Univ. of Texas at Austin Team Page
EVANSTON, Ill. – No. 14 Texas (3-3) claimed the doubles point and survived three pivotal three-set matches to emerge with a 5-2 win over No. 9 Northwestern (5-4) Friday evening at NU’s Combe Tennis Center.
Texas came out aggressively in doubles and scored victories at the second and first positions to seal the doubles point. Senior Aeriel Ellis and junior Elizabeth Begley opened with an 8-5 win over Northwestern’s Veronica Corning and Alicia Barnett at second doubles.
UT clinched the doubles point when freshman Breaunna Addison and sophomore Noel Scott notched an 8-5 win over the Wildcats’ 15th-ranked duo of Linda Abu Mushrefova and Nida Hamilton at first doubles. NU closed the doubles session with a win at third doubles.
Northwestern evened the match when Barnett posted a 6-1, 6-1 win over UT’s Juliana Gajic at sixth singles. Texas assumed a 2-1 lead when Begley made short work of NU’s Wowchuk and scored a 6-3, 6-3 win at fourth singles. Northwestern returned the favor at second singles, where Corning evened the match once more with a 5-7, 6-4, 6-0 win over UT’s Scott.
Texas’ Addison took the first set off of NU’s 83rd-ranked Niu at third singles, 7-6 before Niu took the second set, 6-0. Niu took a 3-1 third-set lead, but Addison rallied and claimed the final five games to win the set, 6-3 and give the Longhorns a 3-2 lead.
UT’s 29th-ranked Ellis delivered the clinching point at first singles. The two-time All-American took the first set off of Northwestern’s 41st-ranked Turvy, 6-2 before Turvy took set two in a tiebreak. Ellis raced out to a 5-2 third-set lead only to see Turvy even the match at five. Ellis, however, took the final two games to win the final set, 7-5 and clinch the victory for the Longhorns.
UT’s Padegimaite engaged in a lengthy battle with NU’s Mushrefova at fifth singles. Padegimaite took the second set in a tiebreak before Mushrefova took the second set, 6-3. Mushrefova took a 6-5 lead in the final set, but Padegimaite managed to even the set and force a deciding tiebreaker, where she prevailed, 7-4, to give the Horns the 5-2 win.
Texas closes out its road swing on Sunday at No. 12 Michigan.
No. 14 Texas 5, No. 9 Northwestern 2
Doubles – Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3
1 Breaunna Addison/Noel Scott (UT) def. #15 Linda Abu Mushrefova/Nida Hamilton (NU) – 8-5
2 Aeriel Ellis/Elizabeth Begley (UT) def. Veronica Corning/Alicia Barnett (NU) – 8-5
3 Kate Turvy/Belinda Niu (NU) def. Lina Padegimaite/Annat Rabinovich (UT) – 8-3
Singles – Order of Finish: 6, 4, 2, 3, 1, 5
1 #29 Aeriel Ellis (UT) def. #41 Kate Turvy (NU) – 6-2, 6-7 (5), 7-5
2 Veronica Corning (NU) def. Noel Scott (UT) – 5-7, 6-4, 6-0
3 #39 Breaunna Addison (UT) def. #83 Belinda Niu (NU) – 7-6 (3), 0-6, 6-3
4 Elizabeth Begley (UT) def. Brittany Wowchuk (NU) – 6-3, 6-3
5 Lina Padegimaite (UT) def. Linda Abu Mushrefova (NU) – 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (4)
6 Alicia Barnett (NU) def. Juliana Gajic (UT) – 6-1, 6-1
