As was the case in the Round of 16, the match started with four straight breaks—both that went Miami’s way came at deuce—and then two holds. This time, though, the next two games were also holds and the score sat at 4-4.
The Longhorns, whose pair included the last two NCAA Team Championship Most Outstanding Players, took a 5-4 lead with a break at deuce. In that game, Miami rallied from a 0-40 deficit to pull even, but double-faulted on the deciding point.
The Hurricanes, though, would not be deterred, breaking back and then consolidating to go ahead, 6-5. Texas then countered with a hold to force a tiebreaker, in which Miami took the first three points.
That quickly became a 5-2 lead and then, after exchanging points, a 6-3 margin. Texas then double-faulted to give the tiebreaker to Miami, 7-3.
Achong and Richardson continued their strong play in the second set, opening with a break at love and then holding to take a 2-0 edge. That gave the tandem four the last five games and, it seemed, control of the match.
However, after rain forced play inside, the Longhorns began to regroup. Stearns and Zamarripa took three games in a row, including holding twice at deuce to go in front, 3-2. Miami answered with a hold at deuce of its own to pull level at 3-3.
Texas then charged a head, 5-3, but Achong and Richardson would not go away. They evened the score at 5-5 without even facing a set point, then went ahead 30-40 in the 11th game. Texas recovered to hold and followed it with a break to win the second set, 7-5.
“I think the first game when we went inside, we actually looked pretty good receiving. We had opportunities to go up 3-0. It didn’t go our way. I think that we were one step slow,” Yaroshuk-Tews said. “They started stepping up on the baseline and cracking balls, especially picking on the net player. We were kind of one step slow to them. I just kept trying to tell the girls, ‘Keep going after it. It’s going to go our way. We’ve got to keep going after it.’”
In the 10-point super-tiebreaker, Miami took command from the jump. The Hurricanes raced out to a 5-1 lead at the first changeover and then, after back-to-back Texas points, extended that margin to 8-3.
The Longhorns won consecutive points to make it 8-5, but Miami closed it out shortly thereafter, on the first match point of the night, to take a 7-6 (7-3), 5-7, 1-0 (10-5) decision.
