Italian freshman Anna Turati set her feet at the net to return a ball from Miami’s Sinead Lohan at Whitaker Courts on Saturday. 

Lohan sent a hard liner whirling just inches over the net when Turati smashed a strong volley between the Hurricanes’ doubles pair. 

Turati knew she won the match as soon as the ball left the strings of her racket, instantly celebrating with her teammate — senior Neda Koprcina — with a fist pump. Turati and Koprcina broke the tie for the doubles point with a hard fought 6-4 win against Lohan and Silvia Fuentes. 

The No. 18 Longhorns (2-2) knew they had a tough task ahead when they faced No. 17 Miami (1-2) for their home opener on Saturday morning. 

Texas needed a quick rebound against the Canes after dropping their last two matches against Michigan and North Carolina. 

The Longhorns came out hot, winning two of three doubles matches and four of six singles matches to claim a 5-2 victory over the visiting Canes.

The 53rd-ranked duo of freshman Petra Granic and junior Dani Wagland captured a quick 6-0 victory against Miami’s Dominika Paterova and Estela Perez-Somarriba to start off doubles play. 

“Our doubles was much improved with Petra and Dani playing as sharp a set as I have seen in awhile,” head coach Howard Joffe said.  

After a dominant 6-2, 6-2 singles win from 79th-ranked Koprcina against Miami’s Maci Epstein, the Longhorns increased their lead to 2-0. Granic’s 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 win over Perez-Somarriba would seal the deal for Texas, but not before freshman Bianca Turati put on her best performance of the season.

Turati took down Lohan, who is ranked sixth in the nation, 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 in spectacular fashion to get her first singles win against a top-ten opponent this season.

“I am unbelievably proud of our ladies,” Joffe said. “We have a particularly young team that has taken consecutive losses, and with Miami facing us today, it was always going to ask questions of our resolve and character.”