After one set of each doubles game, a three and a half hour rain delay, and a canceled second game, play resumed at the Mitchell Tennis Center at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 20.
“It was not the best conditions for tennis, but I thought we handled the cold and damp conditions well and performed at a high standard at the majority of positions out there,” coach Mark Weaver said to 12thMan.com.
On Court 1, graduate doubles partners Jayci Goldsmith and Salma Ewing rallied with Tulane’s junior Charlotte Russell and senior Lahari Yelamanchili. Ewing hit the ball into the back right corner of the court just behind the Green Wave’s players to keep the Aggies in the match on Court 1. Unfortunately for the maroon and white, Goldsmith and Ewing fell 6-3.
Senior Carson Branstine and her doubles partner sophomore Mary Stoiana defeated graduate student Adelaide Lavery and junior Kristen Borland 6-1 on Court 3 to help the Aggies take the doubles point.
On Court 5, sophomore Gianna Pielet and freshman Mia Kupres ensured the doubles point with a score of 6-2 over the sky blue and olive’s senior Mackenzie Clark and sophomore Jiayun Zhu.
In singles play, Goldsmith led Borland 6-0 through both sets and took the first singles point for the evening.
Tulane’s Zhu attempted to challenge Kupres on the fourth court, but Kupres came out on top with scores of 6-1 and 6-0. Ewing and Russell battled it out on Court 3. This locked in the fourth point for A&M.
Freshman Daria Smetannikov went against sophomore Brooke Theis on the last court. Smetannikov outplayed Theis 6-0 and 6-3 which gained the fifth point.
Stoiana took on Yelamanchili on Court 1. The crowd at the courts roared as Stoiana hit the ball past Yelamanchili to secure the sixth point for the maroon and white.
Over on Court 2, Branstine rallied against Lavery. Branstine slammed the final ball, and the seventh point popped up on the Texas A&M Tennis scoreboard.
“Overall, I was very pleased with our performance considering the weather we faced today,” Weaver said to 12thMan.com.
Aggie women’s tennis will stay home, and play FAU on Saturday, Jan. 28, at 2 p.m. for the ITA kickoff weekend.
