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No. 7 Women’s Tennis downs No. 41 Ole Miss, 4-1
03.29.2026 | Women's Tennis
The Longhorns swept a pair of weekend road matches with a 4-1 victory over Ole Miss on Sunday in Oxford.
Oxford, Miss. – No. 7 Texas Women's Tennis downed No. 41 Ole Miss, 4-1, on Sunday at the Palmer/Salloum Outdoor Tennis Center in Oxford. The Longhorns swept their pair of weekend road matches along with a win over No. 10 LSU on Friday and have now won nine of their last 10.
Ole Miss came away with a close doubles point that was decided in tiebreaker at No. 2 after the Rebels had started with a win at No. 1 and the Longhorns answered at No. 3. However, Texas then put together four straight-sets singles victories by sophomore No. 71 Eszter Meri at No. 3, and freshmen No. 12 Anastasia Abbagnato at No. 2, Christasha McNeil at No. 4, and Elizabeth Ionescu at No. 5 for the clinch.
Following doubles, Meri made quick work of her match with a double bagel over Brooklyn Olson, 6-0, 6-0, at No. 3 to even the overall match. Abbagnato then provided the Longhorns the lead with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Alice Soulie at No. 2.
A short time later, McNeil extended the lead with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Andrea Nova at No. 4, and Ionescu was just behind her to the finish line for the clinch, completing a three-set victory that had one-sided scores in all three sets, 0-6, 6-1, 6-1 over Riley Crowder at No. 5.
That left two matches unfinished where sophomore No. 1 Carmen Herea had split her first two sets with No. 15 Emily Welker, 6-3, 3-6, at No. 1. Meanwhile, freshman Mathilde Ngijol-Carré trailed Beatrice Stagno, 3-6, 3-5, at No. 6 when play stopped.
Earlier in doubles, the No. 53 pair of Abbagnato and sophomore Salma Drugdova fell to No. 23 Nova and Welker, 6-2, at No. 1. However, Herea and Ngijol-Carré answered with a 6-3 victory over Stagno and Ichino Horikawa at No. 3. That left it to No. 2 where the No. 71 pair of Ionescu and McNeil had built a 5-2 lead over Soulie and Crowder, but the Rebels rallied to force a tiebreaker that they then won, 7-2, to clinch the point.
The Longhorns (14-4, 9-2 SEC) return home to host a pair of matches at the Texas Tennis Center next week, starting with No. 15 Florida on Thursday, April 2, at 2 p.m. CT, followed by No. 2 Auburn on Saturday, April 4, at 12 p.m. CT
#7 Texas 4, #41 Ole Miss 1
Singles – Order of Finish (3,2,4,5)
1. #15 Emily Welker (OM) vs. #1 Carmen Herea (TEX) 3-6, 6-3, unf.
2. #12 Anastasia Abbagnato (TEX) def. Alice Soulie (OM) 6-2, 6-3
3. #71 Eszter Meri (TEX) def. Brooklyn Olson (OM) 6-0, 6-0
4. Christasha McNeil (TEX) def. Andrea Nova (OM) 6-2, 6-2
5. Elizabeth Ionescu (TEX) def. Riley Crowder (OM) 0-6, 6-1, 6-1
6. Beatrice Stagno (OM) vs. Mathilde Ngijol-Carré (TEX) 6-3, 5-3, unf.
Doubles – Order of Finish (1,3,2)
1. #23 Andrea Nova/Emily Welker (OM) def. #53 Anastasia Abbagnato/Salma Drugdova (TEX) 6-2
2. Alice Soulie/Riley Crowder (OM) def. #71 Elizabeth Ionescu/Christasha McNeil (TEX) 7-6 (2)
3. Carmen Herea/Mathilde Ngijol-Carré (TEX) def. Ichino Horikawa/Beatrice Stagno (OM) 6-3
Individual Match Key Moments
(by order of finish)
Doubles No. 1: Nova/Welker (OM) def. Drugdova/Abbagnato (TEX) 6-2
Match: Ole Miss broke to begin, and although Texas go the break back later for 2-2, the Rebels closed on a 4-0 run.
Doubles No. 3: Herea/Ngijol-Carré (TEX) def. Horikawa/Stagno (OM) 6-3
Match: Texas collected the only breaks in the match for 4-3 and 6-3.
Doubles No. 2: Soulie/Crowder (OM) def. Ionescu/McNeil (TEX) 7-6 (2)
Match: Texas broke first for 3-1 and consolidated for 4-1. They maintained that for 5-2 until Ole Miss went on a 3-0 run to tie on the way to a tiebreaker.
Tiebreaker: Texas won the first point, but Ole Miss won the next three and then the last five.
Singles No. 3: Meri (TEX) def. Olson (OM) 6-0, 6-0
Set One: Meri swept the set.
Set Two: Meri swept the set.
Singles No. 2: Abbagnato (TEX) def. Soulie (OM) 6-2, 6-3
Set One: Abbagnato closed the set on a 4-0 run.
Set Two: Abbagnato broke for 2-0, and although Soulie got the break back for 3-3, Abbagnato finished on a 3-0 run.
Singles No. 4: McNeil (TEX) def. Nova (OM) 6-2, 6-2
Set One: After the players exchanged breaks and then holds starting with Nova, McNeil went on a 4-0 run for the set.
Set Two: McNeil won the first three games and later broke for 6-2 and the set.
Singles No. 5: Ionescu (TEX) def. Crowder (OM) 0-6, 6-1, 6-1
Set One: Croweder swept the set.
Set Two: After Crowder won the first game, Ionescu swept the rest of the way.
Set Three: Ionescu only gave up a hold for 2-1 before winning the last four games.
Singles No. 1: Welker (OM) vs. Herea (TEX) 3-6, 6-3, unf.
Set One: After Welker broke in the first game, Herea went on a 4-0 run and the rest of the set was held.
Set Two: The players exchanged breaks in the first two games starting with Welker, who later won three-straight games to go from 2-2 to 5-2 before the 6-3 final.
Singles No. 6: Stagno (OM) vs. Ngijol-Carré (TEX) 6-3, 5-3, unf.
Set One: Ngijol-Carré took the first two games, but Stagno came back with the next four before winning 6-3.
Set Two: After both players held starting with Ngijol-Carré, there were three-straight breaks until Stagno held for 4-2 and broke again for 5-2 before 5-3 when play stopped.
Players Mentioned
