On Thursday evening, following a setback of three hours due to a rain delay, No. 19 Aggie women’s tennis team fought to the finish against Mississippi State and earned a 4-3 win, advancing them to the SEC quarterfinals. With the win, the Aggies improved to 6-6 all-time in the SEC Tournament, adding to semi finals wins in 2013 and 2014 tournaments.
The day opened with A&M securing the doubles point with a 6-1 showdown by Renee McBryde and Katya Townsend over State’s Emma Antonaki and Anastasia Rentouli. To follow, the Bulldogs earned a 6-3 comeback by Lizariturry and Janina Braun over Lucia Quiterio and Riley McQuaid. The Aggies gained the lead back with a 7-5 win by No. 32 Jayci Goldsmith and Tatiana Makarova over State’s Magda Adaloglou and No. 61 Tamara Racine.
A&M stayed on par with Townsend, ranked No. 54, doubling the A&M advantage to 2-0 with a 6-2, 6-2 win over No. 67 Antonaki. The Bulldogs earned their first point of the day with a 6-1, 6-4 by Adaloglou over A&M’s Makarova.
To follow, the Aggies brought up the lead to 3-1 with a 6-2, 6-3 victory by McBryde over State’s Racine, the match became tied as Braun won over McQuaid 6-2, 6-4 and Rentouli stomped by A&M’s Goldsmith 1-6, 7-5, 6-3. With the match tied up three-all, it was up to A&M freshman, Quiterio to bring home a win.
Quiterio took the match by storm by reeling off six out of seven points to secure the tiebreaker, 7-5, and causing a third set to finish. Fighting til the very end, Quiterio topped Mississippi State’s Sara Lizariturry 6-7(4), 7-6(5), 6-2 and sent the Aggies on to the quarterfinals against the Tennessee.
“I was down 4-1 in the second set and I looked to my coach and he told me that we needed me to get this win today,” Quiterio said to 12thman.com. “He gave me a lot of confidence and I started to believe in myself. I kept fighting and finding my game. Fighting on every point got me through that match.”
With the advancement to the quarterfinals, Texas A&M will take on the Lady Vols at 2 PM Friday.