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No. 9 Women’s Tennis advances to NCAA Sweet 16
05.03.2026 | Women's Tennis
The Longhorns defeated No. 28 Texas Tech, 4-2, on Sunday to move on to the round of 16 for the sixth-straight year.
Austin – No. 9 Texas Women's Tennis advanced to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 with a 4-2 win over No. 28 Texas Tech on Sunday at the Texas Tennis Center. It marks the sixth-straight year and the seventh time in the last eight the Longhorns have reached the round of 16. They will travel to face 8 seed No. 8 NC State in the Raleigh Super Regional next weekend on either May 8 or May 9 with the exact day and time to be announced later by the NCAA.
Texas Tech had taken a 1-0 lead in the match by securing the doubles point with wins at Nos. 1 and 2 that surrounded a win for Texas at No. 3. However, the Longhorns followed with three singles victories by sophomores No. 57 Eszter Meri at No. 3 and No. 3 Carmen Herea at No. 1, along with freshman No. 104 Elizabeth Ionescu at No. 4 to establish a 3-1 lead. The Red Raiders put one more point up at No. 2, but freshman Kate Mansfield clinched the overall match with a win at No. 5.
After doubles, Meri was first off the singles court, producing an efficient 6-0, 6-1 win over Elena Daskalova at No. 3. Herea added another decisive result with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Hailey Murphy at No. 1, and then Ionescu matched Meri's score with her own efficient 6-0, 6-1 win over Ella Brownback at No. 4.
The remaining three matches all extended into third sets with Texas Tech picking up its other point as freshman No. 6 Anastasia Abbagnato was downed by Kate Dmitrichenko, 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-1, at No. 2.
In the other two matches, it was the Longhorns who rallied from a set down in both with Manfield getting home first. She completed her comeback for a 5-7, 6-3, 7-5 victory over Havana Kadi at No. 5 that clinched the overall match and sent her teammates streaming onto her court.
The lone unfinished contest was at No. 6 where sophomore Salma Drugdova had just taken a break lead at the start of her third set, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 1-0, against Mariia Hlahola.
Earlier in doubles, the No. 71 pair of Abbagnato and Ionescu fell to Murphy and Dmitrichenko, 6-4, at No. 1. Texas responded with a win from Drugdova and Meri by the same score over Brownback and Andreea Lila at No. 2 to even the doubles contests.
That left it to No. 2 where Herea and Mansfield came up just short to Hlahola and Daskalova, 7-5. In that match, the Red Raiders had broken late for a 6-5 lead and were up 40-0 in the next game. Although the Longhorns fought back to reach deuce, Texas Tech managed to hold on the next point to clinch the point.
#9 Texas 4, #28 Texas Tech 2
Singles – Order of Finish (3,1,4,2,5)
1. #3 Carmen Herea (TEX) def. Hailey Murphy (TTU) 6-1, 6-4
2. Kate Dmitrichenko (TTU) def. #6 Anastasia Abbagnato (TEX) 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-1
3. #57 Eszter Meri (TEX) def. Elena Daskalova (TTU) 6-0, 6-1
4. #104 Elizabeth Ionescu (TEX) def. Ella Brownback (TTU) 6-0, 6-1
5. Kate Mansfield (TEX) def. Havana Kadi (TTU) 5-7, 6-3, 7-5
6. Salma Drugdova (TEX) vs. Mariia Hlahola (TTU) 6-7 (5), 6-4, 1-0, unf.
Doubles – Order of Finish (1,3,2)
1. Hailey Murphy/Kate Dmitrichenko (TTU) def. #71 Anastasia Abbagnato/Elizabeth Ionescu (TEX) 6-4
2. Mariia Hlahola/Elena Daskalova (TTU) def. Carmen Herea/Kate Mansfield (TEX) 7-5
3. Salma Drugdova/Eszter Meri (TEX) def. Andreea Lila/Ella Brownback (TTU) 6-4
Individual Match Key Moments
(by order of finish)
Doubles No. 1: Murphy/Dmitrichenko (TTU) def. Abbagnato/Ionescu (TEX) 6-4
Match: After the teams exchanged breaks starting with Texas Tech, the Red Raiders picked up the only other break of the match for a 4-3 lead. They held at deuce for 5-3 and the last two games were also held.
