Senior Malaika Rapolu hits the ball during singles play against Ava Catanzarite of Oklahoma on March 3, 2024. Rapolu earned Texas’ first win of the match with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Catanzarite.
An opportunity to learn.
Inside Atkins Tennis Center in Urbana, Illinois, cheers from one court bled into the next as the bout for the ITA Indoor National Championships continued. For three days, No. 18 Texas lived in the noise, playing matches that refused to separate.
The Longhorns didn’t win the tournament, as they opened with a 4-3 loss to No. 6 Oklahoma on Friday and then upset both No. 12 Vanderbilt and No. 7 Duke by 4-1 and 4-3 scores, respectively.
The Longhorns and the Sooners went at each other in the first round of the championship with Texas grabbing the first doubles result behind freshman Anastasia Abbagnato and sophomore Ariana Anazagasty-Pursoo. However, on the other two courts, the advantage disappeared just as fast as Texas lost the doubles point.
Texas sophomore Eszter Meri suffered a straight-sets loss against Oklahoma No. 4 freshman Edda Mamedova, making it 2–0. The Sooners looked comfortable.
The Longhorns were able to strike back with Abbagnato striking first, taking time away from rallies and knocking off No. 12 Julia Garcia Ruiz. Texas freshman Christasha McNeil flipped her court next, absorbing pressure after dropping the opening set and stretching exchanges until errors surfaced.
Texas sophomore No. 2 Carmen Herea followed with the loudest swing of the afternoon, shaking off a 0–6 start and turning the match into a grind she controlled.
For a moment, Texas had the lead but the volume rose. The Sooners were able to escape with the final two courts, but the Longhorns had already located something that they would use later regarding momentum and tightening lines.
After losing in the first round, the consolation matches started less than a day later, and No. 12 Vanderbilt took the doubles point and tried the same early squeeze as Oklahoma did.
McNeil leveled the match quickly. Texas freshman Elizabeth Ionescu reset after a second-set slide and attacked early in the third. No. 2 Herea delivered a win at the top of the lineup, steady in the longest rallies, comfortable extending points.
Texas sophomore Salma Drugdova and freshman Mathilde Ngijol-Carré helped steady doubles earlier in the day, keeping courts close enough for singles to decide the afternoon.
Up by three points to two, Abbagnato was down 5–2 in the second set and after five straight games, she completed the comeback in a third-set tiebreak that sealed the upset.
Duke secured doubles and the first singles result, forcing Texas back into chase mode. Meri was able to answer with a 6–0 third set, with Abbagnato adding another win. Herea battled through three sets at the top line, even though Duke stole that point to level the match.
When Duke tied it at 3–3, all eyes drifted toward Texas freshman Kate Mansfield. Trailing in the third set, the freshman answered with two deuce points — winning the final game, 7–5.
Texas plays the University of Texas at Rio Grande Valley on Sunday, Feb. 15, at the Texas Tennis Center in Austin.