The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
NC State
No. 9 Women’s Tennis concludes season in NCAA Sweet 16
05.08.2026 | Women's Tennis
The Longhorns fell at No. 8 NC State, 4-2, in Raleigh to finish the season 19-8 with a sixth-straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament round of 16.
Raleigh, N.C. – No. 9 Texas Women's Tennis closed the 2026 season coming up short on the road to No. 8 NC State, 4-2, in the NCAA Sweet 16 at the J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center in Raleigh, N.C., on Friday. The Longhorns completed this year's campaign with a 19-8 overall record, 11-4 mark in the SEC, and a sixth-straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament round of 16.
Texas opened with strong doubles performances at Nos. 1 and 2 with victories over a top-three team and a top-50 team, respectively, with those surrounding a win for NC State at No. 3. After the Wolfpack took the first singles match at No. 4, the Longhorns regained the lead with a win by freshman Kate Mansfield at No. 6. NC State then put together wins at Nos. 1, 2, and 5 to clinch the match.
During doubles, the No. 71 duo of freshmen Anastasia Abbagnato and Elizabeth Ionescu earned a decisive victory over the No. 3 pair of Gabriella Broadfoot and Victoria Osuigwe at No. 1. NC State evened doubles as sophomore Salma Drugdova and Eszter Meri fell to Mia Slama and Lavinia Tanasie, 6-1, at No. 2. That left it to No. 2, where sophomore Carmen Herea and freshman Christasha McNeil clinched the point with a 7-5 victory over No. 49 Jasmine Conway and Anna Zyryanova.
McNeil, who had returned from an injury for the match, also played singles, but was downed by No. 66 Tanasie, 6-3, 6-2, at No. 4, which tied the overall match at 1-1. Mansfield quickly regained the lead for Texas with her 6-3, 6-4 victory over Conway at No. 6.
The next two matches to finish had both seen extremely close first sets at Nos. 1 and 2. However the Wolfpack took both, starting with No. 3 Herea falling to No. 26 Slama, 7-5, 6-0, and followed by No. 6 Abbagnato being downed by No. 46 Zyryanova, 7-6 (4), 6-1, ta No. 2.
The last two matches both went to third sets after the Longhorns had taken both first sets. The clinch came at No. 5 where No. 104 Ionescu came up just short to Osuigwe, 2-6, 6-4, 7-5, including a deuce point in the last game that might have forced a tiebreaker. At No. 3, No. 57 Meri had match points in the second set against No. 49 Broadfoot, but Broadfoot went on to win five-straight deuce points and six in the last seven games to lead, 2-6, 7-5, 4-0, when play stopped.
#8 NC State 4, #9 Texas 2
Singles – Order of Finish (4,6,1,2,5)
1. #26 Mia Slama (NCSU) def. #3 Carmen Herea (TEX) 7-5, 6-0
2. #46 Anna Zyryanova (NCSU) def. #6 Anastasia Abbagnato (TEX) 7-6 (4), 6-1
3. #49 Gabriella Broadfoot (NCSU) vs. #57 Eszter Meri (TEX) 2-6, 7-5, 4-0, unf.
4. #66 Lavinia Tanasie (NCSU) def. Christasha McNeil (TEX) 6-3, 6-2
5. Victoria Osuigwe (NCSU) def. #104 Elizabeth Ionescu (TEX) 2-6, 6-4, 7-5
6. Kate Mansfield (TEX) def. Jasmine Conway (NCSU) 6-3, 6-4
Doubles – Order of Finish (1,3,2)
1. #71 Anastasia Abbagnato/Elizabeth Ionescu (TEX) def. #3 Gabriella Broadfoot/Victoria Osuigwe (NCSU) 6-2
2. Carmen Herea/Christasha McNeil (TEX) def. #49 Jasmine Conway/Anna Zyryanova (NCSU) 7-5
3. Salma Drugdova/Eszter Meri (TEX) def. Mia Slama/Lavinia Tanasie (NCSU) 6-1
Individual Match Key Moments
(by order of finish)
Doubles No. 1: Abbagnato/Ionescu (TEX) def. Broadfoot/Osuigwe (NCSU) 6-2
Match: Texas jumped out to a 4-0 lead with breaks in the first and third games and the rest of the match was held despite deuce points for each team for 5-1 and 5-2.
