Texas Tech Athletics
Arizona
Tech wins battle against Arizona; Up on UC Santa Barbara
February 16, 2024 | Women's Tennis
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Highlighted by two ranked singles wins for junior Cristina Tiglea, the Texas Tech Lady Raiders earned a gritty, 4-3 victory over the Arizona Wildcats on Friday at the Arnhold Tennis Center. Texas Tech also put together a 3-1 lead over host team, UC Santa Barbara, before the match was postponed until tomorrow morning.
The Lady Raiders (3-3) started out with singles first against Arizona (6-2). Tech went out to a hot start as the top four courts all won their first sets. It would be No. 87-ranked Tiglea who put the first point on the board for the Lady Raiders as she had a tall task ahead of her at the top court. Taking on No. 118 Reece Carter, Tiglea was all business as she defeated the Wildcat in straight sets by a decisive, 6-0, 6-2 score.
Over at court three, Avelina Sayfetdinova was taking on Arizona's Teja Tirunelveli as the two traded games in the beginning of the first set. Sayfetdinova took a 3-2 lead, then won three consecutive games for a 6-2 first set win. Then, the Lady Raider went down 3-4 in set two before claiming the next three games for a straight set victory, 6-2, 6-4.
Tech would go up 3-0 over the Wildcats after Mariya Polishchuk got a win at court two against Martyna Ostrzygalo. The two players went back-and-forth in set one until Polishchuk was able to break and hold serve for a 6-4 lead. Polishchuk led Ostrzygalo in the next set, 3-0, before the Wildcat won two-straight games. However, the Lady Raider prevailed when she won the next four games to take down Ostrzygalo, 6-4, 6-2.
Arizona was able to win the next three singles matches on courts four, five and six to make things 3-all as the teams would move on to doubles to decide the winner. The Lady Raiders would end up claiming their fifth doubles point (out of a possible six) on the season to defeat the Wildcats. First, the No. 12 duo of Komac and Sayfetdinova overtook the Arizona pairing of Carter and Fulgenzi, 6-4, at the top court before the tandem of Polishchuk and Tiglea clinched the match with a victory against Tirunelveli and Wilkins at court two by a 6-3 score.
The Lady Raiders had to face UC Santa Barbara (3-1) in the second match of the day. Starting once again with singles, Texas Tech went down early whenever the Gauchos got a point with a win at court four. That lead was short lived, though, after the Lady Raiders earned three quick singles wins at the top three courts.
Polishchuk put together her second victory of the day after beating Camille Kiss in straight sets at two singles. The Lady Raider won the first set, 6-2, then forced a breaker at 6-6. In the tiebreak, Polishchuk was down 6-4 before winning the next four points to put another point on the board for Tech, 7-6 (6).
Over at court three, Sayfetdinova also added a second singles win to her record after taking down Kira Reuter by a 7-5, 6-3 score to give the Lady Raiders the 2-1 advantage. Then, No. 87 Tiglea collected her second ranked victory of the afternoon when she had the come-from-behind win at court one. Dropping the first set, 6-1, Tiglea would rally back and only give up three games to win it against No. 64 Amelia Honer, 1-6, 6-3, 6-0.
Sophomore Yekaterina Dmitrichenko made her spring debut at court five as she took a 6-3, 0-1 lead over Lucy Lu, while Andreea Lila was ahead of Carla Pacot, 5-3, at court six when play was stopped due to it being too dark outside. The Lady Raiders will resume the match against UC Santa Barbara tomorrow morning before taking on conference-foe Kansas in the afternoon.
RESULTS
Texas Tech 4, Arizona 3
Singles
1. #87 Cristina Tiglea (TTU) def. #118 Reece Carter (ARIZ) 6-0, 6-2
2. Mariya Polishchuk (TTU) def. Martyna Ostrzygalo (ARIZ) 6-4, 6-2
3. Avelina Sayfetdinova (TTU) def. Teja Tirunelveli (ARIZ) 6-2, 6-4
4. Kayla Wilkins (ARIZ) def. Metka Komac (TTU) 2-6, 6-4, 6-0
5. Midori Castillo-Meza (ARIZ) def. Andreea Lila (TTU) 2-6, 6-3, 6-4
6. Brandelyn Fulgenzi (ARIZ) def. Jermine Sherif (TTU) 6-2, 6-2
Doubles
1. #12 Metka Komac/Avelina Sayfetdinova (TTU) def. Reece Carter/Brandelyn Fulgenzi (ARIZ) 6-4
2. Mariya Polishchuk/Cristina Tiglea (TTU) def. Teja Tirunelveli/Kayla Wilkins (ARIZ) 6-3
3. Andreea Lila/Jermine Sherif (TTU) vs. Midori Castillo-Meza/Martyna Ostrzygalo (ARIZ) 5-3, unfinished
Order of finish: Doubles (1, 2); Singles (1,3, 2, 4, 6, 5)
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
1,2
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Order of Finish:
1,3,2,4,6,5
Players Mentioned
