Texas women's tennis edges Georgia Tech, reaches round of 16 in NCAA Tournament

The Texas women's tennis team survived gritty Georgia Tech as well as an hours-long rain delay to win its second-round NCAA Tournament dual match Sunday at the Texas Tennis Center, advancing to the round of 16.

The No. 9 Longhorns (23-5) prevailed over No. 24 Georgia Tech (14-10) 4-3 to earn a fourth straight trip to the Sweet 16. After taking the doubles point with wins on the No. 2 line by Charlotte Chavatipon and Vivian Ovrootsky and No. 1 by Malaika Rapolu and Tanya Sasnouskaya, the Longhorns secured three singles matches with wins from No. 3 Chavatipon, No. 4 Sasnouskaya and No. 6 Ovrootsky.

More:Our observations from Texas men's tennis' win over UCLA in NCAA Tournament second round

With the overall score of the match even at 3-3, it came down to Ovrootsky, who defeated Given Roach 4-6, 7-5, 6-1. Ovrootsky trailed 5-3 in the second set but rallied for the clinching win after the weather delayed the action.

More:Texas senior Malaika Rapolu saving best for last as Longhorns open NCAA tennis postseason

“I had been pretty frustrated because I wasn’t playing to the standard that I liked, and I honestly think that rain delay was a blessing in disguise because I took 20 minutes to just mediate and calm my mind,” Ovrootsky said. “I told myself, ‘We need to turn this around, not just for yourself, but for your team,’ and that’s kind of what I did.

"Even though I wasn’t playing the way I wanted to, I didn’t let that really bother me, and I think that really helped. Also, a huge shoutout to Texas men’s tennis because they were providing so much good energy (cheering in the stands), and it was just great to play in front of.”