Texas A&M freshman Dorthe Faa-Hviding sealed the Aggies comeback victory 4-3 over TCU, taking three set to clinch the victory at Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center.
A&M improves to their best record in the first 10 games in program history of 9-1. TCU, who received votes in the ITA top 25 poll, falls to 6-4.
The match was back-and-forth at the five court facility with the Aggies winning the first two doubles matches to get on the board. A&M freshman Riley McQuaid and Faa-Hviding were first on the board after jumping out to a 5-1 lead over Aleska Cveticanin and Meredith Roberts en route to a 6-3 victory at the No. 3 doubles line.
Newly-eligible Tatiana Makarova was also victorious in her A&M career debut as she teamed with Macarena Olivares and clinched the doubles point with a 6-3 win over Aleksandra Zenovka and Meredith Roberts at No. 2.
A&M’s senior tandem of Domenica Gonzalez and Eva Paalma led 5-2 over Alexis Pereira and Donika Bashota at the No.1 Lines when the double point was secured and their match ended.
TCU tied the score at 1-1 at the start of singles as the 117th-ranked Marie Norris defeated Makarova, 6-2, 6-3 at the No. 4 line.
Mcquaid then gave the Aggies the lead up, 2-1, and improved to 10-0 in dual matches with a 7-5, 6-1 over Roberts at No. 5.
The lead did not last long, however, as Bashota held off Paalma 6-3, 7-6 (4) at No. 3 and Olivares had her team-leading 12-match winning streak snapped with a 6-4, 6-3 setback to 90th-ranked Zenovka at No.2 putting the Horned Frogs up 3-2.
Cveticanin appeared to have the Horned Frogs in good position to pull away for the win as she won her first set, 6-4, and had a 3-1 lead in the second set against 87th-ranked Gonzalez, who entered the match 9-0. Gonzalez then won the next three games to put the set back on serve. The set remained on serve until Gonzalez broke to win 6-4 and force a third set.
Cveticanin won the first two games of a back-and-fourth third set, but Gonzalez retook the lead and put the set on serve at 3-2. Cveticanin later got a service break to go up, 4-3, but Gonzalez broke back and then held serve to pull ahead, 5-4. The set remained on serve until Gonzalez broke Cveticanin to close out the set, 7-5, and win the match to even the overall team score at 3-3.
Faa-Hviding had won her first set, 6-4, over Stevie Kennedy at No. 6, but the lefty from Norway found herself trailing the second set 2-1 when Gonzalez mounted her comeback. Faa-Hviding took her first lead of the second set at 4-3, but Kennedy won the next two games to go up, 5-4. Faa-Hviding won the next game after Kennedy double faulted, but Kennedy won the next two games to win, 7-5, and force a third set.
In the last set, Faa-Hviding was up 4-3, but Kennedy won two games to lead 5-4 and was serving for the match. Faa-Hviding showed determination and came back to win the next three games to clinch the victory.
The Aggies return home on Sunday, Feb. 25 to host UCF. First serve against the Knights begins at noon at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center. The match is final preparation for Southeastern Conference Play, which begins Friday, March 2, when the Tennessee Volunteers pay a visit to College Station.
