Texas Tech University Athletics
Tech earns 14th-straight NCAA bid
April 27, 2026 | Women's Tennis
LUBBOCK, Texas – For the 14th-consecutive year, the No. 28-ranked Texas Tech women's tennis team is heading to the NCAA Tournament after being selected at a 2-seed in the Austin Regional. Tech is set to face 3-seeded and No. 35-ranked Yale at 10 a.m. on Saturday. The winner in this match will play the winner between 1-seeded and No. 8-ranked Texas and Tarleton on Sunday at 12 p.m. in the second round.Â
Texas Tech holds a 3-0 record over Yale in school history, last beating the Bulldogs by a 4-0 score in 2023. The Lady Raiders (18-10) are coming off a semifinal appearance at the Big 12 Tournament two weeks ago, becoming the highest seed to ever make the Big 12 Tournament semifinals. Tech earned wins over both Houston and No. 11 Arizona State before falling to eventual champion, TCU, in the semifinals.
The Lady Raiders are led in dual singles wins by Hailey Murphy with a 14-6 record, 12 of those coming at the top of the lineup. Second on the team in dual singles victories is Yekaterina Dmitrichenko with 11 wins and nine of those coming at court two. In dual doubles, Murphy and Dmitrichenko are leading the Lady Raiders with a 22-3 record, all at court one doubles.
Scouting the Opponent
The Yale Bulldogs come into Saturday's match with a 19-3 overall record and a 6-1 Ivy League record to tie for first in the conference. The Bulldogs have key wins over Memphis, Purdue, Florida Atlantic and Boston University. Their three losses were against Stanford, Penn State and Columbia. Yale secured a bid into the NCAA Tournament after earning a share of their conference title, their first since 2013. The Bulldogs' 19 wins marked their highest total since the 2011-12 season, while the team went undefeated at home. The team is led by head coach Rachel Sapir-Kahan and her staff, who were named the Ivy League Coaching Staff of the Year. In addition, Leena Friedman was named the Rookie of the Year, while Orly Ogilvy, Shyla Aggarwal and Friedman each collected All-Ivy accolades.
In the ITA Rankings
Team
No. 8 Texas
No. 28 Texas Tech
No. 35 Yale
Singles
No. 3 Carmen Andreea Herea (Texas)
No. 6 Anastasia Abbagnato (Texas)
No. 55 Eszter Meri (Texas)
No. 104 Elizabeth Ionescu (Texas)
Doubles
No. 28 Salma Drugdova/Anastasia Abbagnato (Texas)
No. 44 Elizabeth Ionescu/Christasha McNeil (Texas)
No. 57 Anastasia Abbagnato/Ariana Anazagasty-Pursoo (Texas)
No. 72 Anastasia Abbagnato/Elizabeth Ionescu (Texas)
Follow Along
Live stats and video will be available for the matches. Fans can also follow along with live updates from the Texas Tech Women's Tennis X account.
Players Mentioned
