The No. 20 Texas A&M women’s tennis team earned two wins in a double-header against Illinois and McNeese State on Friday at George Mitchell Tennis Center.
The team notched a 4-1 win over Illinois after a hard loss to the Fighting Illini last season and added a 7-0 win over McNeese State. The Aggies are now 8-2 this season, as Illinois falls to 3-5 and McNeese descends to 1-6.
“We’ve really been looking forward to our homestand,” A&M coach Mark Weaver told 12thman.com. “Most of February is set up with home matches. We’ve been on the road for several weeks, and it’s nice to be back home. We always play very good tennis here in College Station and we looked a bit more like ourselves today. We got a very high-quality win against Illinois. I couldn’t be more pleased with how the girls performed today.”
In doubles, junior Dorthea Faa-Hviding and sophomore Lucia Quiterio notched a 6-0 win over Illinois’ Emily Casito and Asuka Kawai.
Sophomore Jayci Goldsmith and junior Tatiana Makarova battled Illinois’ Emilee Duong and Josie Frazier and topped the duo with a result of 6-2. Redshirt freshman Jessica Anzo and sophomore Renee McBryde earned a 4-3 win over Sasha Belaya and Mia Rabinowitz.
Makarova led the Aggies in singles with a 7-5, 6-1 win over Mia Rabinowitz, who topped Makarova when the two teams met last season, 6-0, 6-3.
“Tatiana was very impressive today,” Weaver said to 12thman.com. “That girl that she beat [Rabinowitz] actually beat her last year. Beating her as decisively as she did today, that shows how much she’s improved in her tennis. She came back two hours later and played at number one singles for the first time in her career, and only lost one game. Very high level of tennis from Tatiana today.”
A&M sophomore Katya Townsend added a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Illinois’ Asuka Kawai.
After the Illinois match up, the Aggies faced McNeese. Due to an injury on McNeese’s team, the Aggies and Cowgirls competed in only two doubles matches. Faa-Hviding and Quiterio swept Matilde Mulatero and Sofia San Jose Moren in a 6-1 victory, followed by Anzo and McBryde’s 6-0 win against Marija Mastilovic and Carlotta Romito.
The Aggies will next face Oklahoma and Stephen F. Austin at home on Feb. 22.