After coming off their first loss of the season, the Texas A&M women’s tennis team was able to get back on track with a 5-2 win today against SMU Mustangs at the SMU Tennis Complex in Dallas. With this evening’s victory, the Aggies have now improved to a record-tying 8-1 start after the season’s first nine matches while the Mustangs dropped to 3-4. 
The doubles point was rightfully decided in terms of a tiebreaker in the final doubles match left. The Aggie freshmen duo of Dorthea Faa-Hviding and Riley McQuaid dismissed Nicole Petchey and Ana Perez-Lopez in a 6-3 win at line No. 3. Soon after, SMU’s Karina Traxler and Sarai Monarrez-Yesaki leveled the Mustangs with a 6-2 triumph over Texas A&M’s Domenica Gonzalez and Eva Paalma at line No. 1. 
In the last doubles match to come to a result, at line No. 2, Texas A&M’s Macarena Olivares and Iulia Ivascu were able to hurry for a 5-1 edge, only before SMU’s Tiffany Hollebeck and Anzhelika Shapovalova could oppose multiple match points and come from behind to force a 6-5 advantage. Texas A&M was then able to tie the match and push for a tiebreaker. The Mustangs tallied the first three points of the tiebreaker, while the Aggies came right back as they collected the next four points. SMU contested to stay within reach as they tied the score at 4-4 and 5-5, proceeding to Texas A&M acquiring consecutive points to win the match to secure the Aggies of the doubles point and a 1-0 upper hand. 
In singles, the Mustangs diminished the Aggies’ advantage in an instant, on line No. 5, as Perez-Lopez took a 6-3, 6-3 win over freshman Ivascu, to equal the overall team score to 1-1. Faa-Hviding then put the Aggies back on top, 2-1, when she tallied a quick 6-1, 6-3 win over Hollebeck at line No. 6. Olivares would then improve to 9-0 in dual matches when she got past a 5-2 setback in the second set that would then turn into a 6-2, 7-5 defeat of Monarrez-Yesaki at No. 2, to then give the Aggies a 3-1 overall lead.  
Along with her teammate, McQuaid was also able to improve to 9-0 in dual matches, while securing the win for the Aggies. The freshman set herself apart from Petchey as she collected the final two games of each set that lead to her 6-4, 6-4 victory at No. 4.
Gonzalez’s undefeated record was in risk when facing SMU’s Shapovalova at No. 1 and dropping the first set, 6-3, but she was then able to recover with a second-set 7-5 victory to level the match and to force a tiebreaker that would determine the match outcome and winner. Gonzalez managed to capitalize with three-point rally after a 9-8 match point to force an end the match and to also improve to 9-0.
Paalma was quick to capitalize in the opening set, 6-2, over SMU’s Traxler. Right after, Traxler then eased for a 6-0 stride of the second set that equaled the match. Although Paalma was off to a 4-2 lead in the deciding set, Traxler was able to push for three consecutive points that would tie the set, 4-4. Paalma set herself ahead at 5-4, for a moment, before Traxler would come right back to win the final three sets of the match to close out at No. 3 for a final 5-2 score.
The Texas A&M women’s tennis team will try to keep progressing forward as they look to conclude their DFW road trip on Sunday as they next face TCU at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center in Fort Worth.