No. 2 Texas A&M women’s tennis decisively defeated Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on Friday, March 24, in the Aggies’ first of two matches in the state this weekend.
Despite a quick start for the Aggies, the maroon and white seemed to slow towards the end of doubles play. On Court 3, sophomores Gianna Pielet and Jeannette Mireles were down against the crimson and white’s sister duo in graduates Kasia and Ola Pitak, falling 6-2.
Keeping the Aggies in contention for the doubles point, freshman Mia Kupres and sophomore Mary Stoiana defeated their opponents in sophomore Petra Sedlackova and junior Anna Parkhomenko 6-3 on Court 2.
Graduates Jayci Goldsmith and Salma Ewing rallied with the Crimson Tide’s junior Anne Marie Hiser and sophomore Loudmilla Bencheikh. A&M earned the doubles point as Goldsmith and Ewing won 7-6, with the doubles pair extending their team record to 13 doubles wins.
Goldsmith and her singles opponent, Parkhomenko, were the first court to make it into the second set of singles. In Set 1, Goldsmith won 6-2. Next into Set 2 was Ewing, who defeated Ola Pitak 6-3 in Set 1.
Goldsmith defeated Parkhomenko 6-2 and 6-2, whileMireles won 7-5 and 6-0 over freshman Klara Milicevic, boosting the Aggies up 3-0. Shortly after, Ewing secured the win for A&M as she handled her next set 6-2.
With the 4-0 lead and thus the win belonging to the Aggies, the remaining sets were stopped. The No. 3-ranked Stoiana had won her first set, 7-5, but was still in the early stages of her second, trailing 2-1. Kupres, on the other hand, had lost her first set 7-5 to Sedlackova, but was in control of the second set, up 4-1.
Lastly, freshman Daria Smetannikov took on Alabama’s junior Anne Marie Hiser and fell 7-6 in the first set. However, she also had a lead in the second set at the time of the win, being up 3-1.
“Anytime you can get a 4-0 road win in the SEC you have to feel good about it,” coach Mark Weaver told 12thMan.com. “I was pleased with the discipline that we played with today, and now we shift our focus to Auburn on Sunday.”
The Aggies will travel to play No. 11 Auburn next on Sunday, March 26, at 12 p.m. at the Yarbrough Tennis Center. With this win, the Aggies stay tied for first in the SEC standings with No. 3 Georgia and No. 16 Tennessee.