Addison, Begley improve records at home for women's tennis

Texas dropped two home matches over the weekend against top-20 competitors though two of its players stole the show.

Sophomore Breaunna Addison knocked off Northwestern’s No. 30 Veronica Corning (6-3, 6-2) before besting that performance Sunday against Vanderbilt’s No. 48 Georgina Sellyn. With her feet shifting constantly throughout the match and no problems returning the ball, Addison overpowered Sellyn 6-0, 6-1.

Senior Elizabeth Begley proved just as impressive. Begley picked up a hard-earned 7-6, 7-5 victory on Saturday to return energized Sunday against Lauren Mira. Propelled by a supportive crowd, Begley won 6-2, 6-0.

Begley’s victory put Texas in winning position after sophomore Lana Groenvynck won her first singles dual match of the season.

Two straight Commodore victories put the deciding match at No. 5 singles. Pippa Horn sustained a left-leg injury shortly before she forced a third set in which she lost to Vanderbilt 4-3.  

The Longhorns head into a two-week layoff on a six-game losing streak.

—Chris Caraveo

Men’s tennis moves onto consolation round 

Texas men’s tennis defeated No. 4 Georgia in the first round of the ITA National Team Indoor Championship on Friday at the Galleria Tennis and Athletic Club. With a winning score of 4-3, No. 10 Texas advanced to the quarterfinals to face No. 5 Ohio State at the Downtown Club at The Met.

Texas began the tournament with three consecutive singles wins from sophomore Nick Naumann (6-4, 6-3), junior Lloyd Glasspool (6-4, 1-6, 6-4) and junior Soren Hess-Olesen (5-6, 6-1, 6-4).

But before it reached the semifinals, Texas fell 2-4 to the Ohio State Buckeyes on Saturday. Glasspool led Texas by giving the team its first point in his match against Chris Diaz (6-2, 6-5) that tied the dual at 1-1.

Ohio then took three straight victories over Texas, bringing the score to 4-2. Texas kept its consistency in score Sunday, downing No. 11 California 4-2 in consolation.

—Brianna Holt

Women’s track and field back up No. 1 ranking in split meets

When a team secures the top spot in the national ranking, it usually has no place to go but down. But last weekend at the Tyson Invitational in Arkansas and the Iowa State Classic, the top-ranked Longhorn track and field women’s team somehow managed to do just that, improving its national standing in several events.

At the Iowa State Classic, senior Sara Sutherland positioned herself to qualify for indoor nationals in the 5,000 meters with a second place finish of 15 minutes, 53.98 seconds. The time is good for eighth best time in the nation. 

In Arkansas, the 4×400-meter relay team of Kendall Baisden, Briana Nelson, Courtney Okolo and Ashley Spencer continued its recent dominance. Finishing four seconds ahead of runner-up Texas Tech, Texas snatched a nation-leading time of 3 minutes, 30.12 seconds. 

Next weekend, the Longhorns take a well-earned bye in order to prepare for the Big 12 Indoor Championships. The championships will be at Iowa State Feb. 28 – March 1.

—Daniel Clay

Bilderback bests own 400-meter as No. 13 men's track and field moves closer to Big 12 Championships

In its final competition before the Big 12 conference meet in two weeks, the men’s track and field team split up over the weekend, sending distance runners to Ames, Iowa, for the Iowa State Classic while the rest of the team traveled to Arkansas for the Tyson Invitational.

As the regular season comes to a close, the Longhorns aim to solidify their spots on Texas’ final 26-man conference meet roster. From there, each must finish with a top-16 national placement in his event to qualify for the national championships.

The No. 13 Longhorns had several impressive performances, but none more so than that of Zack Bilderback. The sophomore ran a new personal best of 46.47 in the 400 meters, a time that not only placed him third in the race at the Tyson Invitational but also moved him from 27th to No. 12 on the national qualifying list. 

With another impressive race at the conference meet, Bilderback may be able to lock in a spot in the national meet.

—Grant Gordon