No. 16 Texas Tech Women's Tennis Defeats No. 21 Mississippi State, Punches Return Ticket to Sweet 16

Gabriela Talaba battled back from an early 2-0 deficit during the third set to vault the No. 16 Texas Tech women’s tennis team to a 4-2 win versus No. 21 Mississippi State during Saturday’s NCAA Tournament Second Round at the McLeod Tennis Center.

The victory enabled the Lady Raiders (25-5) to secure the program’s second consecutive NCAA Sweet 16 trip, and Texas Tech has dialed up a 5-1 mark in NCAA Tournament home matches.

The Lady Raiders move on to meet No. 1 California, a 4-0 winner against UC Santa Barbara, in Thursday’s NCAA Sweet 16 Round at the Case Tennis Center on the University of Tulsa campus.

“A complete hats off to a remarkable group of young ladies,” Texas Tech head coach Todd Petty said. “They deserved it today, and they’ve put together a remarkable season. I couldn’t have written a better script with all the ups and downs we’ve had throughout the season. It’s extremely special.”

All square at 2-2, Sabrina Federici registered a 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 comeback victory over Vozniak on the No. 5 singles line to give Texas Tech a 3-2 lead. She has emerged with wins in three of her four three-set decisions on the season. Federici dug deep and claimed the final two games of set two to break a 4-4 deadlock. She carried that momentum and built a 4-1 advantage to begin the third set.

On court two, Talaba came up with a clutch backhand volley winner to tuck away the first-set tiebreaker by a 7-5 margin. Patrasc bounced back and evened the ledger with a 6-3 decision during the second set. However, Talaba found her resolve and wiped away a 2-0 hole in the third set. She ripped off six consecutive games and delivered an overhead forehand winner on match point to seal the Tech victory.

“I thought about it, and I said “OK, it’s my time,’” Talaba said. “I looked on court one where Sarah lost that point and I was like, “OK, this is mine. I have to take it. It’s now or never.’ I was so happy because I know that I was in this situation of losing the last match (against Texas earlier this season). I thought about that match. I was just really happy, and I can’t describe in words how I feel for this team.”

“Gabi was down 2-0 and then got up 3-2,” Petty said. “I told her ‘Sarah needs you right now. Stick your nose out there and take some of the pressure off of her’. I wouldn’t have bet anything that the win was going to be on her racket. We lost to Texas in the same fashion – with her (Talaba) being one of the last on. She didn’t handle that situation well. After the match tonight, she said that was the first thing she thought of was the Texas match. She wasn’t going to let it happen to her again.”

Katelyn Jackson started the Lady Raiders on the right track in singles. She turned in a dominant 6-0, 6-2 win against Jennifer Brown at the bottom of the lineup to stretch the Tech advantage to 2-0.

Mississippi State (18-9) answered with back-to-back straight sets wins courtesy of Madison Harrison and Anastasia Rentouli at the No. 3 and No. 4 positions, respectively. Harrison defeated Alex Valenstein by a 6-3, 6-3 scoreline whereas Rentouli edged Felicity Maltby by a 7-5, 6-4 margin.

Tech’s Sarah Dvorak was locked in a 7-5, 5-7, 5-5 with Jasmine Lee at the top of the lineup when the match was stopped.

“The doubles gave me a lot of confidence going into singles because now you think, ‘OK, we got this,’” Jackson said. “We pulled it together in doubles, and we’ve been struggling a lot with doubles this season. To get the win for doubles was enough for me to be able to push through in singles.”

Tech’s formula for victory began with the doubles point where Dvorak and Jackson cranked out a dominant 6-1 triumph over Patrasc and Rentouli on court three.

The Lady Raiders grabbed the 1-0 edge when Talaba and Valenstein collected a hard-fought 6-3 victory over No. 30 Harrison and Vozniak. Ahead 4-3, Talaba belted a strong serve on a deuce point which forced the Lady Bulldogs into a backhand return error. The Lady Raiders got the clinching break at 40-15 as Valenstein ripped a forehand return that turned into another MSU backhand error.

When play was halted, Federici and Maltby possessed a 5-3 advantage on Lee and Louise Ronaldson at the No. 2 spot.

“There’s nothing better than that feeling,” Petty said. “We get so much support from the tennis community. I also saw the soccer and golf teams here. It’s so special to have them come out and support us. It’s hard to play in Lubbock, hats off to the fans. They’re the reason that makes it so hard.”

Visit www.TexasTech.com for the latest news and information on the women’s tennis program. Fans also can follow the program and live match updates on its social media outlets at www.Facebook.com/TechWomensTennis and @TexasTechTennis on Twitter.

No. 16 Texas Tech 4, No. 21 Mississippi State 2

05/14/2016 – Lubbock, Texas (McLeod Tennis Center)

2016 NCAA Tennis Lubbock Regional – Second Round

Doubles

1. Gabriela Talaba/Alex Valenstein (TTU) defeats No. 30 Madison Harrison/Kristina Vozniak (MSU): 6-3

2. Sabrina Federici/Felicity Maltby (TTU) vs. Jasmine Lee/Louise Ronaldson (MSU): 5-3, unfinished

3. Sarah Dvorak/Katelyn Jackson (TTU) defeats Georgiana Patrasc/Anastasia Rentouli (MSU): 6-1

Singles

1. No. 93 Sarah Dvorak (TTU) vs. No. 13 Jasmine Lee (MSU): 7-5, 5-7, 5-5, unfinished

2. No. 109 Gabriela Talaba (TTU) defeats No. 36 Georgiana Patrasc (MSU): 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 6-2

3. No. 115 Madison Harrison (MSU) defeats Alex Valenstein (TTU): 6-3, 6-3

4. No. 101 Anastasia Rentouli (MSU) defeats Felicity Maltby (TTU): 7-5, 6-4