The Aggie women’s tennis team was able to take another match victory, despite an almost three-hour weather delay. The 6-0 sweep against the University of Louisiana has the team leveled with its best start in the history of the collegiate program.
The match was originally scheduled to be played at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center, on the Texas A&M campus, it was relocated to the indoor tennis facility located at the Bryan Tennis Center due to the weather.
With the delay, both respective head coaches mutually agreed to hold the competition to solely the six singles matches while only contesting the doubles matches to be played if there was a need to determine the victor. Once moved indoors, the singles matches Nos. 1-3 began, in each of the three courts available in the facility.
A&M senior Domenica Gonzalez, who is listed at No. 87 in the national singles rankings, was able to stay on an undefeated track with a 6-3, 6-0 victory against Kelly Drew on court one and update to a 7-0 record on the season while giving the Aggies the 1-0 lead. Also collecting another victory to improve to 7-0 season was senior Eva Paalma, in a similar 6-0, 6-4 victory over Dana Radovanovic on court three to deliver the Aggies a 2-0 edge.
Along with her teammates, freshman Riley McQuaid, earned another victory to stay unbeaten in her collegiate career and improve to a 7-0 season. McQuaid acquired her win while coasting 6-0, 6-1 against Elena Sava, of which pushed the Aggies out to a 3-0 advantage.
Competing on court two were a pair of unbeatens, A&M senior Macarena Olivares and Louisiana freshman Floriane Picaut, both of which started the afternoon 6-0. Texas A&M’s Olivares was able to collect the first four games of the opening set while following through to a 6-4 win.
However, Picaut did not give in and pushed through the second set, tallying two succeeding games, for a 7-5 win to drive for a deciding third set. Olivares opened the final set with winning over five of the first six games, only allowing Picaut take the next to still trail 5-2. Only before Olivares would finalize the Aggie’s team victory, she topped the freshman on a final match score of 6-2.
Freshman Iulia Ivascu was all too quick to defeat sophomore Marina Rodriguez-Garcia in two sets, 6-1, 6-1, fellow freshman Dorthea Faa-Hviding worked to a 6-0, 6-3 victory to get the better of Abby Johnson to wrap up the sweep for Texas A&M.
The Aggies have started the have found themselves in unfamiliar territory considering they have not opened a season 7-0 in two decades, the only other time they have done so before.
The Texas A&M women seek to surpass the 1998 team’s record on Wednesday as they go on the road to Houston to face the Rice Owls at the George R. Brown Tennis Center. Followed by matches next weekend against the SMU Mustangs on Saturday in Dallas and the TCU Horned Frogs in Fort Worth on Sunday.