The Texas A&M women’s tennis team advanced to the singles consolation and doubles main draw semifinals while competing at the ITA Texas Regional Championship Oct. 13-17 at TCU’s Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center in Fort Worth.
Beginning the singles consolation semifinals on Monday, freshman Dorthea Faa-Hviding was the last Aggie in the competition. She was defeated by Rice’s Savannah Durkin 6-2, 6-3 ending her singles play and the Aggies time in Fort Worth.
A&M head coach Mark Weaver said the tournament was a learning experience for the team and they are excited to get back to work and improve as a team.
“Overall, we have assessed and learned much as a group,” Weaver said, “and are looking forward to getting back to work and improve as a whole.”
Seven Aggies competed with some of the top collegiate tennis players in the state. Seniors Domenica Gonzalez and Eva Paalma made their first fall season appearance and were the No. 2 seed in the doubles main draw.
Freshmen Riley McQuaid and Iulia Ivascu also represented A&M competing in their second tournament together. Redshirt sophomore Margo Taylor, who is coming off 2-0 record from the SMU Metroplex Mania, and senior Macarena Olivares finished off the Aggie roster for the weekend.
A&M topped their opponents and secured six wins on the first day of play. In the first round of doubles, Faa-Hviding and McQuaid defeated Julia Navajo-Melendez and Ana Perez of Texas State, 8-4. The other Aggie duos, Ivascu and Olivares, along with Gonzalez and Paalma had a bye in the first round.
During the first round of the singles main draw, the Aggies brought home three more wins. Paalma defeated Texas’ Tyler Duncum 6-0, 6-2, while Olivares defeated Sarai Monarrez of SMU in three sets (6-0, 6-7, 6-2). Ivascu fell to Houston’s Lauren Alter 6-0, 6-2, and Faa-Hviding lost to North Texas’ Minying Liang 1-6, 6-1, 6-2. McQuaid defeated Ana Glumac of Houston 6-2, 6-3.
In the second round of singles play, Paalma lost to Liza Buss of Southern Methodist 7-5, 6-1, while Olivares defeated Texas State’s Flavia Gutierrez-Balcazar 6-0, 6-0. McQuaid defeated UT-Arlington’s Klara Mrcela 6-0, 6-1. After having a bye in the first round, Taylor fell to Alex Jones of Texas State 7-5,7-6.
Faa-Hviding received a first-round bye in singles consolation. Ivascu, also in the consolation bracket, lost to Abilene Christian’s Whitney Williams 6-1, 6-3 ending her singles play for the tournament.
Starting off the second day of the tournament, Faa-Hviding and McQuaid paired up and competed in the second round of the doubles main draw, but fell to Texas’ Marta Perez-Mur and Dani Wagland 8-4. Fellow Aggies Ivascu and Olivares lost to Lindsey Hodge and Wendy Zhang of Rice 8-5.
Gonzalez and Paalma defeated Incarnate Word’s Victoria Kareh and Matea Zemunik 8-3 advancing them to the next round in which they continued their winning streak by defeating ACU’s Lucile Pothier and Whitney Williams, 8-5.
Continuing the singles main draw from Friday, the Aggies went 0-2 when Baylor’s Jessica Hinojosa Gomez defeated Olivares 7-5, 6-2, and McQuaid fell to Texas’ Bianca Turati 6-0, 6-0.
In the second round of the singles consolation bracket, Faa-Hviding defeated Anzhelika Shapovadova of SMU due to a walkover injury, while Taylor was defeated by ACU’s Jordan Henry in three sets (3-6, 6-2, 10-6), ending her singles play.
Coming off her victory in singles consolation, Faa-Hiding defeated UTA’s Momoka Horiguchi in three sets (2-6, 6-2, 13-11) on Sunday. She continued her winning streak when she defeated Sarah Adams of ACU in the consolation quarterfinals 4-6, 6-4, 10-5.
The doubles main draw quarterfinals began with A&M duo, Gonzalez and Paalma, falling to SMU’s Sarai Monarrez and Ana Perez-Lopez 8-5. Double partners, Ivascu and Olivares also ended their doubles play with a loss against Baylor’s Jessica Hinojosa Gomez and Livia Kraus, 8-6.
The Aggies will head back to Fort Worth Oct. 27-29 to compete at the TCU Invitational. Winners of the ITA championships will advance to USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate championships in November in Flushing, New York.