No. 13 Texas A&M women’s tennis visited North Carolina in the third round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday, May 10 at the Chewning Tennis Center. Coming off of back-to-back sweeps in the first and second round, the Aggies aimed to advance to the NCAA Tournament quarterfinal, but a formidable foe stood in their way.
No. 4 North Carolina was fresh off of dominant performances of its own against Navy and Wisconsin, as the reigning national champions had its eyes set on extending its staggering 94-match home winning streak.
Starting off with doubles play on Court 3, the Tar Heels’ senior duo of Elizabeth Scotty and Anika Yarlagadda started things off strong, taking down the Aggies’ freshman Lucciana Perez and senior Carson Branstine, 6-4.
The Maroon and White quickly struck back on Court 5, as sophomore Nicole Khirin and junior Jeanette Mireles defeated North Carolina’s graduate Abbey Forbes and senior Reilly Tran, 6-4.
On Court 1, the Maroon and White duo of junior Mary Stoiana and sophomore Mia Kupres captured the first point of the day, knocking out North Carolina’s senior Fiona Crawley and junior Carson Tanguilig, 7(7)-6(4).
Moving onto singles play on Court 6, freshman Thea Rabman earned the first point of the day for the Tar Heels, defeating Mireles in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1.
The Aggies fought back on Court 2, as Branstine took down Crawley to give the Maroon and White their second point of the day, 2-6, 6-0, 6-2.
It was the same story on Court 3, as the Aggies’ Khirin beat Tanguilig in three sets, 6-1, 5-7, 6-2.
Sealing the win for the Maroon and White on Court 1, Stoiana defeated Scotty, 6-4, 7(8)-6(7).
“That is one of the biggest wins, if not the biggest, in Texas A&M history,” coach Mark Weaver said. “To come in and beat the defending National Champions on their home courts, who had won 94 consecutive matches [at home] is a truly remarkable achievement for our program. So proud of our group to have now made our third-consecutive Elite 8 appearance.”
With a huge win over North Carolina, the Maroon and White punched their ticket into the NCAA Tournament quarterfinal for the third year in a row. The Aggies will take on the winner of No. 5 Virginia and Vanderbilt.
