Texas women's tennis wins 2nd straight national title

URBANA, Ill. (KXAN) — The Texas Longhorns women's tennis team won it all again.

The Longhorns topped Oklahoma 4-1 in the national championship match Sunday at the University of Illinois in Urbana, Illinois for their second consecutive title. The No. 4-seeded Longhorns lost just one singles match in the final.

Peyton Stearns, the country's No. 2-ranked singles player, led the Horns with a dominant win in her singles match, beating Layne Sleeth 6-0, 6-2. Sabina Zeynalova picked up a 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) win over OU's Ivana Corley to give the Longhorns a 3-1 lead, and Allura Zamarripa sealed it for Texas with a hard-fought 7-5, 7-6 (7-4) win over Alexandra Pisareva.

Zeynalova and Bella Zamarripa picked up a doubles point with a 6-2 win over Dana Guzman and Emma Staker.

En route to the program's fourth national title, the Longhorns defeated the No. 1-seeded North Carolina Tar Heels 4-2 in the semifinals Saturday and No. 5 Virginia 4-2 in the quarterfinals in Urbana.

Stearns starts her quest for a singles title Monday against Ohio State's Sydni Ratliff in the Round of 64. Kylie Collins, unseeded in the singles tournament, will face No. 3 Petra Hule of Florida State.

In the doubles tournament, Stearns and Allura Zamarripa take on Stanford's Angelica Blake and Connie Ma in the opening round.