Unlike most sports, tennis is a quiet game; the only sounds are the player, the racquet, the ball and the opponent. Sometimes it makes the mistakes seem bigger, and other times it makes the wins that much louder.
In its third double header of the season and their final matchup before the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, or ITA, kickoff, the No. 13 Texas A&M women’s tennis team dominated Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Prairie View A&M with a 7-0 sweep of both teams. The double victory marks the fifth and sixth 7-0 wins in its undefeated spring season, making it the most dominant run and only such record in the program’s history.
Freshman Jeanette Mireles said that the growing experience is what is leading the team to new heights.
“I feel like the team is really coming together right now,” Mireles said. “With all of the freshmen on our team, including myself, these early matches have been a great opportunity for us to get acclimated to the college tennis environment. We have such great chemistry as a group, and our level of play has really skyrocketed over the past few months. Personally, I’m feeling really good right now, and I’m looking forward to the weekend.”
In the first match of the day, the Aggies faced off against Corpus Christi. The doubles event featured the No. 5 ranked duo junior Jayci Goldsmith and senior Tatiana Makarova who defeated Islander juniors Mariya Shumeika and Camille Townsend 6-2 to secure the first win for the maroon and white. They were quickly followed by junior Carson Branstine and freshman Mary Stoiana closing out 6-3, securing the doubles point for A&M.
A&M continued its streak into the singles lineup with freshman Gianna Pielet, Goldsmith and Mireles locked in straight-set wins. However, in a suprise turn of events, Makarova, ranked No. 122 in singles, fell in her first set, 4-6, to Shumeika. With pressure on her shoulders, Makarova managed to fight back to win the second set 6-1 and the third with a whopping 10-5 result, pulling the Aggies up 4-0 in the singles event. The match closed out with Stoiana and Branstine both defeating their opponents, locking A&M in with a 7-0 victory.
The day continued as A&M faced Prairie View A&M in its second match of the double header. Right out of the gate the maroon and white swept the court with all three pairs leading and eventually earning the 1-0 edge heading into the singles.
In the doubles event, freshman Ellie Pittman, senior Isa Di Laura and freshman Kayal Gownder all struck 6-0, 6-0 wins over their opponents. With straight-set wins from Mireles, Pielet and senior Renee McBryde, A&M officially cemented its record breaking victory. The team wasn’t the only record breaker, however, with her performance on the day, Mireles secured her spot at the top in singles victories with a 12-4 record overall. Stoiana came in number two with an 11-2 record, and the Goldsmith-Makarova pair remained dominant with a 12-3 streak.
Coach Mark Weaver said the confidence is high among the team and a new adventure is beginning.
“Everybody who was healthy got an opportunity to play today, and we definitely gained a lot of positive experiences out of today’s matches,” Weaver said. “We were challenged in a few positions against A&M-Corpus Christi, which we definitely needed. We haven’t been challenged a whole lot this year, so I was really glad that we were able to embrace some close matches. At the end of the day, we’re 6-0 as a team and we’ve outscored everybody 42-0, so we are a very confident team heading into ITA Kickoff Weekend. Phase one of the season is out of the way, and now we enter the next part of our journey this season. This is a great opportunity to get some good matches in and hopefully have a shot of competing at the National Indoor Championships in a couple of weeks.”
Next, A&M hosts the Bryan-College Station Regional on Saturday, Jan. 29. The Aggies will face the Princeton Tigers as their first event in the ITA Kickoff Weekend.