No. 2 Texas A&M women’s tennis hosted South Florida in the semifinals and eventually TCU in the finals of the ITA Kickoff at the Mitchell Tennis Center. The Aggies have not lost a home match since February of 2021 and claimed their 58th consecutive home win on their way to winning the championship.
A&M didn’t disappoint its home crowd, sweeping USF 4-0 without dropping a single game in doubles to advance to the ITA Kickoff Weekend Championship.
Starting off with doubles on Court 1, the junior duo of No. 102 Daria Smetannikov and 2024 doubles All-American Mia Kupres started things off strong for A&M, handing freshman duo Sienna Leeson and Margherita Marcon a bagel while only losing five total points on serve, 6-0.
The story on Court 3 was no different as A&M’s junior Nicole Khirin and senior Jeanette Mireles also refused to give up a game, handing USF’s junior Melisa Senli and junior Dharani Niroshan a bagel to capture the first point for the Maroon and White, 6-0.
Moving on to singles matches on Court 5, freshman Lexington Reed was the first to secure a singles victory for A&M, knocking off Niroshan in straight sets while dropping just three total games, 6-2, 6-1.
Refusing to stop the momentum on Court 4, Smetannikov took on Leeson and, after breaking early in both sets, she won in straight sets, 6-0, 6-1.
Capturing the fourth point and 57th consecutive home victory for A&M on Court 2, Kupres utilized drop shots and incredible forehand passing shots to move Marcon around the court, resulting in a straight sets victory for the Aggie, 6-2, 6-1.
“Overall, I was very pleased with our performance,” coach Mark Weaver said. “We set the tone early in the doubles and carried the momentum into the singles with good starts and had a very decisive team effort.”
Unable to finish their matches due to the swift victory were Khirn against Senli on Court 1; on Court 3, Mireles battled Karine Kulidjian; and on Court 6, 2024 SEC Freshman of the Year, Lucciana Perez took on freshman Charlotte Ruud.
With this win, the Aggies advanced to the ITA Kickoff Weekend Championship against TCU on Saturday, Jan. 25. Looking for a 58th consecutive home victory and a chance to win the tournament in front of their home crowd, the Aggies came to play.
Once again, the home crowd was not disappointed. Incredible consistency and aggressiveness was the key for the Aggies today, firing hard forehands and backhands that forced their opponents into errors as A&M swept TCU, 4-0.
“We’re a team that’s match-tough and ready to go,” Weaver said. “We came out with two quality opponents this weekend and won decisively. We really came out swinging from the start and never really gave these teams an opportunity to get in the match, so I’m very pleased with how sharp we’ve come out.”
Beginning with doubles matches, the 2024 ITA National Player of the Year, senior Mary Stoiana took the court with Kupres by her side, defeating senior Jade Otway and graduate Isabel Pascula to get the momentum going for A&M, 6-2.
On Court 5, Reed and Perez clinched the first point of the day for A&M, taking down senior Helena Narmont and junior Yu-Chin Tsai in impressive fashion, 6-3.
The momentum from doubles carried into singles as on Court 1, Khirin was the first to score for A&M. After a close second set, she would fight to win against Otway, 6-0, 6-4.
Court 3 was the same story for A&M as Perez broke through early in both sets, which resulted in a comfortable victory, 6-3, 6-4.
Securing the championship for A&M on Court 2, Kupres showed toughness and resilience, breaking twice in both sets on her way to a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Pascual.
“I couldn’t be happier with our group,” Weaver said about the match. “We’re already performing at a very high level at an early point of the season. A lot of times it may take teams a while to kind of get clicking, and we’re already off to a great start. It just really speaks to our group of girls, the type of girls we recruit here. They’re a very professionally-minded group.”
The Aggies will be back in action on Friday, Jan. 21 at 1 p.m. when they host San Diego at the Mitchell Tennis Center.
