Last year, Texas A&M women’s tennis marched through SEC play 28-0, winning its second-straight regular season title. In 2024, the Aggies are looking to make it a three-peat.
The No. 21 Texas A&M women’s tennis team took on No.14 South Carolina on March 1, beating them 6-1 to start conference play 1-0.
Sophomore Nicole Khirin and graduate Sydney Fitch gave their opponents quite the workout during their electrifying match, as graduate senior Shahar Biran and junior Olympe Lancelot had trouble keeping up with the Aggies.
Khirin and Fitch started with consistent full-court shots and just when the Gamecocks thought they had cracked the code, the shots transitioned quickly into half-court shots. The duo’ shot selection led to being the first pair to win, 6-0.
On Court 2, freshman Lucciana Perez and junior Jeanette Mireles finished off their game 6-4, clinching A&M’s victory for the doubles matches. Sophomore Mia Kupres and junior Mary Stoiana went 5-3 against junior Sarah Hamner and graduate student Ayana Akli but did not finish as A&M took early advantage.
The crowd was ready for the singles match as the “Let’s go Aggies” chants echoed throughout all six courts. No. 29 Kupres was the first to take down Biran, 6-3, 6-2. Mireles secured her 10th victory of the season against junior Olympe Lancelot, 6-3, 6-1. Perez clinched the first league match of the year against junior Misa Malkin, 6-0, 6-4, which improved her record to 7-4.
No. 19 Khirin added an upset victory over No. 6 Hamner, 6-4, 7-5, while top-ranked Stoiana came back to beat No. 7 Akli, 2-6, 6-4, 1-0(7).
“I thought we all managed our emotions out there well and I thought we handled ourselves very well between the points and on the changeovers,” coach Mark Weaver said. “We seem to be in a great mindset so that’s very encouraging here as we’re getting into the SEC season here.”
Now 9-5, the Maroon and White are set to play the Florida Gators on Sunday, March 3 at noon at the Mitchell Tennis Center.
