The Texas A&M women’s tennis team is heading to Seattle to play in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s Team Indoor Championships that begins on Friday, Feb. 10, at 2 p.m.
The Aggies were drawn as the third seed to play the University of San Diego for their first match of the championship tournament. If they can defeat the Toreros, they will go on to play the victor of the match between Auburn and sixth seed Ohio State.
“We are carrying a lot of confidence into this weekend and I know what this team is capable of, now we just need to show that in our performance,” coach Mark Weaver said to 12thMan.com.
While the maroon and white have won all six of their matches so far this season, it’s a different story for the white, navy and columbia blue. San Diego hosted a mid-January tournament where it won five out of the eight doubles matches, as well as three out of the eleven singles matches. The Toreros have won half of their matches going into the championship tournament this weekend.
Redshirt junior Elizabeth Goldsmith and junior Kailey Evans will be challenges for the Aggies. Goldsmith, a California native, has won all four of her singles matches. Half of them were against ranked individual players. Evans, a Northeast Texan native, has the same singles match record except she has not played an ITA nationally ranked player. The statistically similar players are also ranked doubles partners, and as partners they have only lost one of three matches.
No. 11 Ohio State will be playing an unranked Auburn on Friday, Feb. 10, at 11 a.m. The two teams have similar records thus far this season with the Buckeyes being 5-0 with a season completely at home. The Tigers are on a four game winning streak, and they have won once away and fourfold at home with one loss at home against the second seed North Carolina.
The Aggies are currently on a six game unbeaten streak, and they hope to continue that run through the ITA Indoor Championships. Senior Carson Branstine continues her personal season-long winning streak. Branstine’s doubles partner sophomore Mary Stoiana holds the same record for her and the maroon and white.
The longtime rivals of the Fightin’ Farmers, the University of Texas Longhorns, hold the first seed spot in the tournament. The Longhorns are set to play the hosts of the tournament, the University of Washington Huskies.
“Our group is very excited to compete for a national title in Seattle,” Weaver said to 12thMan.com.
The Aggies will look to keep the streak alive on Friday, Feb. 10, at 2 p.m. at the Seattle Tennis Club. If they advance, the quarterfinals will be held Saturday, Feb. 11 and the semifinals will be on Sunday, Feb. 12. Fans of the Aggies hope to see them compete all the way to Monday, Feb. 13, for the final match to be declared the national indoor champion at 2 p.m.