Texas tennis teams advance to Sweet 16 rounds of the NCAA Tournaments

Both the Texas men’s and women’s tennis teams won their NCAA Tournament duels this past weekend to reach the Sweet 16.

The ninth-seeded Longhorns women topped Texas Tech 4-2 Sunday at the Texas Tennis Center to qualify for the round of 16 for the sixth consecutive year. They will travel to face No. 8 North Carolina State in the Raleigh (N.C.) Super Regional on Friday.

Texas Tech had taken a 1-0 lead in the match by securing the doubles point with wins on the No. 1 and No. 2 lines. But the Longhorns responded with singles victories by sophomores Eszter Meri at No. 3 and Carmen Herea at No. 1, along with freshman Elizabeth Ionescu at No. 4 to establish a 3-1 lead. Freshman Kate Mansfield then clinched the overall match with a dramatic 5-7, 6-3, 7-5 win on the No. 5 line over Havana Kadi that sent her teammates streaming onto her court in celebration.

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The University of Texas women's tennis team celebrates after Kate Mansfield of Texas beat Havana Kadi of Texas Tech 5-7, 6-3, 7-5 in a singles match Sunday at the University of Texas Tennis Center to clinch a team victory and a spot in the round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament. (Robert Fong/Photo courtesy of Robert Fong)

No. 1 Texas men sweep SMU to reach the Sweet 16

The top-seeded Texas men’s squad advanced to the Sweet 16 with Saturday's resounding 4-0 win over No. 32 SMU at the Texas Tennis Center, the 12th straight year the Longhorns have reached at least the round of 16.