Stepping onto the court on Friday, No. 11 Texas had something to prove against Red River rivals No. 12 Oklahoma. Losing 3–4 to in-state rivals No. 6 Texas A&M in its Southeastern Conference debut at the Cotton Holdings Lone Star Showdown on Sunday, Texas was ready for a win.
“Obviously, today was a very, very painful loss for the group, and it definitely remains to be seen how they take it,” head coach Howard Joffe said after the loss. “Today we left a couple of matches out there where our players were perhaps not tapping into their most resourced places.”
The Longhorns took the initial lead against the Aggies, winning the doubles point on courts one and three. They extended their lead to 3–0, with singles wins from freshman No. 54 Ariana Anazagasty-Pursoo and senior No. 87 Sabina Zeynalova.
Texas A&M responded with three straight wins to tie the score 3–3.
The final match went three sets between freshman No. 25 Carmen Herea and Aggie junior Daria Smetannikov. Herea fell in her first set but initiated a 6–1 comeback in the second. With all other matches finished, the crowd’s eyes focused on court four as the pair went into their third set. Smetannikov took the first point, forcing Herea to play catch up.
But with a 4–6 loss, the Longhorns lost to the Aggies.
The Longhorns were set for a comeback Friday against Oklahoma, quickly winning the doubles point. Two freshman pairs dominated in 6–2 wins to give Texas the point: Anazagasty-Pursoo with Ashton Bowers and Eszter Meri with Herea.
Herea had full control during her singles match on court four, winning both sets 6–1 to further the Longhorns’ lead. On the neighboring court six, Anazagasty-Pursoo struggled in her singles match, giving Oklahoma its first point of the day. Shortly after, Bowers dominated her second set 6–4, 6–0 to solidify the Longhorns’ lead 3–1.
After not playing the last two matches, Texas junior No. 107 Vivian Ovrootsky dropped her match against Sooner freshman Salakthip Ounmuang to give Oklahoma its second point.
Meri battled for a 7–5 win in her first set against Oklahoma junior No. 12 Julia Garcia Ruiz and added a point to the scoreboard when she went 6–3 in her second. Texas’ redshirt freshman Charlotte Kempenaers-Pocz, the only player to start a third set, fell to Oklahoma senior Ava Catanzarite with a final score of 4–3.
Meri’s match was what really won it for the Longhorns.
“I wasn’t doubting myself for even one second,” Meri said about her winning performance. “I was able to be calm and just focus on the next ball.”
Coach Joffe praised her as well. Meri played only two sets in singles but was one of the last to finish her match on an overrule from the judge.
“Eszter Meri today beat a girl who got to the semi-finals of the NCAA singles tournament,” Joffe said. “It was competitive, but Eszter beat her handling in straight sets.”
The Longhorns won their first conference match against the Sooners and will play No. 70 Arkansas at noon on Sunday, March 2, on the Forty Acres.
“We need to do some recovery now and get ready for Sunday,” Meri said. “But I believe we can make it work.”
