No. 22 Texas A&M was all business at the Carolina Tennis Center on Friday when they outplayed the South Carolina Gamecocks 4-2, but then struggled against the Gators before dropping a 4-2 decision to Florida at the Ring Tennis Complex Sunday afternoon.
Friday’s defeat of the Gamecocks was the Aggies’ first SEC win of the season and South Carolina’s sixth loss of the year and first SEC loss since 2019. On Sunday, the Aggies fell to 9-3 for the year and 1-1 in SEC play when it was the Gators who took care of business in doubles play sweeping Katya Townsend and Dorthea Faa-Hviding 6-1 on court three. Florida picked up a 6-4 win on court two before a 7-5 result on court 1 to take the lead heading into singles play.
The Gators continued to chomp the Aggies as Sydney Berlin took down Jessica Anzo 6-1, 6-1 to start singles play. The Aggies managed to get two wins by Riley McQuaid and No. 64 Tatiana Makarova to break even at 2-2. Shortly after, the Gators managed to pull away on courts 1 and 3 to secure the 4-2 victory.
“That was a very high-level college match,” A&M head coach Mark Weaver told 12thman.com. “I felt like we let the doubles point slip away and needed to capitalize on some of our leads in the singles matches. Credit to Florida for playing the bigger points better than we did today.”
Sunday’s loss to Florida was a shift from Friday’s match when the Aggies trailed at the end of doubles in South Carolina only to rebound and dominate in singles competition.
After a four-hour rain delay pushed the 8 a.m. start time back to 12:30 p.m., the Aggies were trailing at the end of doubles. Despite Faa-Hviding and Renee McBryde holding a lead over 20th ranked Silvia Chinellato and Emma Shelton, the duo’s match went unfinished as South Carolina clinched the doubles point on with wins on courts 1 and 3, handing the Gamecocks a 1-0 lead.
In singles, Townsend ran a clinic out of court 3, defeating South Carolina’s Emma Shelton 6-1, 6-3 and adding a point to the Aggies’ scoreboard. On court 4, Faa-Hviding ended her day with a 7-5, 6-4 win, her sixth singles win overall this season. Faa-Hviding followed suit with a 7-5, 6-4 win against Silvia Chinellato. Wins by No. 64 Makarova and McBryde set the final score 4-2.
“That was an amazing victory for our team,” A&M coach Mark Weaver told 12thman.com. “We have lost to them the last several times and to beat them on the road, at their place, was a huge win for our program. To bounce back from losing the doubles point on the road against one of the best teams in the conference speaks volumes for our team.”
The Aggies have a chance for another win Friday against Mississippi State at the Mitchell Tennis Center. Mississippi State is 1-3 in SEC play but have proven to be a tough matchup.