AUSTIN, Texas – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros women's tennis program will face their second ranked program Sunday as they visit the No. 10 Texas (UT) Longhorns Sunday.
 
Last Time Out
 
UTRGV fell, 6-1, in the first round of the South Texas Showdown, presented by Rally Credit Union, at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (TAMUCC) Wednesday.
 
Sophomore Mariia Bakhtina shined in the loss, dominating Emma Bousquet 6-3, 6-1 on court five. Tied at 3-3 in the first set, Bakhtina went on to win nine of the final 10 games to put the Vaqueros on the board.
 
In doubles, the pair of sophomore Luna Buijtenhuijs and senior Valentina Urraco picked up their second win of the season, outlasting Bousquet and Juliette Jalai in a 55-minute set that ended 6-3, on court three.
 
Scouting the Longhorns
 
The Vaqueros will square off against the No. 10 Texas Longhorns Sunday at 11 a.m. at Texas Tennis Center. This will be the second meeting between these two programs with Texas winning the first matchup 4-0 in 2018.
 
Last season, the Longhorns earned the No. 14 national seed in the NCAA Women's Tennis Tournament and advanced to the Sweet 16 with sweeps over Grand Canyon and Boise State in the first and second rounds, respectively.
 
This season, UT is 4-2 on the year with wins over No. 7 Duke, No. 12 Vanderbilt, Iowa, and Wisconsin. The Longhorns suffered a season-opening loss to Pepperdine at home and fell 4-3 to No. 6 Oklahoma in a neutral-site battle.
 
The Longhorns are home to two ranked singles players and one ranked doubles team.
 
In singles, UT is led by No. 2 Carmen Andreea Herea, who has amassed a 4-2 record this spring. Meanwhile, No. 63 Anastasia Abbagnato is 4-1 on the season.
 
In doubles, Abbagnato and her partner Ariana Anazagasty-Pusoo are 4-1 on the year and currently ranked No. 34 in the country.

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