Lately, Texas women’s tennis has found constant success on the court, defeating multiple ranked opponents and carrying on a five-game win streak. This win streak recently came to an end when the Longhorns traveled to Seattle this past weekend to compete in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s National Women’s Team Indoor Championship and lost in the quarterfinals to Oklahoma State.
No. 10 Texas opened the tournament against in-state rival Texas A&M, which is currently ranked No. 9. The Aggies entered the tournament with a 4–3 record and were coming off a loss to the unranked Miami Hurricanes. The Longhorns overcame Texas A&M 4-2 in games played with singles victories from seniors Taisiya Pachkaleva, Malaika Rapolu and Charlotte Chavatipon. The team also took two doubles wins when sophomore Vivian Ovrootsky and Chavatipon won their match 6-2 in sets and Pachkaleva and junior Sabina Zeynalova won their match 6-1 in sets.
Texas struggled early on against No. 3 Oklahoma State, initially going down 3–0 in games. Though the team rallied three games and forced a third-set tiebreaker, the Cowgirls persevered and won the match, ending the team’s tournament run. The rally was instigated by Rapolu when she defeated her opponent Lucia Peyre, followed by wins from Zeynalova and Ovrootsky. Despite coming back against the higher-seeded opponent, Texas failed to complete the comeback when senior Charlotte Chavatipon lost to Safiya Carrington in a match that lasted nearly three hours.
Coming into this past tournament, Texas found itself in a position of excellence. Within a 24-hour span, the team defeated both No. 25 Wisconsin and No. 4 Georgia, just days before the tournament. Pivotal to these two wins was Pachkaleva, who was awarded Big 12 Women’s Tennis Player of the Week due to her performance. It was the first time in her career she earned such an award.
Despite not advancing beyond the quarterfinal, Texas still came away from the tournament with two important wins and the team was awarded a consolation game against No. 12 Ohio State in which the team triumphed, winning 4–3 in games. Though this contest had no implication on tournament play, it is still an important ranked win for the Longhorns to reignite any momentum they may have lost against Oklahoma State.
Texas now faces a hard upcoming four game slate of ranked opponents including No. 2 Stanford. Texas currently holds a 6–2 record with two losses against ranked opponents this season. The Longhorns now move on and resume their normal schedule as they prepare to face No. 14 Auburn this Sunday at 11 a.m. at the Texas Tennis Center.
