Texas Tech University Athletics
Women's Tennis Places Four on All-Big 12 Teams
May 12, 2016 | Women's Tennis
Sarah Dvorak and Gabriela Talaba are the 4th and 5th players in Tech history to claim two All-Big 12 singles selections during their careers.
May 12, 2016
IRVING, Texas -- Sarah Dvorak, Felicity Maltby, Gabriela Talaba and Alex Valenstein represented the Texas Tech women's tennis program on the All-Big 12 Teams announced Thursday by the conference office.
All four players garnered All-Big 12 Second-Team singles accolades. The Lady Raiders tied with Oklahoma State for the most singles selections to the All-Big 12 Teams.
Dvorak and Talaba have captured All-Big 12 singles honors during the first two seasons of their careers. They join Irina Tereschenko (2002, 2004) Samantha van der Drift (2007, 2009) and Samantha Adams (2012, 2013) as the program's two-time All-Big 12 singles picks.
Maltby and Valenstein earned spots on the inaugural All-Big 12 Freshman Team, while Talaba and Valenstein came away with an All-Big 12 Second-Team doubles nod.
Dvorak has posted a 16-6 dual match record and emerged with wins in five of her seven Big 12 decisions. She started the dual match season with nine consecutive wins from Jan. 24-Feb. 21 and racked up a team-leading six match-clinching wins. Dvorak anchored the No. 1 singles line late in the regular season and picked up three-set victories over Baylor's Blair Shankle and Oklahoma's Lily Miyazaka, who were named to the All-Big 12 First Team.
Maltby put forth a dominant 20-2 dual match and claimed five match-clinching victories. She won her first 11 career singles outings fueled by wins over opponents from then No. 11 Miami, No. 13 Alabama, No. 30 Fresno State and No. 33 Washington. Maltby is on a current five-match winning streak, all coming in straight sets. She knocked foes from No. 24 Texas and No. 35 TCU en route to an All-Big 12 Tournament singles selection.
Talaba has notched an 11-9 dual match record with seven of her setbacks coming versus ranked competition. She won a stretch of seven of eight matches from Feb. 19-April 1 where she collected a trio of Top 100 wins against Northwestern's Erin Larner, Rice's Lindsey Hodge and William & Mary's Elizaveta Nemchinov.
Valenstein provided a 14-5 dual match record ignited by a 9-3 mark at the No. 3 singles position. She ripped off a season's best eight-match winning streak from Feb. 22 to April 8. She totaled five match-clinching points sparked by the quartet of NCAA Tournament teams in then No. 13 Alabama (Feb. 7), No. 33 Washington (Feb. 22), No. 36 Northwestern (March 25) and No. 35 TCU (May 1). In doubles, her and Talaba closed out Tech's 4-3 win over Texas with an upset win over then No. 15 Breunna Addison and Danielle Wagland at the Big 12 Tournament.
Texas Tech will take on Boston University during Friday's opening round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament. First serve is set for 5 p.m. CT from the McLeod Tennis Center. Fans can purchase tickets on-site at the McLeod Tennis Center Ticket Trailer for $5 (adults) and $3 (youth -- 12 and under).
Mississippi State and Virginia Tech will begin the four-team NCAA Lubbock Regional with a 2 p.m. CT first serve on Friday. The two winners will battle Saturday at 4 p.m. CT with the advancing team securing their spot in the NCAA Round of 16 in Tulsa on Thursday, May 19.
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.
All-Big 12 First Team -- Singles
Player, School, Class
Blair Shankle, Baylor, Jr.
Anastasia Rychagova, Kansas, Fr.
Lily Miyazaki, Oklahoma, So.
Katarina Adamovic, Oklahoma State, Jr.
Vladica Babic, Oklahoma State, So.
Viktoriya Lushkova, Oklahoma State, Jr.
Breaunna Addison, Texas, Sr.
Neda Koprcina, Texas, Jr.
All-Big 12 Second Team -- Singles
Player, School, Class
Kiah Generette, Baylor, Sr.
Liza Buss, Iowa State, Fr.
Smith Hinton, Kansas, So.
Kelsey Laurente, Oklahoma State, Sr.
Seda Arantekin, TCU, Jr.
Sarah Dvorak, Texas Tech, So.
Felicity Maltby, Texas Tech, Fr.
Gabriela Talaba, Texas Tech, So.
Alex Valenstein, Texas Tech, Fr.
All-Big 12 First Team -- Doubles
Players, School
Kiah Generette/Blair Shankle, Baylor
Lily Miyazaki/Emma Devine, Oklahoma
Seda Arantekin/Caroline Wegner, TCU
Dani Wagland/Breaunna Addison, Texas
All-Big 12 Second Team -- Doubles
Players, School
Maria Alvarez/Kelsey Laurente, Oklahoma State
Katarina Adamovic/Vladica Babic, Oklahoma State
Viktoriya Lushkova/Carla Tur Mari, Oklahoma State
Alex Valenstein/Gabriela Talaba, Texas Tech
All-Big 12 Freshman Team
Player, School
Liza Buss, Iowa State
Nina Khmelnitckaia, Kansas
Anastasia Rychagova, Kansas
Millie Stretton, Kansas State
Felicity Maltby, Texas Tech
Alex Valenstein, Texas Tech
Big 12 Specialty Awards
Coach: Chris Young, Oklahoma State *
Player: Breaunna Addison, Texas *
Newcomer: Olaya Garrido-Rivas, TCU *
Freshman: Anastasia Rychagova, Kansas *
* unanimous selections
2016 NCAA Lubbock Regional
Friday, May 13 -- First Round
Match 1: Mississippi State vs. Virginia Tech -- 2 p.m. CT
Match 2: No. 16 Texas Tech vs. Boston University -- 5 p.m. CT
Saturday, May 14 -- Second Round
Match 3: Match 1 winner vs. Match 2 winner -- 4 p.m. CT
Players Mentioned
