The No. 2 Texas A&M women’s tennis team was victorious in one of the most exciting matchups in the country. They faced the No. 4 Georgia Bulldogs in a highly touted Southeastern Conference match. The Aggies won 5-2, and as of recently have looked unstoppable. They sent the Bulldogs back to Athens, Georgia with a loss on Sunday, April 2.
Coming into today’s match the Aggies found themselves on a 12-match winning streak. In fact, they hoist a record of 20 wins and just one loss. This team is one the most dominant and relentless squads in the entire country.
Their last victory against the No. 14 Tennessee Volunteers has helped the Aggies maintain their unbeaten record in SEC play coming into their match with the Bulldogs. However, Georgia is no slouch when it comes to consistent and determined play.
Georgia was on a 10-match winning streak before today. They also held an undefeated record in the SEC. One of these teams would leave today with a conference loss. The Bulldogs came to the Mitchell Tennis Center to prove that they are the top team in the SEC.
In doubles play it was Georgia who started strong. Their No. 44 team of graduate Meg Kowalski and sophomore Mell Reasco defeated Aggie sophomore Gianna Pielet and freshmen Daria Smetannikov. The Bulldogs won by a score of 6-1.
A&M would not let this stop them from grabbing that coveted doubles point. The Aggies would go on to win the remaining two doubles matches.
Sophomore Mary Stoina and freshmen Mia Kurpres took down Bulldog sophomores Guillermina Grant and Mai Nirundorn by a score of 6-3. Then the No. 46 team of A&M graduates Salma Ewing and Jayci Goldsmith defeated senior Ania Hertel and sophomore Dasha Vidmanova 6-4.
This gave the maroon and white a 1-0 lead heading into singles play. Their momentum would not slow down with them earning the first point of singles play. No. 120 Goldsmith defeated freshmen No. 57 Anastasiia Lopata. Goldsmith was victorious in two sets by scores of 6-3 and 6-2.
Georgia going down 0-2 did not stay in the dog house for long. They bounced back and won two straight singles matches. Kowalski took down No. 101 Smetannikov in two sets by scores of 6-2 and 6-3. Then to tie the overall match score up Grant defeated sophomore Jeanette Mireles. The Bulldog won in three sets by scores of 0-6, 6-4 and 6-1.
With the score now all tied up 2-2, the Aggies would take no time to respond. No. 3 Stoina defeated No. 8 senior Lea Ma. This was a top-10 matchup between the best women in the country. This meant the Aggies were now up 3-2 and needed just one more point to claim the victory on the day.
To secure the win for the Aggies No. 100 Kupres upset No. 60 Reasco in three highly competitive sets. The scores were 7-6, 3-6 and 7-6. Kupres talked about how amazing it felt to secure the win for the Aggies on the day.
“It was such an amazing feeling I can’t even describe it,” Kupres said. “I was so tense because of how important the match was, and everything through the match being down, up and then almost having it and letting it go, then finally, being able to clinch it for the team was so great.”
The final match on the day saw the maroon and white pile on to their victory when Ewing upset No. 10 Vidmanova. Ewing defeated one of the best players in the country in three sets by scores of 7-5. 5-7 and 7-6.
This made the overall score on the day 5-2. The Aggies successfully defended their homecourt and remained undefeated in conference play. A&M coach Mark Weaver spoke about witnessing such an exciting and intense matchup.
“That was one of the best college tennis matches I have ever been a part of, and I’ve been doing this for a really long time,” Weaver said. “It was high-quality tennis from both teams, and I thought the sportsmanship was great today. It was really high stakes, and I was really proud of all the hard work they put in, and it certainly showed it’s worth out there today.”
With the win today A&M has reached 20 wins on the season. With just one loss, this proves that the Aggies are one of the best teams in the nation and certainly look to go far in the SEC and NCAA tournaments. Georgia was handed its first loss in conference play. They now have a record of 15 wins and four losses on the year.
The Aggies’ next match is Friday, April 7. They will welcome the Ole Miss Rebels and look to continue their dominant winning streak for the rest of the season.