The Texas A&M women’s tennis team was able to push one round further into the SEC Tournament this season after a shutout victory over the Alabama Crimson Tide Thursday.
After a first round bye coupled with the win over Alabama, Texas A&M women’s tennis head coach Mark Weaver said that every position played well and the team is clicking at all positions at the conference tournament held at the LSU Tennis Complex in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
“This was definitely a very good day for the Aggies,” Weaver said to 12thman.com. “It is always nice to get the first-round bye, but it is also a little tricky to play the team that already has a tournament match under its belt. It is always a bit of an adjustment getting comfortable with the timing of the courts, weather conditions and so forth.”
Senior Ines Deheza and junior Saska Gavrilovska and were able to capture A&M’s first point in doubles Thursday. Sophomore Eva Paalma and junior Rachel Pierson followed with a second A&M point. Deheza and Pierson returned to singles play to earn two more wins, before freshman Domenica Gonzalez continued the Aggies’ successful run over the Tide.
No. 18 A&M (16-10, 7-6 SEC) did not have a completely successful weekend, however, and was unable to find itself ahead of the No. 4 Georgia Bulldogs Friday. The Aggies fell to the Bulldogs 4-1 as Georgia now holds the series record at 12-0 overall against A&M. Weaver told 12thman.com that doubles provided A&M some chances for A&M to provide a different tone before singles began.
“Georgia got off to a great start in singles,” Weaver said. “We made a great push and came back in most of the matches and for a while it looked like we were going to have a shot at sneaking away with it today.”
Senior Anna Mamalat and junior Rutuja Bhosale were unable to provide A&M with enough momentum after their doubles victory Friday. UGA was able to catch both other match victories to earn the doubles point, before continuing a dominant streak in singles competition. Pierson was the only Aggie to win an opening set before going on to earn the Aggies’ sole point of the match.
Georgia’s victory set them up to face No. 2 Vanderbilt Saturday as No. 1 Florida is paired against No. 4 Auburn. The winners of Saturday’s match will meet in the SEC Championship Sunday at 11 a.m. and will be broadcasted on SEC Network Plus.
The Aggies will likely return to compete in the NCAA Tournament that starts on Friday, May 13. Last year, the Aggies were able to advance to the Sweet 16 last year with shutout victories in the opening two rounds before falling to No. 7-seed UCLA, who went on to compete in the NCAA Championship.
