Friday, May 6
Austin, TX
2 pm ET
Ball State University
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at
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University of Texas
Women’s Tennis Ends Another Historic Season at NCAA Tourney
May 06, 2022 | Women's Tennis
AUSTIN, Texas - The Ball State women's tennis team played hard despite the Texas heat as the Cardinals faced the No. 4 team in the country and host Texas Longhorns Friday afternoon in its first NCAA Tournament showdown against the Longhorns at the Sheffield Family Courts.
Unfortunately, the Cardinals (19-5) could not overcome the defending national champion Longhorns (21-4) as they were on a mission to win the NCAA's for the second-straight season defeating Ball State, 4-0.
The Cardinals did not play intimidated in doubles competition against the Longhorns at the start of today's match. In fact, Ball State took significant leads on courts one and three as the No. 1 doubles tandem of Hannah Davies and Amy Kaplan along with No. 3 twosome of Livia Lukacs and Jessica Braun both went up 3-1 over their respective opponents.
But unfortunately, Texas won quickly at the No. 2 doubles position giving the Longhorns the motivation to finish strong and play a little tougher on the top court. It was a tightly contested match on both remaining doubles courts, but Texas' No. 1 duo, which is ranked No. 11 in the country, knotted it 4-4 and then went on to win the next two games to clinch the doubles point.
Although the Lukacs and Braun match went unfinished at the No. 3 slot, they were up 4-3 over the Longhorn's Vivian Ovrootsky and Sabina Zeynalova.
The No. 1 and No. 2 singles spots were the closest of the six singles courts, as Ball State's Mariya Polishchuk battled Texas' Peyton Stearns, who is ranked No. 2 in the nation on the top court, taking four games from her in total. Braun managed to earn three games from No. 49 ranked Kylie Collins on court two.
Overall, Ball State put up a good fight, but Texas took straight set victories on courts five, three and four for the win today.
While the Cardinals were unable to secure the program's first NCAA Tournament win, it was still a successful campaign all around. Under the direction of ninth-year head coach Max Norris, the Cardinals earned the program's fourth MAC regular season championship in the past six conference seasons and second MAC Tournament title along with the program's third trip to the NCAA Championships.
In fact, Norris has guided the program to all four of its MAC regular season championships (2016, 2017, 2021 and 2022) and to both MAC Tournament championships (2016 and 2022).
Unfortunately, the Cardinals (19-5) could not overcome the defending national champion Longhorns (21-4) as they were on a mission to win the NCAA's for the second-straight season defeating Ball State, 4-0.
The Cardinals did not play intimidated in doubles competition against the Longhorns at the start of today's match. In fact, Ball State took significant leads on courts one and three as the No. 1 doubles tandem of Hannah Davies and Amy Kaplan along with No. 3 twosome of Livia Lukacs and Jessica Braun both went up 3-1 over their respective opponents.
But unfortunately, Texas won quickly at the No. 2 doubles position giving the Longhorns the motivation to finish strong and play a little tougher on the top court. It was a tightly contested match on both remaining doubles courts, but Texas' No. 1 duo, which is ranked No. 11 in the country, knotted it 4-4 and then went on to win the next two games to clinch the doubles point.
Although the Lukacs and Braun match went unfinished at the No. 3 slot, they were up 4-3 over the Longhorn's Vivian Ovrootsky and Sabina Zeynalova.
The No. 1 and No. 2 singles spots were the closest of the six singles courts, as Ball State's Mariya Polishchuk battled Texas' Peyton Stearns, who is ranked No. 2 in the nation on the top court, taking four games from her in total. Braun managed to earn three games from No. 49 ranked Kylie Collins on court two.
Overall, Ball State put up a good fight, but Texas took straight set victories on courts five, three and four for the win today.
While the Cardinals were unable to secure the program's first NCAA Tournament win, it was still a successful campaign all around. Under the direction of ninth-year head coach Max Norris, the Cardinals earned the program's fourth MAC regular season championship in the past six conference seasons and second MAC Tournament title along with the program's third trip to the NCAA Championships.
In fact, Norris has guided the program to all four of its MAC regular season championships (2016, 2017, 2021 and 2022) and to both MAC Tournament championships (2016 and 2022).
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
2,1
#1 Singles Match
123
130
Peyton Stearns / 0 (2/-) [UT]
65UF
#2 Singles Match
123
210
Kylie Collins / 0 (49/-) [UT]
64UF
#3 Singles Match
12
11
Sabina Zeynalova / 0 (93/-) [UT]
66
#4 Singles Match
12
01
Charlotte Chavatipon / 0 [UT]
66
#5 Singles Match
12
10
Allura Zamarripa / 0 [UT]
66
#6 Singles Match
123
110
Vivian Ovrootsky / 0 [UT]
64UF
Order of Finish:
4,5,3
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
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