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March 15, 2012

WHAT:  No. 8 Texas (7-4) opens conference play this weekend when it visits Iowa State (3-10, 0-0 Big 12) and No. 56 Missouri (5-4, 0-0 Big  12).

WHEN/WHERE:
Friday, March 16 – 2 p.m. Central – Texas vs. Iowa State – Ames, Iowa
Sunday, March 18 – Noon – Texas vs. Missouri – Columbia, Mo.

ITA RANKINGS UPDATE
Singles
24. Aeriel Ellis (UT)
75. Krista Damico (UT)
93. Rachel Stuhlmann (MU)
122. Noel Scott (UT)

Doubles
23. Lina Padegimaite/Noel Scott (UT)

LAST TIME OUT:  Texas suffered a tight 4-3 defeat to No. 4 USC on March 14 in Austin. 

LONGHORNS CRACK THE ITA TOP-10
Texas vaulted six spots into the No. 9 slot in the Feb. 28 release of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) women's college tennis team poll and remained at No. 9 in the March 6 rankings. The Longhorns cracked the top-10 in the ITA team poll for the first time in six seasons, when they reached No. 3 on Feb. 22, 2006.

WINNING THE HARD WAY
Under seventh-year head coach Patty Fendick-McCain, the Longhorns hold a 7-4 mark in dual-match play.  All but one match to date has been played against opponents ranked no lower than No. 23 in the ITA team poll at the time of the match.   

Texas opened the season with a 4-3 win over No. 4 North Carolina on a neutral site at the USTA’s Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, the site of the annual U.S. Open.  The Longhorns ventured away from home again the following weekend when they participated in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend event.  Texas edged No. 23 Alabama by a 4-3 count before toppling 17th-ranked Vanderbilt, the event host, by a 4-1 count. 

Two weeks later, Texas added a 4-3 win over No. 15 Clemson at the ITA National Team Indoor Championship in Charlottesville, Va.  On March 2, in just their first home match of the season, the ninth-ranked Longhorns overpowered No. 8 Northwestern from the start and emerged with a 6-1 victory over the Wildcats. 

Additionally, Texas' only four defeats have come against ITA top-10 foes - No. 4 Georgia, No. 6 Virginia and No. 10 Miami and No. 4 USC. 

MORE OF THE SAME FROM ELLIS
Junior All-American Aeriel Ellis continues to produce big wins at the No. 1 singles slots, just as she has in her previous two seasons as a Longhorn.  The Californian opened dual-match play by clinching UT’s 4-3 win over No. 4 North Carolina by defeating the Tar Heels’ 22nd-ranked Lauren McHale, 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (8).  She added a win over Georgia’s second-ranked Chelsey Gullickson – a former U.S. Open participant - last month at the ITA National Team Indoor Championship. 

Ellis went on to outlast Northwestern’s 20th-ranked Kate Turvy by a 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 count two weeks ago in the Horns’ 6-1 win over the eighth-ranked Wildcats.

EIGHT STRAIGHT FOR DAMICO
Senior Krista Damico has won her last eight decisions since opening the season with a three-set loss to North Carolina’s Shinann Featherston.  Damico, the sister of former Texas men’s tennis All-American Kellen Damico and granddaughter of former UT All-America swimmer Ed Gilbert, began her streak with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Virginia’s 94th-ranked Li Xi in January.  Damico added key wins over Alabama’s Courtney McLane and Vanderbilt’s Marie Casares to help the Horns earn a berth in last month’s ITA National Team Indoor Championship.  Damico added a win over Clemson’s 82nd-ranked Klara Vyskocilova at the ITA National Team Indoors and defeated Northwestern’s 51st-ranked Brittany Wowchuk in UT’s 6-1 win over the Wildcats on March 2.  She added a straight-set win over Michigan’s Brooke Bolender on March 11. 

YOUTH IS SERVED
Texas is benefiting not only from the experience of Aeriel Ellis and Krista Damico but also from the results of its underclassmen. 

Freshman Noel Scott boasts 13 overall singles victories in her freshman season, and her two dual-match victories helped the Horns qualify for the ITA National Team Indoor Championship.  In January, Scott posted a 6-2, 6-4 win over Alabama’s 40th-ranked Alexa Guarachi before defeating Vanderbilt’s 113th-ranked Lauren Mira, 6-0, 6-2.

Padegimaite holds a 6-4 dual-match record, which features a win over Georgia’s 80th-ranked Kate Fuller at the ITA National Team Indoor Championship.  Gaytan-Leach owns four dual-match victories.  She defeated North Carolina’s 76th-ranked Caroline Price at fourth singles in UT’s 4-3 win over the fourth-ranked Tar Heels.  Gaytan-Leach also features wins over Clemson’s Romy Koelzer and Northwestern’s Linda Abu Mushrefova.  Begley is off to a quick start with an 8-2 dual-match record and a 21-7 overall singles record. 

THE 2011-12 LONGHORNS:  Texas returns four regular singles starters from the 2010-11 squad that reached the finals of the Big 12 Championship and the round of 32 at the NCAA Championships.

The Horns are led by junior Aeriel Ellis, who last season became UT's first ITA All-American since 1999.  The Californian has qualified to compete in all eight of the previous national championship events contested during her two-plus seasons as a Longhorn.  She reached the round of 16 of the singles draw at the 2011 NCAA Championships.

Senior Krista Damico totaled a 21-16 overall singles record last season while playing primarily at No. 2 singles.  The Colorado native is off to a solid start in dual-match play with victories over Alabama's 104th-ranked Courtney McLane and Vanderbilt's 110th-ranked Marie Casares.

UT returns a talented sophomore class who saw significant time in the dual-match lineup last season.  Juliana Gajic totaled a 13-6 dual-match record, primarily at No. 5 singles, and Cierra Gaytan-Leach totaled a 9-3 dual-match record.  Elizabeth Begley has won eight of her last nine decisions, including a win over Virginia's 89th-ranked Caryssa Peretz in January.  Begley added two wins last month at the ITA National Team Indoors.  

Freshman Noel Scott defeated two ITA-ranked opponents in the Horns' two victories at the ITA Kick-Off Weekend event.  Scott defeated Vanderbilt's 69th-ranked Lauren Mira by a 6-0, 6-2 count one day after toppling Alabama's 43rd-ranked Alexa Guarachi, 6-2, 6-4.