Doubles No. 3: Drugdova/Meri (TEX) def. Lila/Brownback (TTU) 6-4
Match: Texas broke first on a deuce point for a 3-1 lead, and although Texas Tech broke back, the Longhorns secured the only other break for 6-4 and the match.
Doubles No. 2: Hlahola/Daskalova (TTU) def. Herea/Mansfield (TEX) 7-5
Match: Texas broke in the second game as part of a 3-0 start, however Texas Tech got the break back on a deuce point for 3-2 and held for 3-3. The Red Raiders later broke again for a 6-5 lead and were up 40-0 in the next game. The Longhorns fought back to get to deuce, but Texas Tech held on the next point to win.
Singles No. 3: Meri (TEX) def. Daskalova (TTU) 6-0, 6-1
Set One: Meri swept the first set with only the second game reaching deuce.
Set Two: Meri only surrendered one deuce-point break to lead 2-1 after an overall 8-0 run to start.
Singles No. 1: Herea (TEX) def. Murphy (TTU) 6-1, 6-4
Set One: Herea only allowed a hold for 1-1 and won deuce points for 3-1, 5-1 and 6-1.
Set Two: The first four games were on serve despite the last three of those reaching deuce. Herea broke first for a 3-2 lead, and although Murphy broke back at deuce, Herea broke again for 4-3 and the last three games were held.
Singles No. 4: Ionescu (TEX) def. Brownback (TTU) 6-0, 6-1
Set One: Ionescu swept the first set with only the second game reaching deuce.
Set Two: Ionescu only surrendered a deuce-point hold for 1-1 and closed on a 5-0 run.
Singles No. 2: Dmitrichenko (TTU) def. Abbagnato (TEX) 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-1
Set One: Abbagnato broke first for a 4-2 lead and held at deuce for 5-2. She had a set point in the following game at deuce, but Dmitrichenko held to start a 3-0 run for 5-5, later leading to a tiebreaker.
Set One Tiebreaker: Abbagnato took leads of 2-0 and 4-1, and after Dmitrichenko cut it to 4-3, Abbagnato secured the last three points for the set.
Set Two: Abbagnato broke first on a deuce point for 2-1, which she consolidated for 3-1, but Dmitrichenko closed 5-0.
Set Three: Dmitrichenko started on a 4-0 run with two deuce-point breaks. Abbagnato held for 4-1 and the next game went to deuce, but Dmitrichenko held and then broke for the match.
Singles No. 5: Mansfield (TEX) def. Kadi (TTU) 5-7, 6-3, 7-5
Set One: Kadi broke first for a 3-2 lead, but Mansfield got the break back for 4-4. Kadi later got the final break for a 6-5 lead before serving out.
Set Two: Kadi broke in the opening game, but Mansfield broke back to start a 3-0 run. After Kadi got the break back and held for 3-3, Mansfield finished on a 3-0 run capped by a deuce-point hold.
Set Three: Despite four deuce points, including in the first two games, along with holds for Kadi for leads of 3-2 and 4-3, the set stayed on serve all the way to Mansfield earning the only break for a 6-5 lead before she served out the match.
Singles No. 6: Drugdova (TEX) vs. Hlahola (TTU) 6-7 (5), 6-4, 1-0, unf.
Set One: Hlahola broke at deuce and held for 2-0, but Drugdova held at deuce and broke back for 2-2. That would be the first of nine-straight breaks leading to a tiebreaker.
Set One Tiebreaker: Drugdova won the first two points but Hlahola responded with the next three. Drugdova retook a 4-3 lead that she extended to 5-4, but Hlahola finshed with the last three points.
Set Two: Drugdova won consecutive deuce points to start a 3-0 run with two breaks. Hlahola broke back and held at deuce for 3-2, and although Drugdova also held at deuce for 4-2, Hlahola got the other break back for 4-4. However, Drugdova broke again and was able to serve out the set.
Set Three: Drugdova broke in the only completed game and led 40-15 in an attempt to consolidate.
Players Mentioned
