The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
2023-24 Women's Tennis Roster
Roster
Malaika Rapolu
- Height:
- 5-9
- Class:
- Senior
- Hometown:
- Cedar Park, Texas
- Major:
- Management Information Systems
Pronunciation: (muh-LIE-kuh WRAP-oh-loo)
• 2023 Big 12 Championship All-Tournament Team at No. 6 singles
• 2023 Spring Academic All-Big 12
• 2022-23 ITA Scholar-Athlete
• 2022 Academic All-Big 12 First Team
• 2021-22 ITA Scholar-Athlete
• Fall 2021 Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll
• 2021 Big 12 Individual Champion at No. 6 singles
• 2021 Big 12 Championship All-Tournament Team at No. 6 singles
• Signed her commitment to compete for The University of Texas Women's Tennis program in April 2020
As a Junior (2023)
• Posted a 17-6 dual match record in singles, interchanging at Nos. 4, 5, and 6 where she was 6-2 at No. 4, 5-1 at No. 5, and 4-2 at No. 6.
• Registered a 7-4 dual match record in doubles, accumulating her record at the No. 3 spot.
• The tandem of Rapolu and freshman Nicole Khirin earned a 6-2 victory at No. 3 over Kate Dmitrichenko and Camryn Stepp of No. 33 Texas Tech
• Posted a 6-0, 6-3 victory at No. 4 against Addison Ahlstrom of No. 65 Brown and became the first Longhorn to win 20 singles games this season. She also extended her singles win-streak to five games
• The tandem of juniors Rapolu and Charlotte Chavatipon posted a 6-2 victory at No. 3 over Phoebe Peus and Lindsey Hofflander of No. 65 Brown
• Started the singles action versus No. 72 West Virginia with a 6-2, 6-1 victory at No. 4 against Momoko Nagato
• Closed out the game against No. 6 Iowa State by rallying for a 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 win at No. 5 over Sofia Cabezas
• Opened singles play against No. 19 Kansas with a 6-0, 6-4 victory at No. 5 over Tamari Gagoshidze
• Clinched the overall dual-match victory for the Longhorns versus Kansas State with a resounding 6-2, 6-4 win at No. 4 against Manami Ukita
• Earned a 6-0, 6-3 win at No. 5 against Emma Staker of No. 20 Oklahoma to improve to 7-3 in dual-match singles play this spring
• Added a 6-4, 6-3 victory at No. 5 against Maria Budin of Rice
• Concluded the action against No. 24 USC with a 4-6, 6-0, 7-6 (7-4) win at No. 4 over No. 96-ranked Naomi Cheong
• Posted a 6-1, 6-3 win at No. 3 against Astrid Olsen of Washington
• Recorded an impressive 6-0, 6-0 shutout at No. 4 over Baranano of Baylor
• Registered a dominant 6-1, 6-0 win at No. 4 over Cristina Flaquer of Fresno State
• Clinched the doubles point against Tulane with a 6-3 win at No. 3 against Mackenzie Clark and Jiayun Zhu with Grace Thomas. Trailing 3-2, Thomas and Rapolu rattled off four straight games to finish out their victory
• Claimed a hard-fought 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-5) victory at No. 2 against Taylor Johnson of SMU
• Rallied from a 5-3 deficit with Grace Thomas to win four-straight games and post a 7-5 doubles win over Olivia Halvorsen and Kexuan Zhou of UNT and clinch the doubles point for Texas at No. 3
• Earned an impressive 6-1, 6-2 victory over No. 60 Daevenia Achong of Miami
• Posted an impressive 6-4 doubles victory against the No. 60-ranked duo of Sophie Abrams and Abigail Rencheli of NC State with Marlee Zein
• Rallied for a 0-6, 6-1, 6-0 win over Marcella Cruz of Vanderbilt
• Started the spring season with a 6-0 doubles victory against Tatyana Nikolenko and Brooke Dugarte of Miami with Grace Thomas
As a Sophomore (2022)
• Finished the season No. 99 in the ITA singles rankings
• Notched a 6-3 singles record in dual match play, including 4-1 at No. 5 and 2-2 at No. 6
As a Freshman (2021)
• Generated a 19-2 record in dual match play, playing primarily at No. 6 where she was 15-2, while also going 1-0 at No. 3, 1-0 at No. 4, and 2-0 at No. 5
• Won her only dual match doubles contest, pairing with Charlotte Chavatipon for a 6-0 win at No. 3 against UTSA
• Clinched the Big 12 Championship match against No. 8 Baylor
• Clinched the NCAA semifinals match against No. 6 NC State
Before Texas
• Part of the top-ranked recruiting class in the nation with Peyton Stearns and Charlotte Chavatipon
• Rated No. 8 in and second in the state of Texas for the girls' Class of 2021 by the TennisRecruiting.net
• Registered a UTR (Universal Tennis Rating) of 11.00 before Texas
• Advanced to the singles quarterfinals at the ITF 15k pro circuit event in Cancun, Mexico in January 2020
