At the moment nothing seems to keep No. 5 Texas A&M women’s tennis from dominating its competition.
A&M came into the matchup in Baton Rouge, La., against LSU on Friday, April 8 with hopes of winning its 16th-straight game. The issue: the weather wasn’t cooperating.
Coach Mark Weaver said the conditions added another layer of difficulty to the conference matchup.
“It was truly a very rough day out there from a weather perspective,” Weaver said. “It was nearly the toughest wind conditions I have seen in quite some time.”
However, as Queen used to sing, “the show must go on.”
The Aggies started off making quick work of the Tigers in doubles, and junior Carson Branstine and freshman Mary Stoiana picked up the first victory of the match. The duo of senior Renee McBryde and freshman Gianna Pielet’s 6-3 win clinched the doubles point for the Aggies.
A&M continued its strong play as the match moved to singles.
The Aggies increased their lead to 4-0 behind three straight-set wins from Stoiana, senior Jayci Goldsmith and graduate Tatiana Makarova.
The only real adversity came from the final three matches. Each was competitive in its own right.
Senior Katya Townsend won in straight-sets against freshman Rania Azziz but had to win two set tiebreakers. Pielet lost her first set to graduate Mia Rabinowitz but responded by winning the remaining two sets to clinch A&M’s sixth point in the match. Branstine completed A&M’s sweep by winning a third-set tiebreaker over junior Safiya Carrington.
Weaver said he was proud of the way A&M responded to the windy conditions.
“To come in and deal with [the wind] the way we did was very impressive,” Weaver said. “It was quite a solid performance by our team overall. It was not always the highest quality tennis, through no fault of our own, but we dealt with the wind very well. Our team kept its composure, and we were able to come away with a very solid win today.”
Makarova said the wind played a role in her doubles match being very competitive — it was tied at five when it was suspended — but was able to play better in her singles matchup.
“The conditions were really tough, and the wind was absolutely crazy since it was blowing cross-court,” Makarova said. “Jayci [Goldsmith] and I play a pretty aggressive style of doubles, so the wind definitely played a role in equalizing the competition on our court. Once we got into singles play, I was able to hit through the ball a bit better and find other ways to remain a tough competitor in my match. Overall, I am very proud of the team and the way we performed today.”
The victory improved A&M’s record to 25-1 and 11-0 in SEC play.
The Aggies’ next opportunity to build on their current 16-game winning streak will be another conference matchup against the Arkansas Razorbacks on Friday, April 15. First serve at the Billingsley Tennis Center in Fayetteville, Ark., is set for 5 p.m.