It was a busy weekend for A&M tennis — the men’s team won three matches straight, and the women won two out of three matches at the women’s ITA National Indoors Tournament.
The women’s team began the tournament Friday with a highly anticipated match up against No. 7 Virginia, where the Aggies fell short 4-1. The match was highlighted by a 6-3, 6-3 win by sophomore Eva Paalma in singles play, but after falling 0-1 in doubles play the talented Virginia roster proved too much for the Aggies.
The Aggies bounced back Saturday with a convincing 4-0 win over Wisconsin, quickly capturing the first doubles points and winning the third, fourth and sixth singles matches to secure the win. They ended their weekend with a 0-4 loss against No. 14 Duke.
The men’s team finished a packed weekend with three home wins, improving their record to 9-0 heading into the ITA National Indoor Tournament.
The men began their weekend with a double header sweep of UTRGV and Florida State by scores of 5-2 and 4-3; the latter of which proved to be a tough and emotional victory for the Aggies going into another double header on Sunday.
A&M head coach Steve Denton said he liked the opportunity to get a variety of players on the roster some match experience, particularly against UTRGV.
“UTRGV played well,” Denton said. “We had some guys out that there that have not played as many matches and it was big to give them some experience in dealing with the pressure of playing college matches.”
The men continued their solid play on Sunday by sweeping another double header, this time with a 4-3 win over USF and an afternoon win over St. Edwards. The matches were the last for the men’s team before moving on to their ITA National Indoors.
For AJ Catanzariti and his teammates, the Sunday matches were a good preparation for what’s to come beginning Feb. 12 in Charlottesville, Virginia. Catanzariti said he liked the way he handled the full weekend and how his team responded to the adversity.
“It was a good test for the team,” Catanzariti said. “We wanted to see what we were worth and we were really tested these last three matches. It’s easy to play with those guys at the top of the lineup just to look over and see them winning.”
The men now prepare for their own ITA National Indoor Tournament this weekend while the women return home this Saturday to face off against the University of Houston.
