The Longhorns got off to a shaky start during their three-match road swing in California.  

Stanford (No. 20, 8-2) and USC (No. 7, 10-2) welcomed Texas to the Sunshine State with two losses. Both opponents did not give Texas room for error, as the Longhorns won only two sets combined, one each by Aeriel Ellis and Noel Scott.

As a result the Cardinals and Trojans each defeated the Longhorns 7-0.

In singles, the first five players in the Longhorns’ order matched up against ranked opponents. Ellis and Addison lost to lower-ranked opponents in Stanford, followed by losses to top ten players in Los Angeles.

Texas made its last stop in California at the University of San Diego. The Longhorns started off by claiming the doubles point, earning their first two match wins during the road trip.

Ellis put the Longhorns up 2-0 with a win at No. 1 singles because of Laura Claus’ retirement in the first set. Addison and Elizabeth Begley followed up with wins at No. 2 and No. 4 singles, giving the Longhorns a road win, 5-2.

After snapping their four-match losing streak, the Longhorns returned to Austin and began Big 12 play against Oklahoma.

Addison/Scott kicked off play with a win over No. 19 Hermon Brhane/Whitney Ritchie, helping claim the doubles point.

The Longhorns went up 2-0 behind Lina Padegimaite’s near perfect match win over Whitney Wofford. The team did not look back, winning four of the next five singles matches to beat the Sooners, 6-1.  

On Sunday the Longhorns welcomed their other Oklahoma rivals, Oklahoma State, to Austin.

The two teams split the first two matches in doubles. They waited for the deciding match at No. 2 doubles between Ellis/Begley and Meghan Blevins/Karyn Guttormsen, which went to a tie-breaker. The Longhorns outlasted the Cowgirls, 9-8 (6) to take a 1-0 lead.

Oklahoma State did not challenge their 1-0 deficit. The top of the Longhorns order swept Oklahoma State to clinch the match at 4-0. Ellis, with a win over No. 83 Malika Rose, moved to 6-5 on the season.

The Longhorns continue their nine-match home stand Thursday against Iowa State.