After appearing in its third consecutive national championship match, 4-seed Texas A&M claimed its second title in that span, defeating 2-seed Auburn 4-1 at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Georgia, on Sunday, May 17. The Aggies win put themselves in elite-program territory, now just 1 of 7 teams to boast multiple national championships.
The Tigers previously snubbed the Aggies in the semifinals of the Southeastern Conference Tournament, 4-1. But the Maroon and White wouldn’t be denied on the national stage, flipping the script on the Tigers with a dominant showing that capped off a revenge-ridden postseason campaign.
A&M’s postseason began in the comfort of its own home, Mitchell Tennis Center, where the Aggies went 14-1 through a dominant regular season. Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference champions Quinnipiac stood no chance versus its SEC counterparts, as the Aggies dismantled the Bobcats 4-0 in Round 1.
A&M carried that momentum into the second round for the latest installment in the Battle of the Brazos lore against Baylor. Despite surrendering the doubles point, the Aggies looked unstoppable in singles, besting the Bears 4-1 and advancing to the second weekend of the tournament for the seventh straight year.
“Seven Sweet 16s in a row is not easy to do,” head coach Mark Weaver said after the win over Baylor. “I think a lot of people may take that for granted. I am very pleased with the consistency of our program and a lot of the work we put in the season. Being able to host these first three rounds are very important. I’m just pleased that we’ve had such an excellent season.”
Against 13-seed USC, A&M again proved it didn’t need the doubles point, posting another eye-popping 5-1 win against the Trojans. This third-round victory pushed the Fightin’ Farmers through to the quarterfinals, finally forcing them to leave Aggieland for Bulldog territory.
The quarterfinals matchup versus 5-seed North Carolina saw both sides trading momentum. The doubles point combined with a straight-set win gave the Tar Heels an early 2-0 advantage, but the Aggies rallied back with three straight singles victories to go up 3-2. North Carolina then drew even 3-3, putting both squads fate with the result on Court 5.
A highly competitive matchup saw senior Violeta Martinez claim the first set, 7-5, before dropping the second to freshman Anna Frey, 5-7. The third set required a tiebreak, which Martinez claimed, 7-6(5), moving the Aggies to the semifinals for a rematch of last season’s national championship, against the 1-seed Georgia Bulldogs.
“It was a remarkable college tennis match,” Weaver said. “The level of play was so high for both teams. Unfortunately, there had to be a winner and there had to be a loser, but it was truly one of the most exciting matches I’ve ever been a part of. You couldn’t ask for more just drama out there and high-level tennis. Both girls [in the deciding match] battled like warriors out there.”
The two previous national champions have met quite often in recent history, with the Aggies just 3 of 11 against the Bulldogs, as the seniors for A&M were all too familiar with the Red and Black. With home court advantage, history looked to be repeating itself for Georgia as it went up 3-1 on A&M, thanks in part to the Aggies dropping their fourth consecutive doubles point.
With the Bulldogs prepared to end the Aggies’ season for the second straight year, a pair of seniors — Martinez and No. 98 Daria Smetannikov — refused to let history repeat itself, tying the match at 3-3 with only Court 1 left to play. After a dominant first set that No. 1 junior Lucciana Perez won 6-1, she let the second slip through her fingers, as No. 19 senior Anastasiia Lopata won 6-7(5).
With the departure of two-time SEC Player of the Year Mary Stoiana following last season, it wasn’t ridiculous to question whether A&M had the star power to carry on its success. But Perez proved she was more than capable of filling in Stoiana’s shoes, winning the third set 6-3, as A&M beat Georgia to advance to the national championship.
With the national title up for grabs, the doubles point seemed all but certain to go to Auburn, who had won 37 of its 39 doubles points this season. The Tigers looked to continue their winning ways on Court 2, with the No. 8 duo of senior Angella Okutoyi and sophomore Merna Refaat defeating the No. 35 pairing of Martinez and freshman Ilinca Amariei, 6-1.
Court 3 saw the duo of Smetannikov and sophomore Lexington Reed topple the Tiger pairing of senior Ekaterina Khairutdinova and sophomore Ashton Bowers, 6-1, putting the Aggies one win away from their first doubles point in four matches.
A&M did just that, as the No. 11 pairing of Perez and senior Mia Kupres upset the No. 2 duo of junior Ava Esposito and senior DJ Bennett, 7-6(3). The Aggies then doubled their lead thanks to their quarterfinals hero Martinez, who pulled off an upset in straight sets on Court 5 over No. 58 sophomore Ashton Bowers, 7-5, 6-1.
Auburn finally put itself on the scoreboard thanks to Okutoyi on Court 3, as she easily handled Amariei, 6-2, 6-2. But the Tigers couldn’t keep the momentum in their favor, as the Aggies swiftly extended their lead on Court 4. No. 108 Reed put A&M up 3-1 after she took down Refaat 7-6(5), 6-3.
Securing the Maroon and White’s dynasty was No. 98 Smetannikov, who spent every season of her career in Aggieland. The Marlboro, New Jersey native dropped Set 1 to Esposito 4-6, before smoking the Tiger 6-2 in the second set. With Smetannikov up 5-4 in Set 3 and tied 40-40, it was a faulty forehand from Esposito that gave the Aggies the win.
The 4-1 win and national title truly establishes A&M as a mainstay of women’s collegiate tennis, with their second championship in three years and an overall record of 17-1 in the national tournament in that span.
Smetannikov was honored as the NCAA Championship Most Outstanding Player for her winning heroics on Court 6. She is joined on the All-Tournament Team by four other Aggies: Perez, Kupres, Reed and Martinez.
Following the title win Weaver reflected on a senior laden roster that managed to reach the pinnacle of program success despite outside doubt.
“There was a lot of uncertainty this season,” Weaver said. “A lot of people probably didn’t think we’d maybe make the Sweet 16 this year. It’s unbelievable what we’ve done. The girls deserve all the credit in the world.”
