The Texas A&M women’s tennis team kicked off play at the ITA All-American Championships Main Draw in Los Angeles Thursday.
The tournament began last Saturday, with players competing in pre-qualifying matches. To get to the main draw, each player or doubles pair must win three rounds to advance to the qualifying draw, which was played Tuesday and Wednesday.
A total of eight singles players and four doubles teams advanced from the prequalifying round to the qualifying round. Once in the qualifying draw, players must win three singles matches in succession to qualify for the main draw.
The Aggies began with five women slated for play last Saturday in the prequalifying rounds, but only sophomores Rachel Pierson and Saska Gavrilovska qualified for the main draw.
“Saska [Gavrilovska] and Rachel [Pierson] went through the draw like a hot knife through butter,” Texas A&M head coach Howard Joffe said. “They combined to beat six nationally ranked players in two days, which speaks to the level of tennis they have played.”
Juniors Stephania Hristov, Anna Mamalat along with sophomore Rutuja Bhosale bowed out in the second round, with Mamalat and Bhosale dropping an 8-6 opening round decision to Virginia’s Maci Epstein and Marie Faure in the 16-team doubles draw.
Gavrilovska and Pierson open play in the 32-player main draw Thursday. Gavrilovska faces 8^th ranked Lynn Chi of California in the first round, while Pierson draws 20^th ranked Lorraine Guillermo of Pepperdine.