Texas A&M women’s tennis sent four players to the ITA Texas Regional Championships at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center in Fort Worth from Thursday, Sept. 22, to Monday, Sept. 26. The tournament coincided with A&M’s participation at the Fall Ranked Spotlight in Cary, N.C, and allowed for young players to have the opportunity to compete on a big stage.
Freshmen Lizanne Boyer and Avery Esquivel participated in the open singles qualifying draw for A&M. In the round of 64, Boyer defeated Abilene Christian freshman Paula Garrote 4-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-4) via tiebreak to advance to the round of 32. However, Boyer lost her next match in straight sets to SMU sophomore Campbell Bouchard. Esquivel lost in straight sets in the round of 64 to UTSA junior Lexie Weir.
In the open singles main draw, Boyer and sophomore Kayal Gownder each lost in straight sets to Texas graduate Marlee Zein and SMU senior Hadley Doyle, respectively. However, freshman Daria Smetannikov defeated Houston junior Laura Slisane in straight sets to advance to the next round. In the next round, Smetannikov lost in a tiebreaker to UT Arlington sophomore Tara Gorinsek.
In doubles main draw, A&M’s duo of Smetannikov and Boyer got some revenge against Texas by defeating sophomore Grace Thomas and senior Gabby Cusano 8-6. In the round of 32, Smetannikov and Boyer were defeated 8-6 by North Texas sophomore Olivia Malm and freshman Gloria Alogo Piqueras to conclude A&M’s showing at the ITA Regionals.
Unfortunately for A&M, its other pairing consisting of junior Elise Robbins and Gownder lost 8-3 to juniors Maja Makoric and Winslow Huth.
Up next for the Aggies is the ITA All-American Championship in Cary, N.C. The tournament is set to start on Saturday, Oct. 1, and finish on Sunday, Oct. 9.