No. 12 Women’s Tennis wins ITA Kickoff Austin Regional championship

 

The Longhorns came back from an early deficit for a 4-3 win over Baylor to advance to the ITA National Indoor Championships for the eighth-straight year.

Austin – No. 12 Texas Women’s Tennis won the championship of the ITA Kickoff Weekend Austin Regional with a 4-3 comeback win over Baylor at the Texas Tennis Center on Saturday. With the win, the Longhorns advanced to the ITA National Indoor Championships for the eighth-straight year with this year’s tournament taking place from February 7-10 in Evanston and Champaign, Ill.

After Baylor won the doubles point and the first singles match at No. 3 for a 2-0 lead, Texas ran off three-straight singles victories by junior No. 95 vivian Ovrootsky at No. 6, freshman No. 28 Carmen Herea at No. 5 and senior Sabina Zeynalova at No. 6. The Bears then evened the score with a win at No. 4 before freshman Eszter Meri clinched the victory in a third-set tiebreaker at No. 2.

Meri responded numerous times throughout her 5-7, 6-2, 7-6 (6) win over Liubov Kostenko, but none more so than the deciding tiebreaker, which she opened with a mini-break on the way to a 4-1 lead. Although Kostenko would rally to even it twice, 4-4 and 6-6, Meri would never trail, taking the final two points on a mini-break and a hold to send her teammates sprinting on the court to her. Earlier in the match, Meri had dropped the first set, 7-5, on a deuce-point break after she had taken a 5-4 lead despite opening with a 2-0 deficit. She then rallied in the second set by finishing it with a 4-0 run to send it to a third where she appeared to be in control after a deuce-point break supplied her with a 5-2 lead. Although her next two serves were broken at deuce as part of a 3-0 run to tie it where Kostenko deflected multiple match points, Meri answered once again with a deuce-point break for the lead. However, the next game would turn out to be the eighth break of the set, sending it to the tiebreaker where Meri emerged with the win.

Meri’s win broke a 3-3 overall tie, which Baylor had obtained when freshman Salma Drugdovafell to No. 76 Na Dong at No. 4. Drugdova started by holding her serve at deuce to go up, 1-0, but Dong also held and then used consecutive deuce-point wins for a 3-1 lead. At that point, Drugdova switched gears, mounting a 6-0 run that included four deuce points to give her the first set and establish a 1-0 lead in the second. However, it was then Dong’s turn to switch gears, as she answered with a 7-0 run that gave her the second set and a 1-0 lead in the third. The first three games of that set were all breaks with the last of those at deuce for a 2-1 lead for Dong, who expanded it to 3-1 on her next serve. Drugova continued fighting with a 3-0 run for the lead, but after maintaining that lead for 5-4, Dong finished on a 3-0 run for the win.

Prior to that, Zeynalova had given the Longhorns their first lead of the match with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Cristina Tiglea, who broke on a deuce point in the opening game. Zeynalova answered the break and held for a 2-1 lead, and after Tiglea won another deuce point for a hold, Zeynalova collected a 3-0 run for a 5-2 lead. Tiglea held to get within 5-3, but Zeynalova went on a 4-0 run for a 3-0 lead in the second. Tiglea then earned her only game of the set on a deuce-point break, but Zeynalova answered with one of her own to start a 3-0 run to her win.

Carmen Herea had pulled Texas even after their initial deficit with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Kennedy Gibbs at No. 5. In the opening set, Gibbs held and followed with a deuce-point break for a 2-0 lead. Herea broke back for 2-1, but Gibbs again held and followed with a deuce-point break for 4-1. However, that would be it for Gibbs in the set as Herea charged forward on a 5-0 run to take it. The second set would be more back and forth with the first four games staying on serve until Herea secured the only break of the set for a 3-2 lead. It was then all holds the rest of the way to Herea’s win and a 2-2 tie in the overall match.

Ovrootsky had put the first point on the board for Texas with an efficient 6-2, 6-1 win over No. 118 Wenfei Yu. After Ovrootsky began the match with a deuce-point break, Yu broke back and held at deuce for a 2-1 lead. However, Ovrootsky set out on a 7-0 run to claim the first set and a 2-0 lead in the second. Yu got back one game on serve, but Ovrootsky went on a four-game streak to the finish and complete a stretch winning 11 of the last 12 games.

Baylor had taken its 2-0 lead after freshman No. 65 Ashton Bowers dropped her match to Zuzanna Kubacha, 6-2, 6-2, at No. 3. After Kubacha posted a 5-1 lead, Bowers held on a deuce point to get within 5-2, but Kubacha served out the set in the next game. In the second set, Kubacha won back-to-back deuce points to again lead, 5-1, and although Bowers again made it 5-2, Kubacha held again for the win.

Like the overall match, the doubles point was also decided by a tiebreaker after Kubacha and Yu rallied for a 7-6 (3) win over Meri and freshman Ariana Anazagasty-Pursoo. The Texas duo had moved out to a 4-1 lead with Baylor’s only win in that stretch being a deuce-point hold for 1-1. The Longhorns later held at deuce for a 5-2 lead, but the Bears came back with a 4-0 run that included three deuce-point wins for their first lead, 6-5. Texas then secured the break they needed to force a tiebreaker, but Baylor jumped out to a 2-0 lead and never trailed on the way to the 7-3 win.

Doubles had begun with Drugdova and Herea earning a 6-4 win over Dong and Gibbs at No. 2. The first three games were all breaks starting with Texas for a 2-1 lead, and the Longhorns followed with two holds and a deuce-point break for 5-1. The Bears then mimicked the same three-game stretch to get within 5-4, but Texas served it out from there for the win.

Baylor leveled doubles as Zeynalova and Bowers fought against the No.13 pair of Tiglea and Kostenko, but fell by the same 6-4 score. The Bears broke first for a 2-1 lead, and after the Longhorns broke back, Tiglea and Kostenko captured consecutive deuce-point wins for a 4-2 lead. Zeynaolva and Bowers responded with a hold and deuce-point break to tie it, but Baylor broke again at deuce and served out the match.

The Longhorns will next face No. 10 NC State on Friday, Jan. 31, at 2 p.m. CT at the Weller Indoor Tennis Center.

#12 Texas 4, Baylor 3

Singles – Order of Finish (3,6,5,1,4,2)
1. Sabina Zeynalova (TEX) def. Cristina Tiglea (BU) 6-3, 6-1
2. Eszter Meri (TEX) def. Liubov Kostenko (BU) 5-7, 6-2, 7-6 (8-6)
3. Zuzanna Kubacha (BU) def. #65 Ashton Bowers (TEX) 6-2, 6-2
4. #76 Na Dong (BU) def. Salma Drugdova(TEX) 3-6, 6-1, 7-5
5. #28 Carmen Herea (TEX) def. Kennedy Gibbs (BU) 6-4, 6-4
6. #95 Vivian Ovrootsky (TEX) def. #118 Wenfei Yu (BU) 6-2, 6-1

Doubles – Order of Finish (2,1,3)
1. #13 Cristina Tiglea/Liubov Kostenko (BU) def. Sabina Zeynalova/Ashton Bowers (TEX) 6-4
2. Salma Drugdova/Carmen Herea (TEX) def. Na Dong/Kennedy Gibbs (BU) 6-4
3. Zuzanna Kubacha/Wenfei Yu (BU) def. Eszter Meri/Ariana Anazagasty-Pursoo (TEX) 7-6 (7-3)