Coming off of a convincing 6-1 beatdown against No. 9 LSU that saw No. 2 Texas A&M women’s tennis move into second place in the Southeastern Conference, the Aggies travelled to the Boone Center Complex in Lexington, Kentucky to take on the No. 42 Kentucky Wildcats.
The Aggies continued where they left off at home, beating the Wildcats in dominant fashion to capture their fifth sweep in conference play, 4-0. Aggressiveness played a huge role for the Maroon and White as they kept on firing at their opponents and never took their foot off the gas.
“You have to be ready on the road in the SEC,” coach Mark Weaver said. “I thought Kentucky played at a very good level, and I am very pleased with a 4-0 win. Now it’s time to move on and prepare for a good team in Tennessee.”
Beginning with doubles play on Court 3, junior Nichole Khirin and freshman Lexington Reed proved to be the perfect duo against the Wildcats’ junior Ellie Myers and sophomore Julia Zhu, breaking early in the set to claim their fifth-consecutive doubles victory together, 6-2.
The Aggies’ No. 33 duo of sophomore Lucciana Perez and senior Mary Stoiana dominated on Court 1. Impressive ball-striking ability and shot selection took all options away from the Wildcats’ No. 65 duo of senior Ellie Eades and fifth-year Lizzy Stevens. After a clean break, A&M was able to run away with the first point of the day, 6-3.
Moving into singles on Court 6, Reed was the first to strike for the Maroon and White. While playing perfectly from the baseline, Reed was aggressive and forced Myers into errors on her serve and return. Myers struggled to get anything going as Reed dropped just two games in the first set and five games in total, 6-2, 6-3.
No. 40 Lucciana Perez showed her dominance on Court 4, making a point to force Kentucky’s freshman Tess Bucher into errors by bullying her backhand with forehand-to-backhand rallies. Just as important, her defense frustrated Bucher as she was never able to get easy points at any point during the match. After breaking twice in the second set, Perez secured a comfortable win, 6-3, 6-2.
Court 1 saw No. 2 Mary Stoiana clinch the win for the Aggies. Using a variety of attacks like the SABR, or Sneak Attack by Roger, she was able to half-volley shots from the Wildcats’ No. 59 junior Zoe Hammond for easy points.
Stoiana’s confidence was sky-high as she demonstrated incredible ball-striking ability from the baseline and approached the net anytime she wanted to volley. After a close first set, Stoiana would get through in straight-sets, 6-4, 6-3.
The Maroon and White will be live again when they travel to Barksdale Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee to take on the No. 7 Tennessee Volunteers.
