A gloomy day loomed as thunderstorms quickly approached the Hurd Tennis Center. But as the weather began to cool in Waco after a scorching-hot start, No. 2 Texas A&M women’s tennis began to heat up.
After taking a doubles point that went down to the wire, the Aggies fought back against No. 3 Michigan after dropping the first set in four of six singles matches. They secured their spot in the NCAA National Championship match at 4 p.m. on Sunday against No. 1 Georgia with a 4-1 win over the Wolverines on Saturday, May 17.
“That’s why we’re here,” junior Nicole Khirin said. “We’re here to win it all, and we love winning. Everyone loves winning. So we’re gonna go tomorrow and give our heart and keep fighting for every point.”
FINAL: @AggieWTEN 4, Michigan 1.
Nicole Khirin clinches it for the Aggies. A&M will face No. 1 Georgia tomorrow with a national championship on the line. pic.twitter.com/CdRymizwtD
— Ian Curtis (@Texiancurtis) May 17, 2025
It’ll be a rematch of last year’s national title round, and the eighth time the Aggies will have faced the Bulldogs in the past two seasons — each time this year with hardware on the line after the ITA Indoor Nationals and both the Southeastern Conference regular season and tournament titles came down to a duel between the two schools.
“It’s been a pretty amazing rivalry, one against two,” coach Mark Weaver said. “To be able to do it again, it’s pretty exciting.”
While A&M’s new pairings dropped their first doubles point against No. 10 Tennessee in the NCAA Quarterfinals on Thursday — which early on looked like it might be the case again against Michigan — a rally for the ages ensured the Aggies started their day up 1-0 over the Wolverines.
On Court 1, the A&M duo of senior Mary Stoiana and junior Mia Kupres went down 5-2 against Michigan’s pair of junior Lily Jones and freshman Jessica Bernales. The Aggies mounted a comeback, but couldn’t sustain the rally as they fell 6-4.
Next, it was the Maroon and White’s pair of junior Daria Smetannikov and freshman Lexington Reed who faced the Maize and Blue duo of sophomore Reese Miller and senior Julia Fliegner on Court 3. They flipped the result from the previous doubles match, winning their matchup 6-4 and forcing a winner-take-all showdown.
However, the Aggies’ pair of Khirin and sophomore Lucciana Perez also went down early on Court 5, trailing 4-1 to the Wolverine’s duo of sophomore Piper Charney and freshman Emily Sartz-Lunde. Khirin and Perez rallied back — despite a disputed call and several close games — to take the match 7-5 in a comeback that had the Aggie faithful roaring.
End doubles: A&M 1, Michigan 0.
That was intense. After two doubles matches ended 6-4, it came down to Nicole Khirin and Lucciana Perez, who came back from down 4-1 to clinch the doubles point with a 7-5 win that drew the 12th Man to their feet. pic.twitter.com/OffGscLEv9
— Ian Curtis (@Texiancurtis) May 17, 2025
After A&M dropped its doubles point against Tennessee on Thursday, Weaver made partner play a focus for the Aggies in yesterday’s practice.
“Michigan is one of the best doubles teams in the nation,” Weaver said. “ … We knew we needed to play well today. We definitely worked on some doubles yesterday, and it looks like it paid off. That doubles point, I think, went a long ways out there.”
The Aggies struggled in their first sets of singles play, but it didn’t stop them from jumping out to a 2-0 lead, thanks to Reed on Court 6.
Reed took a competitive first set over Michigan’s Bernales, 7-5. But the freshman from Orlando, Florida, absolutely dominated in the second frame, dishing out the day’s only bagel in a 6-0 performance that put A&M up 2-0.
Singles update: A&M 2, Michigan 0.
Have yourself a day, Lexington Reed. The freshman gives the Aggies their first singles point of the day with a 7-5, 6-0 win. pic.twitter.com/rkfkRIX663
— Ian Curtis (@Texiancurtis) May 17, 2025
“A lot of people were down, so I knew my match was really important,” Reed said. “Every match is really important, but to get that second point was obviously helping everyone keep fighting through their matches.”
Michigan would soon get on the board as Perez dropped her match 6-2, 6-4 to Sartz-Lunde.
Then, the momentum shifted towards the Aggies as both Stoiana and Khirin forced third sets. Meanwhile, Smetannikov and Kupres each found themselves locked in second-set tiebreaks.
It was Kupres who — after clinching Thursday’s NCAA Quarterfinals win over Tennessee — gave A&M a 3-1 lead as she took down Jones 6-4, 7-6 (7-3), to put the Aggies just one point away from a spot in the NCAA National Championship.
With both Stoiana and Khirin up big — 4-1 and 5-1 — it became a race to see who would clinch the Maroon and White’s spot in the national championship match.
The race was won by Khirin, with her 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 win over the Wolverines’ Charney to advance the Aggies.
“It was all heart,” Khirin said. “I think every teammate on this team tries to push themselves as much as possible, and we all wanted to go back to the finals … I’m just really proud of my team.”
For the second year in a row, @AggieWTEN will play for a national championship. pic.twitter.com/zK3e6PiHYf
— Ian Curtis (@Texiancurtis) May 17, 2025
Against Michigan, A&M was forced to battle through less-than-ideal weather conditions, with a heat index of 103 degrees Fahrenheit. At least until the storm started rolling in, with a lightning delay pausing the day’s action just minutes after Khirin clinched the win.
But for the Aggies, the heat was an advantage, Reed said.
“We’re much more used to these conditions than Michigan, so that played a factor,” Reed said. “But yeah, we’re training super hard every day in pretty much conditions like this. So us training like that and working really hard and … having that work ethic, I think that really helps us in these matches.”
Now, A&M has a night to recover before facing Georgia at 4 p.m. in what has become a heated tennis rivalry over the past few seasons. Luckily for the 12th Man, Weaver is satisfied with the way the Aggies have been playing in Waco.
“It’s an emotional battle out there, a physical battle,” Weaver said. “I think we’re just digging deep all across the board, and I think just the mental focus has been the best it’s ever been this season.”
