The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Tarleton State
No. 9 Women’s Tennis advances to NCAA second round
05.02.2026 | Women's Tennis
The Longhorns defeated Tarleton State, 5-1, on Saturday to move on to the second round for the 10th-straight year.
Austin – No. 9 Texas Women's Tennis advanced to the NCAA Tournament second round for the 10th-straight year with a 5-1 win over Tarleton State on Saturday at the Texas Tennis Center. The Longhorns (18-7) will next face No. 28 Texas Tech at 12 p.m. CT on Sunday at the Texas Tennis Center.
After Texas took the first doubles match at No. 1, Tarleton State responded with wins at Nos. 2 and 3 to take the doubles point. However, following that, it was all Longhorns as they posted decisive straight-sets singles victories by sophomore No. 3 Carmen Herea at No. 1, freshman No. 6 Anastasia Abbagnato at No. 2, freshman Kate Mansfield at No. 5, sophomore No. 57 Elizabeth Meri at No. 3 for the clinch, and freshman No. 104 Elizabeth Ionescu at No. 4.
Ionescu's match point had already begun when Meri clinched, giving the Longhorns their fifth point. Sophomore Salma Drugdova also had multiple match points in her contest at No. 6 that was the lone unfinished singles match. In all, Texas only lost a combined 16 games during singles, a number that includes on three total games in the first sets.
After doubles, all of the singles matches finished within close proximity to each other, but Herea was first off the court with a 6-0, 6-3 win over Maria Castano at No. 1 to even the overall score. Abbagnato then followed with a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Aya Ishii at No. 2 to give Texas its first lead.
Mansfield would be next with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Marissa Minetti at No. 5. Just moments later Meri finished her match point just before Ionescu with a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Emma Persson at No. 3, and seconds later, Ionescu closed the scoring with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Ximena Morales at No. 5. Drugdova's match ended with her leading, 6-0, 5-3, against Adeliya Mukhutdinova at No. 6. She had a 5-0 lead in the second set with deuce-points for the match in both the next game and two games later, but Mukhutdinova managed to hold to keep the contest going.
During doubles, the No. 71 duo of Abbagnato and Ionescu had been first off the court with an efficient 6-1 win over Ishii and Minetti. However, due to injuries the Longhorns' lineup had shuffled and the pair of Herea and Mansfield fell to Morales and Persson, 6-4, at No. 2, and then Drugdova and Meri were downed by Castano and Duru Kuscu, 6-3, at No. 3.
#9 Texas 5, Tarleton State 1
Singles – Order of Finish (1,2,5,3,4)
1. #3 Carmen Herea (TEX) def. Maria Castano (TSU) 6-0, 6-3
2. #6 Anastasia Abbagnato (TEX) def. Aya Ishii (TSU) 6-0, 6-2
3. #57 Eszter Meri (TEX) def. Emma Persson (TSU) 6-0, 6-2
4. #104 Elizabeth Ionescu (TEX) def. Ximena Morales (TSU) 6-2, 6-2
5. Kate Mansfield (TEX) def. Marissa Minetti (TSU) 6-1, 6-1
6. Salma Drugdova (TEX) vs. Adeliya Mukhutdinova (TSU) 6-0, 5-3, unf.
Doubles – Order of Finish (1,2,3)
1. #71 Anastasia Abbagnato/Elizabeth Ionescu (TEX) def. Aya Ishii/Marissa Minetti (TSU) 6-1
2. Ximena Morales/Emma Persson (TSU) def. Kate Mansfield/Carmen Herea (TEX) 6-4
3. Maria Castano/Duru Kuscu (TSU) def. Salma Drugdova/Eszter Meri (TEX) 6-3
Individual Match Key Moments
(by order of finish)
Doubles No. 1: Abbagnato/Ionescu (TEX) def. Ishii/Minetti (TSU) 6-1
Match: After each team held starting with Texas, the Longhorns closed on a 5-0 run including deuce point wins for 3-1, 4-1, and 5-1.
Doubles No. 2: Morales/Persson (TSU) def. Mansfield/Herea (TEX) 6-4
Match: Tarleton held at deuce to start, and although Texas broke first for a 2-1 lead, the Texans won consecutive deuce points to start a 3-0 run for a 4-2 lead. The Longhorns broke back and held at deuce for 4-4, but Tarleton held and broke for the win.
Doubles No. 3: Castano/Kuscu (TSU) def. Drugdova/Meri (TEX) 6-3
Match: Texas opened on a 3-0 run with a break in the second game, but Tarleton came back on a 6-0 run, including deuce-point breaks to trail, 3-2, and then to win the match, 6-3.
Singles No. 1: Herea (TEX) def. Castano (TSU) 6-0, 6-3
Set One: Herea swept the first set with only the third game reaching deuce.
Set Two: Herea broke first for 2-0 to complete an overall 8-0 run, and although Castano broke back, Herea broke again for 4-2 and the rest of the set was held for 6-3.
Singles No. 2: Abbagnato (TEX) def. Ishii (TSU) 6-0, 6-2
Set One: Abbagnato swept the first set with deuce wins in the first three games and then for the set.
Set Two: Abbagnato broke in the first game and then held to complete an overall 8-0 run. She later broke again for 4-1, and although Ishii broke back at deuce, Abbagnato broke again and then held at deuce for the match.
Singles No. 5: Mansfield (TEX) def. Minetti (TSU) 6-1, 6-1
Set One: Mansfield won the first three games and only allowed a hold for 3-1 on the way to 6-1.
Set Two: Mansfield won the first five games of the set, including deuce points for 1-0, 3-0 and 4-0, to complete an overall 8-0 run. Both players then broke for the 6-1 final.
Singles No. 3: Meri (TEX) def. Persson (TSU) 6-0, 6-2
Set One: Meri swept the first set capped by consecutive deuce points for a break and a hold.
Set Two: After Persson held, Meri went on a 4-0 run to give her a total of 10 of the first 11 games. Persson got one break back to get within 4-2 before Meri broke back and held for the win.
Singles No. 4: Ionescu (TEX) def. Morales (TSU) 6-2, 6-2
Set One: The first five games were all breaks, capped by Ionescu breaking at deuce for a 3-2 lead. That started a 4-0 run for her for the set.
Set Two: The first three games went to deuce with Ionescu breaking and then Morales breaking back and holding. Ionescu took it from there with a 5-0 run for the match.
Singles No. 6: Drugdova (TEX) vs. Mukhutdinova (TSU) 6-0, 5-3, unf.
Set One: Drugdova swept the first set with deuce points for a break for 4-0 and a hold for 5-0.
Set Two: Drugdova completed an overall 11-0 run to start the match by starting 5-0 in the set, including a deuce-point hold for 3-0. Mukhutdinova won the last three games before play stopped, including two deuce-point holds to deflect match points for Drugdova.
Players Mentioned
