Coming off of a devastating 2-5 loss to No. 16 Vanderbilt that saw No. 2 Texas A&M women’s tennis drop its first Southeastern Conference match of the season, the Aggies returned home to the Mitchell Tennis Center to host Ole Miss with hopes of regaining momentum.
While playing on the road wasn’t easy, it was business as usual for the Aggies on their home court to capture their 64th home consecutive home win and fourth sweep of conference play, 4-0. Consistency and power played a huge role today as the Rebels were unable to get comfortable at any point.
“We had a pretty challenging two weeks on the road,” coach Mark Weaver said. “We’ve hardly been home in Aggieland, but it’s nice to be back in our own beds and playing in front of our home crowd. There’s been a lot of wear and tear on our minds and bodies with the SEC schedule and two weeks on the road. I feel like the team did a great job this week of preparing and putting ourselves in a good place to play some really good tennis today.”
Doubles play started strong for A&M on Court 5. Junior Nichole Khirin and freshman Lexington Reed proved to be too much to handle against the Rebels’ duo of graduate Emily Welker and freshman Alice Soulie. Forehand-to-forehand rallies paid dividends for the Aggies as they were able to push their opponents around the court to score easy volleys, resulting in a clean win, 6-2.
The Aggies’ junior Daria Smetannikov and 2024 doubles All-American junior Mia Kupres illustrated perfect ball-striking ability. Like bullets, both were able to consistently power balls past the Rebels’ sophomore Andrea Nova and freshman Brooklyn Olson. After breaking early in the set, they stayed in front to secure the first point of the day, 6-3.
Moving on with singles, No. 80 Smetannikov lit up Court 5 in dominant fashion. Her silky-smooth backhand had the Rebels’ senior Rachel Krzyzak in shambles as she had difficulty finding any holes in Smetannikov’s game. After dropping just one game in the first set, she would bagel in the second for a straight-sets victory, 6-1, 6-0.
Court 4 was no different for A&M’s No. 40 sophomore Lucciana Perez. While Soulie demonstrated exceptional talent, Perez’s crafty arsenal and powerful hits gave her no time to gather any momentum. Perez broke twice in the first set before breaking again in the second to seal a straight-sets win, 6-1, 6-3.
A battle between No. 61 Kupres and Ole Miss senior Lucie Petruzelova took place on Court 3. Long and exhausting rallies tested both players’ consistency. The key for Kupres today was a combination of drop shots and passing shots. After forcing Petruzelova to come to the net with drop shots, Kupres was able to fire the ball right past her for easy winners down the stretch. After a close second set, Kupres would run away with the victory to secure the 4-0 sweep for the Maroon and White, 6-3, 6-4.
“We were happy to take care of business today,” Weaver said. “We have a battle ahead of us on Sunday with a very good LSU team coming into town. I think taking care of business today could definitely help us be fresh and ready to go on Sunday.”
The Aggies will be back in action on Sunday, March 23 when they host No. 9 LSU at the Mitchell Tennis Center.
