Coming off of a 6-1 blowout against San Diego that saw No. 2 Texas A&M women’s tennis drop just a single point, the Aggies aimed to continue their win streak against the Sam Houston Bearkats at the Mitchell Tennis Center, where they brought out the brooms for a crushing 7-0 victory.
The Maroon and White pleased their home audience, getting the better of the visiting Bearkats while refusing to drop a single point to capture their 60th consecutive home win.
“Overall, it was a good day for us,” coach Mark Weaver said. “We played some really good tennis on a few courts. On a few of the other courts we made things a little more difficult than we needed to, but we were able to push through. Maybe we’re not playing our best on the physical side, but we were able to make some adjustments on the mental side to pick up the wins. We also want to thank the 12th Man for showing up for us today. We had a really great crowd and always appreciate the support they show us.”
Starting with doubles play on Court 1, No. 102 junior Daria Smetannikov and 2024 doubles All-American junior Mia Kupres displayed incredible consistency and chemistry. The duo struck forehands down the line and used silky volleys to bagel juniors Nayuma Subba and Jacqueline Schnabel, 6-0.
A&M’s junior Nicole Khirin and senior Jeanette Mireles clinched the first point of the day for the Aggies after refusing to hold back on Court 3, using power to force junior Christine Jevicky and junior Adithi Venkatakrishnan into several errors, 6-2.
Moving on to singles play on Court 6, junior Lizanne Boyer was the first to strike for the Maroon and White. Using volleys and drop shots on her way to a straight-sets victory, 6-3, 6-0.
Court 5 was a similar story, as freshman Lexington Reed put her foot on the gas and never looked back. After bageling sophomore Sara Sadadinovic in the first set, she broke twice in the second set to capture a comfortable victory, 6-0, 6-2.
On Court 3, 2024 SouthEastern Conference Freshman of the Year sophomore Lucciana Perez proved that her touch was incredible, saving multiple break-points in the second set to hold serve and ultimately win, 6-1, 6-3.
Court 2 saw Kupres in incredible form. She fired back hands crosscourt and struck forehands down the line on her way to a comfortable straight-sets victory, 6-3, 6-3.
It was a battle on Court 1. After Subba took the first set, Khirin utilized big serves to battle back and break twice to force a deciding third set. In the third, Khirin appeared to be unstoppable, winning 60% of return points on her way to a gritty victory, 4-6, 6-1, 6-1.
Securing the sweep for the Aggies, Smetannikov went to war with Venkatakrishnan on Court 4. After winning the first-set, Venkatakrishnan came back strongly to force a third. However, Smetannikov used strong serves and forehand brilliance to take the win, 6-2, 2-6, 6-1.
“At the end of the day, we played a feisty team that made us work for a lot of the points, and we left with the 7-0 victory,” Weaver said. “We feel like we’ve really taken care of business in our matches up to this point, and we’re in a good place now as we head into the nationals indoors.”
The Aggies’ next opponent and time is TBD when they play at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships, on Friday, Feb.7.
