No. 12 Texas women’s tennis dropped its spring season opener to the No. 21 Pepperdine Waves, 5-2, in front of a packed crowd at the Texas Tennis Center on Sunday.
The duo of Texas sophomore Carmen Herea and freshman Elizabeth Ionescu struck first, securing a 6-3 win over Pepperdine sophomore Alexia Harmon and freshman Sonja Zhiyenbayeva, earning the doubles point.
The Waves answered as Texas freshman Christasha McNeil and sophomore Salma Drugdova fell to Pepperdine sophomore Anastasiia Grechkina and graduate Chantal Sauvant, 6-4.
The Longhorns opened up the set with a 4-1 lead, but Grechkina and Sauvant went on a 5-0 run to claim the set.
In the third and deciding match, Texas freshman Anastasia Abbagnato and sophomore Ariana Anazagasty-Pursoo would come through with a 7-6 (5) win in a tie-breaker against Pepperdine graduate Živa Falkner and sophomore Duru Söke, giving Texas a 1-0 lead.
The Longhorns built on their doubles point by opening singles play with a victory from Abbagnato. In her first collegiate singles match, Abbagnato upset Grechkina, the No. 7 singles player in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings, 6-2, 6-4, giving Texas an early 2-0 lead.
However, Pepperdine would proceed to put up four straight points, starting with Anazagasty-Pursoo, who was bested by Harmon, 7-5, 6-1. The match was highlighted by a 4-0 run to win set one and a 6-0 run to win set two from Harmon. Soon after, Ionescu dropped her first collegiate match, 6-3, 6-4, to freshman Shihomi Leong.
Texas held first-set leads in two other matches, but Pepperdine overcame both. Sophomore Eszter Meri fell to Zhiyenbayeva 2-6, 6-3, 6-3. Then, to cap off the Waves’ comeback victory, Herea, the No. 2-ranked singles player in the ITA rankings, was upset by Falkner, 0-6, 6-2, 6-4.
The final set between them was a shootout, with Falkner starting on a 3-0 run, followed by a 4-0 rally from Herea. However, Falkner would overwhelm Herea with a final 3-0 run to take the set.
This left the match between McNeil and Sauvant that had also gone to three sets, but McNeil came up short, 6-4, 1-6, 6-3.
The Longhorns will look to bounce back on Jan. 24 as they host the Arizona Wildcats for the first round of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Kickoff Weekend.
