ORLANDO, Fla. — The University of Texas women's tennis team won the 2021 NCAA national championship on Saturday.
The team secured the title after defeating No. 5 Pepperdine, 4-3. The national championship marks the third in program history, according to Texas Athletics. The other two national championships were won in 1993 and 1995.
Freshman Lulu Sun led the Longhorns in a dramatic three-set victory, which lasted four hours and one minute, according to UT.
The match was tied at 3-3, then Sun posted a 6-4, 6-7 (3-7), 7-5 victory on court 3 against Taisiya Pachkaleva to seal the dual-match win and the national championship for the Longhorns.
With the win over Pepperdine, UT finished its season on a 24-match win streak. The team also recorded 31 dual-match wins, which is a school record, according to UT officials. The previous record was 29 dual-match wins set by the 1983-84 team.
Here is a look at the match statistics, courtesy of UT Athletics:
#2 Texas 4, #5 Pepperdine 3
Singles – Order of finish (4, 2, 5, 1, 6, 3)
- #37 Peyton Stearns (UT) def. #77 Ashley Lahey (Pepp), 2-6, 6-0, 6-2
- #21 Jessica Failla (Pepp) def. #35 Anna Turati (UT), 6-2, 6-3
- #62 Lulu Sun (UT) def. #89 Taisiya Pachkaleva (Pepp), 6-4, 6-7 (3-7), 7-5
- #76 Charlotte Chavatipon (UT) def. #118 Shiori Fukuda (Pepp), 6-3, 6-2
- Lisa Zaar (Pepp) def. #72 Kylie Collins (UT), 6-3, 7-6 (7-3)
- Nikki Redelijk (Pepp) def. Malaika Rapolu (UT), 6-4, 7-5
Doubles – Order of finish (2, 1, 3)
- #19 Kylie Collins/Lulu Sun (UT) def. Lisa Zaar/Ashley Lahey (Pepp), 7-6 (7-3)
- Shiori Fukuda/Taisiya Pachkaleva (Pepp) def. Fernanda Labraña/Anna Turati (UT), 6-1
- #47 Peyton Stearns/Charlotte Chavatipon (UT) vs. Anastasia Iamachkine/Jessica Failla (Pepp), 7-6 (7-5)
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