After a gritty victory against UCSB in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, No. 2 Texas A&M women’s tennis hosted No. 17 UCLA in the Sweet Sixteen at Mitchell Tennis Center.
Return quality and the ability to turn defense into offense was key for the Maroon and White today. While holding serve was never a problem, forcing their opponents to give up serve allowed them to build enough momentum to advance into the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament after winning 4-2.
“I thought we played well today,” coach Mark Weaver said. “I give UCLA a lot of credit, I knew it was going to be a tough match and it ended up being a little tougher than I had imagined, they played really well today. I’m really proud of the girls, it was really a gritty performance by us. I think the doubles point really went a long way for us and I was very pleased with our group today.”
Beginning with doubles play on Court 5, A&M’s junior Nichole Khirin and sophomore Lucciana Perez showed out from the baseline and net. While only paired for three previous matchups, their chemistry made it seem as though they had been partners for ages. Holding serve was big for the Aggie duo as it never gave Bruins’ sophomore Ahmani Guichard and junior Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer a chance to strike back. After breaking in the middle of the set, a smooth volley from Perez would seat the win, 6-3.
Court 1 saw the Aggie duo, senior Mary Stoiana and junior Mia Kupres, put on a net-game clinic against Bruins seniors Elise Wagle and Kimmi Hance. Serve and volleys became a routine for the pair as their chemistry from the past displayed itself. After securing a break early in the set, a Stoiana kick-serve down the middle forced Wagle to shank her shot into the net, giving A&M the first point of the day, 6-3.
Moving into singles play on Court 1, No. 1 Stoiana came out with vengeance against No. 31 Lutkemeyer. An all around consistent performance from Stoiana prevented Lutkemeyer from striking. While Stoiana’s serves had pin-point accuracy, her returns were even better, bageling Lutkemeyer in the first set before winning in straight-sets, 6-0, 6-2.
“The win feels great,” Stoiana stated. “I feel like I was really locked in from the start with it being my last match at home, I wanted to just focus on one thing, enjoying it and being super grateful that I had all of the opportunities to come out here and compete in front of the 12th Man over the last four years. I’m really pleased that it went my way, pretty smooth and convincingly.”
Court 3 displayed another Aggie dominated match as No. 67 Kupres took down No. 62 Wagle in smooth fashion. Baseline strokes were immaculate as Kupres managed to turn defense into offense. With Wagle committing several errors on her serve and return, Kupres would drop just five total games to put A&M within one point of advancing, 6-1, 6-4.
In light of the Aggie-dominated matchups, Bruins’ sophomore Bianca Fernandez got it rolling on Court 6. Aggies’ freshman Lexington Reed gave incredible effort, however, backhand errors and failing to hold serve in both games ultimately led to a straight-sets win for Fernandez, 6-3, 6-3.
A UCLA comeback seemed to be forming as No. 93 Hance to lead on Court 2.After breaking early in the set to take a 2-0 lead, Hance quickly took command of the match as Khirin struggled with her ground strokes. Despite a competitive second set, when both players were knotted at five games Khirin failed again to hold serve, allowing Hance to serve for the match which she converted on, 6-2, 7-5.
Hope for the Aggies returned on Court 4 as Perez ruined any hopes of a Bruins’ comeback against No. 39 freshman Kate Fakih. The first set proved to be a thriller as both players held serve up to a tiebreak. When the pressure rose, so did Perez’s play, commanding a 3-0 lead before Fakih hit some creative shots of her own. As the set came down to the wire, Perez demonstrated why she’s the master of digging deep, capturing multiple long-rally points to take the first set.
The second set was all Perez. Motivation from a thrilling first-set tiebreak began to sink in as her ball-striking ability became too much for Fakih to handle. Despite a close first set, Perez lost just one game in the second to send A&M into the Elite Eight.
“From the beginning we knew it was going to be a battle and we just kept reminding ourselves to keep fighting for ourselves, for each other, ” Perez said. “Everyone really showed up. Daria [Smetannikov] was really key for me because if she kept fighting, then I continued fighting, which was really nice to see.”Aggies are Elite Eight bound
A&M will be back in action to compete in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. Time and opponent is to be determined.
