No. 2 Texas A&M women’s tennis traveled to the Green Tennis Center in Columbia, Missouri to take on the Missouri Tigers. An incredible 6-0 start in conference play provided the Aggies momentum and confidence heading into today’s match.
It was business as usual for the Maroon and White as they captured their third sweep of the season against the Tigers, 4-0. Hustle and consistency played a huge role for A&M.While refusing to give up easy points, the Aggies kept the ball out of their opponents’ strike zone, keeping full control of the pace.
“Overall we performed quite well,” coach Mark Weaver said. “It’s always tough playing on four quick indoor tennis courts. We handled the situation quite well. Missouri came out and challenged us in a certain few positions and we handled it all quite well. I’ll take a 4-0 win any time on the road in SEC play.”
Starting with doubles play on Court 3, the Aggies’ No. 15 junior Nichole Khirin and freshman Lexington Reed stood on business against the Tigers’ Lailaa Bashir and Zoe Lazar. Hustle and defense were key in this set. While it’s not seen on a stat sheet often, it forced the Tigers to work extremely hard for points. Adding on, the combination of spin and power on their shots was too much for Missouri to handle, as they broke twice for a comfortable victory, 6-2.
Court 2 was a different story for the Maroon and White. While No. 102 junior Daria Smetannikov and 2024 doubles All-American junior Mia Kupres displayed exceptional teamwork, long rallies and baseline errors ultimately led to their fall as the Tigers’ Andrea Artimedi and Inah Canete took the win, 6-2.
All attention turned towards Court 1, as it decided the first point of the day. Incredible forehand-to-forehand rallies flew across the net before the Aggies’ 2024 National Player of the Year junior Mary Stoiana and sophomore Lucciana Perez’s net game took over. While the Tigers’ Mary Brumfield and Korina Roso stayed consistent, the Aggies broke late in the set to secure the day’s first point, 6-3.
Moving onto singles play, Kupres was the first to strike for A&M on Court 3. Doing what she does best, Kupres out-rallied Lazar while staying consistent with her volleys. She dictated the pace from the beginning of the match, resulting in a lopsided straight-sets victory, 6-0, 6-1.
There were no surprises on Court 1. Stoiana showed why she is undefeated in all competitions this season, utilizing her polished all-around game to bully Brumfield around the court while refusing to let up. Like bullets, her forehand always had her opponent guessing. She dropped just four games on her way to a clean victory, 6-3, 6-1.
Khirin sealed the seventh consecutive victory for the Aggies on Court 2. However, this match was a battle against Canete, who demonstrated solid ball-striking ability. After dropping the second set, Khirin fought back to claim her fifth consecutive singles victory, 6-1, 3-6, 6-1.
The Aggies now travel to Nashville, Tennessee on Sunday, March 16 to take on Vanderbilt at the Currey Tennis Center.
