The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Arkansas
No. 6 Women’s Tennis sweeps No. 51 Arkansas, 4-0
04.09.2026 | Women's Tennis
The Longhorns began their two-match road trip to close the regular season with a win in Fayetteville.
Fayetteville, Ark. – No. 6 Texas Women's Tennis swept No. 51 Arkansas, 4-0, on Thursday at the Billingsley Tennis Center in Fayetteville, Ark. The contest began a two-match road trip for the Longhorns to close the regular season.
Texas captured the doubles point with wins at Nos. 3 and 2, surrounding a win for Arkansas at No. 1. The Longhorns then followed with victories by sophomore No. 50 Eszter Meri at No. 2, freshman No. 12 Anastasia Abbagnato at No. 1, and freshman Mathilde Ngijol-Carré at No. 5 for the clinch. Play stopped with match decided, however freshman Elizabeth Ionescu was sitting on three match points at No. 4, and freshman Christasha McNeil was just two points from a potential win at No. 3.
During doubles, Meri and Ngijol-Carré paired for the first time and were first off the court with a decisive 6-1 win over Jimena Gomez Alonso and Alexan Panagiotidou at No. 3. The Razorbacks then evened the point as Abbagnato and Ionescu also partnered for the first time and came up short, 6-4, to the No. 23 pair of Carolina Gomez Alonso and Anet Koskel at No. 1. That left it to No. 2 where McNeil and sophomore Salma Drugdova reunited from earlier in the year and clinched the point with a 6-3 win over Arina Babenko and Brooke Schafer.
Meri made quick work of her singles match with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Schafer at No. 2 for a 2-0 lead for the Longhorns. Abbagnato then quickly extended the lead with a top-40 victory over No. 34 Carolina Gomez Alonso, 6-3, 6-3, at No. 1. At that point, three matches were in contention for the clinch, but it was Ngijol-Carré who got home first with 6-2, 6-1 win over Babenko at No. 5.
Meanwhile in the other two matches, Ionescu led Panagiotidou, 6-3, 5-4 (40-15), at No. 4, and McNeil was ahead against Koskel, 6-3, 5-3 (30-40), at No. 3 when play halted. In the last of the unfinished matches, freshman Kate Mansfield was down a set, but up a break in the second, 2-6, 4-3, against Jimena Gomez Alonso at No. 6.
The Longhorns (16-5, 11-3 SEC) will next close the regular season at No. 7 Oklahoma in Norman on Saturday, April 11, at 12 p.m. CT. They are vying for a top-four seed in the SEC Championship and are currently tied for fourth in the standings with Georgia but hold a tiebreaker over the Bulldogs.
#6 Texas 4, #51 Arkansas 0
Singles – Order of Finish (2,1,5)
1. #12 Anastasia Abbagnato (TEX) def. #34 Carolina Gomez Alonso (ARK) 6-3, 6-3
2. #50 Eszter Meri (TEX) def. Brooke Schafer (ARK) 6-1, 6-2
3. Anet Koskel (ARK) vs. Christasha McNeil (TEX) 3-6, 3-5, unf.
4. Alexan Panagiotidou (ARK) vs. Elizabeth Ionescu (TEX) 3-6, 4-5, unf.
5. Mathilde Ngijol-Carré (TEX) def. Arina Babenko (ARK) 6-2, 6-1
6. Jimena Gomez Alonso (ARK) vs. Kate Mansfield (TEX) 6-2, 3-4, unf.
Doubles – Order of Finish (3,1,2)
1. #23 Carolina Gomez Alonso/Anet Koskel (ARK) def. Anastasia Abbagnato/Elizabeth Ionescu (TEX) 6-4
2. Salma Drugdova/Christasha McNeil (TEX) def. Arina Babenko/Brooke Schafer (ARK) 6-3
3. Eszter Meri/Mathilde Ngijol-Carré (TEX) def. Jimena Gomez Alonso/Alexan Panagiotidou (ARK) 6-1
Individual Match Key Moments
(by order of finish)
Doubles No. 3: Meri/Ngijol-Carre (TEX) def. J. Gomez Alonso/Panagiotidou (ARK) 6-1
Match: Texas sprinted out to a 5-0 lead, capped by a deuce-point hold, and then served out two games later.
Doubles No. 1: C Gomez Alonso/Koskel (ARK) def. Abbagnato/Ionescu (TEX) 6-4
Match: Texas got out to a 3-0 lead with a break in the second game, but consecutive deuce-point wins for Arkansas for a hold and a break started a 5-0 run. The Longhorns had a break chance at deuce in the last game, but Arkansas held for 6-4 and the match.
Doubles No. 2: Drugdova/McNeil (TEX) def. Schafer/Babenko (ARK) 6-3
Match: Texas broke for a 3-2 lead on a deuce point, and after later holding at deuce for 5-3, the Longhorns broke again for 6-3 and the match.
Singles No. 2: Meri (TEX) def. Schafer (ARK) 6-1, 6-2
Set One: After Schafer held to open, Meri swept the rest of the set with two deuce-point holds for 3-1 and 5-1.
Set Two: Meri held and broke to complete an overall 8-0 run, and although Schafer broke back, Meri won the next three games for 5-1. Schefer broke for 5-2, but Meri broke back at deuce to win.
Singles No. 1: Abbagnato (TEX) def. C. Gomez Alonso (ARK) 6-3, 6-3
Set One: Abbagnato broke at deuce and held for 2-0. Gomez Alonso got the break back for 2-2 and held for a 3-2 lead, but Abbagnato closed on a 4-0 run, starting with consecutive deuce points.
Set Two: Abbagnato broke first for 3-1, but Gomez Alonso broke back at deuce. Abbagnato broke again for 5-3 and then served out the match at deuce.
Singles No. 5: Ngijol-Carré (TEX) def. Babenko (ARK) 6-2, 6-1
Set One: Ngijol-Carré held at deuce to start and later earned the only two breaks for a 3-1 lead and for 6-2 and the set.
Set Two: After the players exchanged holds, Ngijol-Carré held at deuce for 2-1 to start a 5-0 run for the match.
Singles No. 3: Koskel (ARK) vs. McNeil (TEX) 3-6, 3-5, unf.
Set One: The players exchanged breaks starting with McNeil at deuce for a 2-1 lead and then Koskel for 2-2. After Koskel held for 3-2, McNeil finished on a 4-0 run.
Set Two: Koskel broke in the first game and later led, 3-1, but McNeil went on another 4-0 run, capped by a deuce-point hold and was two points from a potential win, trailing 40-30, when play stopped.
Singles No. 4: Panagiotidou (ARK) vs. Ionescu (TEX) 3-6, 4-5, unf.
Set One: Ionescu claimed the only break for a 5-3 lead and then served out at deuce.
Set Two: Panagiotidou broke first for a 3-1 lead and consolidated for 4-1, but Ionescu went on a 4-0 run, capped by a deuce-point break for a 5-4 lead. She led the next game, 40-15, when play halted.
Singles No. 6: J. Gomez Alonso (ARK) vs. Mansfield (TEX) 6-2, 3-4, unf.
Set One: Gomez Alonso broke first for a 3-1 lead, which was the first of three-straight breaks until she held at deuce for 5-2 and broke again for 6-2.
Set Two: Mansfield secured the only break for a 3-2 lead that she consolidated for 4-2 before Gomez Alonso held also for 4-3 when play stopped.
Players Mentioned
