dunyon got held at deuce but so did Ionesuc for the win. In all, six of the last seven games went to deuce.
Set Two: The players exchanged breaks to start and after Dunyon held at deuce for 3-2, she broke for 4-2. Ionescu broke back and held at deuce for 4-4 and later held at deuce for 5-5, but Dunyon broke again for the set.
Set Three: After Dunyon held and broke at deuce, Ionescu broke back and held, both at deuce. Dunyon held for a 3-2 lead, but Ionescu once again won consecutive deuce points to start a 3-0 run and had three match points pending leading, 15-40, against Dunyon's serve when play stopped.
Players Mentioned
