The Texas A&M women’s tennis team fell short of earning their second ranked-win of the season, as the Aggies (10-2, 1-1) fell short, 4-2, to the No. 10 Georgia Bulldogs (7-2, 2-0) on Saturday at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center in College Station.
The Bulldogs were able to establish an immediate advantage once they seized the doubles point by converting wins on courts two and three. Georgia’s No. 8 duo Mariana Gould and Katarina Jokic were able to get past Freshman Tatiana Makarova and Senior Macarena Olivares in a 6-4 struggle on court two.
Soon after, Kennedy Shaffer and Annette Goulak got the best of A&M’s freshman duo, Riley McQuaid and Dorthea Faa-Hviding, in a similar 6-4 victory on court three, which secured the doubles point for Georgia.
The Aggies narrowed the margin throughout the course of singles play, as the team was able to win over the first contested sets in four of the six courts. Even so, No. 96 Gould earned a 6-2, 6-2 victory over A&M’s Makarova on court four, which pushed Georgia out for a heavily favorable second point.
A&M won over the following two points that were to be decided, which had them leveled with the Bulldogs at two points apiece. Faa-Hviding had no problem while taking a 6-2, 6-3 win over Georgia’s Goulak on court six. For the equalizer, Olivares topped No. 53 Shaffer in a 6-2, 6-4 victory on court two.
Although the Aggies were the ones with the momentum at that point, the Bulldogs had managed to regain the lead once McQuaid surrendered her first loss of the season in a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 match to Georgia’s Vivian Wolff, on court five. Both, No. 97 Domenica Gonzalez and Eva Paalma were forced to third sets and were outdone by Jokic and Elena Christofi, respectively, after winning over their opening sets.
Texas A&M will hit the road next weekend to face No. 13 South Carolina at the Carolina Tennis Center on Friday that will be soon followed by a visit on Sunday to Florida.