It didn’t look like No. 12 women’s tennis would be able to pull away with a tournament win.
Despite a 4–0 sweep against Maryland on Friday, Texas started Saturday at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s Kickoff Weekend Austin Regional Championship on a sour note. In a doubles point decided by a tiebreaker and a disappointing end to a singles match, Texas fell 0–2 against Baylor.
However, the Longhorns pulled off a huge comeback, beating the Bears 4–3 to advance to the ITA Indoor Championships.
The Longhorns took an early lead against the Terrapins on Friday, winning all three doubles matches to get a point. Then, the team sealed the deal with three singles wins from the freshman trio Eszter Meri, Salma Drugdova and ITA singles-ranked No. 28 Carmen Herea.
One of the winning pairs, Meri and freshman Ariana Anazagasty-Pursoo, began the point tally for the Longhorns in their doubles match with a 6–4 win. Meri continued to dominate in her singles match against Maryland graduate student Danielle Hack, only giving up one game.
Drugdova also dominated in her singles match, only giving up three games for a win over Maryland freshman Oliwia Orlinska.
Herea provided the clinch, winning both sets 6–2 over Maryland junior Tamari Gagoshidze, ending the day for the Longhorns.
On Saturday, the Longhorns faced the undefeated Bears in a competitive matchup.
Baylor’s talent on the court helped them get a 2–0 lead to start the day.
However, Texas has talent of its own. Moving forward, Texas ran off with three straight wins by junior No. 95 Vivian Ovrootsky, freshman No. 28 Herea and senior Sabina Zeynalova to a 3–2 score.
The Bears were quick to even the score. Drugdova dropped her match against No. 76 freshman Na Dong, who was not derailed by Drugdova’s initial 6–3 win. With an advancement to the ITA National Indoor Championship on the line, Meri took to the court.
Meri played a tight match against Baylor senior Liubov Kostenko. Although Meri dropped her first set 5–7, she initiated a quick comeback in her second, winning 6–2.
It was all on the line in the third set, with the points going back and forth. The set was tied at 6–6 when Meri emerged victorious, taking the last two points on a mini-break and a hold to send her team onto its next challenge.
The Longhorns will face No. 10 North Carolina State on Friday, Jan. 31, at 2 p.m. before heading to Illinois for the ITA National Team Indoor Championship Feb. 7-11, where their matchups are not yet known.