Doubles No. 3: Drugdova/Meri (TEX) def. Slama/Tanasie (NCSU) 6-1
Match: NC State closed the match on a 5-0 run for the 6-1 win.
Doubles No. 2: Herea/McNeil (TEX) def. Conway/Zyryanova (NCSU) 7-5
Match: Texas moved out to a 3-0 lead with break with breaks in the first and third games that surrounded a deuce-point hold. NC State broke and held at deuce for 3-2, but the Longhorns secured consecutive deuce points for 5-2. Texas had a match point at deuce two games later, but NC State held for 5-4 and then broke for 5-5. However, the Longhorns broke back again and served out the match.
Singles No. 4: Tanasie (NCSU) def. McNeil (TEX) 6-3, 6-2
Set One: Tanasie broke at deuce to start the set and broke again to finish after also holding at deuce for 5-3.
Set Two: Tanasie broke for 2-0 and 5-2.
Singles No. 6: Mansfield (TEX) def. Conway (NCSU) 6-3, 6-4
Set One: Mansfield broke first for 3-1 at deuce. Conway got the break back to get within 4-3, but Mansfield broke back and held.
Set Two: Conway started 3-0 with a break in the second game. After both players held for 4-1, Mansfield closed on a 5-0 run.
Singles No. 1: Slama (NCSU) def. Herea (TEX) 7-5, 6-0
Set One: Both players held at deuce starting with Herea and then both players broke. Slama later picked up the only other break for a 6-5 lead before serving out the set.
Set Two: Slama broke at deuce in the first game as part of a 9-0 run to complete the match.
Singles No. 2: Zyryanova (NCSU) def. Abbagnato (TEX) 7-6 (4), 6-1
Set One: Zyryanova broke first for a 4-3 lead, which was the first of four-straight breaks, including at deuce for 5-4 for Zyryanova. With the score 5-5, both players held at deuce for a tiebreaker.
Set One Tiebreaker: Zyryanova won the first two points, but Abbagnato won the next three and then also lead 4-3, however Zyryanova claimed the last four points.
Set Two: Zyryanova held and broke to start, and although Abbagnato broke back, Zyryanova finished on a 4-0 run capped by a deuce-point hold.
Singles No. 5: Osuigwe (NCSU) def. Ionescu (TEX) 2-6, 6-4, 7-5
Set One: Both players opened with a break starting with Ionescu, who then went on a 4-0 run for 5-1. Both players then held with Ionescu doing so at deuce for the set.
Set Two: Osuigwe broke for 2-0, but Ionescu broke back and held for 2-2. Osuigwe held at deuce and broke again, which was the first of four-straight breaks until Osuigwe held for the set.
Set Three: Osuigwe broke first for 3-1. Ionescu got the break back at deuce to trail, 4-3, and it was the first of four-straight deuce points with Osuigwe breaking, then Ionescu breaking and holding for 5-5. In that span, Ionescu fought off five match points. However, Osuigwe held for 6-5 and then broke at deuce for the match after Ionescu had deflected one more match point at 30-40.
Singles No. 3: Broadfoot (NCSU) vs. Meri (TEX) 2-6, 7-5, 4-0, unf.
Set One: The first four games went to deuce with Meri breaking for 2-1 and holding for 3-1. Meri then also won the last two games at deuce with a break for 5-2 and hold for 6-2.
Set Two: The players exchanged deuce-point breaks to start, and Broadfoot later broke again for 4-2. However, Meri broke back to start a 3-0 run and had two match points in the next game, but Broadfoot broke at deuce for the first of five-straight deuce-point wins that gave her the set and start 2-0 in the third.
Set Three: Broadfoot won the four games before play stopped with three of those at deuce.
