With overcast skies looming across the horizon and puddles of water reflecting the warning storm clouds, two teams sat waiting for the rain to pass. But as soon as the sun began to shine, No. 2 Texas A&M women’s tennis took the court against No. 16 Florida — albeit six-and-a-half hours late.
The noon matchup didn’t begin until 6:30 p.m., but even the extra time didn’t help the Gators, as the Aggies chomped their chance at an upset win, securing A&M’s seventh consecutive victory, 4-0.
Not even the gloomy climate or weather delay could rain on the Aggies’ parade, as they celebrated five seniors on Senior Day: Mia Kupres, Daria Smetannikov, Violeta Martinez, Nicole Khirin and Avery Esquivel.
Martinez and freshman Anna Perelman kicked off doubles play on Court 2 against Florida’s duo of freshman Brooke Black and junior Valery Gynina. Despite a hard-fought effort, the Aggies were ultimately bested in quick 6-2 fashion.
Off to a slow start, the Fightin’ Farmers looked to turn their Senior Day luck around on Court 1, where the No. 18 pair of Kupres and junior Lucianna Perez faced the Gators’ No. 22 twosome of sophomore Nikola Daubnerova and senior Xinyi Nong. The ranked matchup didn’t last long, though, as the Maroon and White swiftly took care of business, 6-2.
Though the storm had passed, another was brewing on Court 3 as A&M’s Smetannikov and sophomore Lexington Reed battled it out against Florida’s graduate student India Houghton and freshman Lucie Pawlak. With the pressure on, neither duo let up, each responding to every delivered blow. Despite great effort from the Gators, the Aggies crawled away with a 7-5 victory, securing the doubles point.
Heading into singles play up 1-0, the Fightin’ Farmers still had work to do, and that work started on Court 4 as No. 102 Martinez looked for revenge against Black. The Aggie senior bested the Gator 6-4 in the first set and led 1-0 in the second before Black was forced to retire, awarding A&M its second point of the day.
Over on Court 5, Smetannikov faced Florida’s No. 105 Pawlak. With a doubles win over Pawlak already under her belt, Smetannikov capitalized on the opportunity once again as she took the match in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3.
With A&M only one point away from a victory, No. 124 Reed faced No. 47 Gabia Paskauskas on Court 3. The Orlando native was simply too much for Paskauskas to handle, and she took the match in a decisive 6-3, 6-3 win, securing the victory for the Aggies and holding their opponent to zero.
Three matches were left unfinished on Courts 1, 2 and 6. Court 1 saw No. 1 Perez come to a 6-2, 2-6 stalemate with No. 79 Houghton, as Perelman was working to pull ahead of No. 86 Doubernova, 6-3, 1-6, 1-0. No. 43 Kupres led Florida’s No. 68 Gynina 7-5, 4-5 on Court 2 when the match was called.
With a 4-0 win over the Gators, A&M walked away — the seniors each carrying a framed No. 12 jersey with their last name displayed — leading the SEC with a one-game margin over both No. 4 Auburn and No. 8 Oklahoma.
But the 12th Man will see if that margin will pay off sooner rather than later as A&M prepares to travel to the Headington Family Tennis Center to face Oklahoma on Thursday, April 9, with first serve set for 5 p.m.
