Talaba Makes History, Advancing to Singles Sweet 16

Thursday, May 24

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Singles & Doubles Competition

Talaba Makes History, Advancing to Singles Sweet 16

May 24, 2018 | Women's Tennis

Talaba named ITA All-American after winning Round of 32 match

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Senior Gabriela Talaba made history once again as she became the first Lady Raider in program history to advance to the Round of 16 in the NCAA Singles Championships.

With the win, Gabriela Talaba earns ITA All-America honors marking her second in two years.

The no. 21-ranked Talaba took down No. 15 Michaela Gordon on Stanford in three sets during the Round of 32. After cruising to a 6-1 win in the first set, Talaba dropped a 6-3 decision to Gordon forcing a decisive third set. Talaba was down 5-4 before breaking serve and tying the match at 5-all. From there, the two battled back and forth and ultimately forced tiebreaks with a 6-all score. Talaba came out on top as she won the tiebreaker, 7-5, ending Gordon's season.

Talaba moves on to the Round of 16 where she will face No. 27 Luisa Stefani of Pepperdine. Stefani opened the singles competition with a three-set victory (7-6(6), 4-6, 6-3) over top-ranked Bianca Turati of Texas.

Seniors Sarah Dvorak and Sabrina Federici's collegiate careers came to a close as the doubles pair fell to Alle Sanford and Sara Daavettila of North Carolina, 6-1, 4-6, 1-0 (10-5) in heartbreaking fashion.

Sanford and Daavettila replaced the duo from Duke after the pair scratched from competition early Thursday morning. In the last meeting, Dvorak and Federici defeated Sanford and Daavettila, 6-3, 2-6, 1-0 (10-6) in the ITA National Fall Championship consolation round of 16.

No. 58 Felicity Maltby ended her season in the Round of 32 after falling 6-1, 6-1 to No. 8 Fernanda Contreras of Vanderbilt. Maltby closes out her junior year with a 14-12 record.

Live Results and streaming of the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships is available at WakeForestSports.com.

Visit www.TexasTech.com for the latest news and information on the women's tennis program. Fans also can follow the program and live match updates on its social media outlets at www.Facebook.com/TechWomensTennis and @TexasTechTennis on Twitter.

2018 NCAA Singles Championships – Wednesday, May 23
Round of 64
No. 21 Gabriela Talaba (TTU) defeats No. 73 Petra Melounova (Hawaii): 6-4, 3-6, 6-0
No. 58 Felicity Maltby (TTU) defeats No. 61 Maria Kononova (UNT): 6-1, 6-1

2018 NCAA Singles Championships – Thursday, May 24
Round of 32
No. 21 Gabriela Talaba (TTU) def. No. 15 Michaela Gordon (Stanford): 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5)
No. 8 Fernanda Contreras (Vanderbilt) def. No. 58 Felicity Maltby (TTU): 6-1, 6-1

2018 NCAA Singles Championships – Friday, May 25
Round of 16
No. 21 Gabriela Talaba (TTU) vs. No. 27 Luisa Stefani (Pepperdine) – 9 a.m.

2018 NCAA Doubles Championships – Thursday, May 24
Round of 32
No. 33 Alle Sanford/Sara Daavettila (UNC) def. No. 28 Sarah Dvorak/Sabrina Federici (TTU): 6-1, 4-6, 1-0 (10-5)