No. 8 Texas women’s tennis took on No. 34 Baylor on Sunday in Waco and ended their regular season with a decisive 4-0 win. 

The victory continues Texas’ control of the Big 12 Conference, with their only loss coming against an undefeated Oklahoma State at the end of March. The Longhorns will finish the regular season 12–1 in Big 12 play and 19–4 overall.

Baylor also saw their regular season come to a close, ending 7-6 in the Big 12 and 16-11 overall. The Bears had only lost twice at home, once against the University of Oklahoma and another against Texas A&M University. But, today’s defeat added another tally to their five-match loss streak and third home game loss. 

The day started with wins from both sides in the doubles format, leading to an important third match. Senior Malaika Rapolu and graduate student Tanya Sasnouskaya won 6-2. Then, senior Charlotte Chavatipon and redshirt sophomore Vivian Ovrootsky were defeated 6-3. 

But in what proved to be a successful day for the pair, senior Taisiya Pachkaleva and freshman Shachf Lieberman clinched the doubles point for Texas after winning a tiebreaker 7-6 to go 7-4 against sophomore Lauren Littell and junior Brooke Thompson. The duo went 7-3 this season after Lieberman stepped in for Pachkaleva’s normal doubles partner, injured junior Sabina Zeynalova, back in early March. 

The freshman from Modiin, Israel, also displayed the most dominant win in the singles, efficiently taking down Littell 6-2, 6-0, to give Texas their second point of the day. Lieberman moved to 6-2 in singles in a strong first semester at UT after signing with the team in December 2023.

Texas kept cruising, and Ovrootsky defeated Baylor sophomore Daniella Dimitrov 6-3, 6-1. Ovrootsky finished her season 24-11 in singles play, after missing the entirety of last season due to injury. 

In the deciding match, Pachkaleva ended the final regular season of her Texas career with a 6-3, 6-1 singles win against sophomore Danielle Tuhten. This moves Pachkaleva to a 17-9 singles record, two years after leaving Pepperdine University. 

On Wednesday, the Longhorns head to Stillwater, Oklahoma, for the Big 12 Championships, with sights set on claiming their fourth consecutive conference title and 14th overall. The last four have come under the guidance of head coach Howard Joffe, who is in his ninth season at Texas. The Longhorns already improved last season’s Big 12 record from 8–1 and must show up strong in the championships if they want to take home another conference title trophy.