This weekend, the Texas A&M women’s tennis team will compete in the ITA Texas Regional, hosted by A&M at the Mitchell Tennis Center.
Beginning on Thursday and wrapping up with championship matches on Monday, this tournament will include a majority of the top teams in the state, including the University of Texas, Texas Tech, Baylor and Rice.
“I feel really good going into this regionals event,” coach Mark Weaver said. “Coming back to regionals here, I think we’re a little bit more match-tough. It’s a 128-person draw, and all eight of our singles players are seeded within the top 18 seeds, with all four of our doubles teams seeded high as well. It really does speak to the strength of our team, considering [that] all the major programs in Texas are here. We’re looking forward to have a strong showing where we’re playing our home courts and sleeping in our own beds.”
This tournament will be the final full team tournament of the season for A&M. In their recent outing at the ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa, the Aggies struggled after a weekend of dealing with weather delays and traveling all over Oklahoma. Playing the top competition in the nation, the Aggies were unable to make it out of the second round in doubles competition, while only sending one player to singles main draw competition.
In the singles competition, five Aggies will start the tournament with a first-round byes in competition, including sophomore Katya Townsend, who is ranked No. 28 in the nation. All four doubles teams also received a first-round bye, with the duo of Jayci Goldsmith and Tatiana Makarova ranked highest among the duos at No. 8 in the nation.
Weaver said he wants his team to play with confidence in this tournament.
“I just want our team to play with confidence, play their game and play on their terms,” Weaver said. “Our girls for the most part don’t all have the same exact game styles. Some hit harder, some play the points out more, some go for their shots, some move better than others. At the end of the day, I want all of our girls to play with confidence, to believe in and play their game style and play to their strengths, just compete at the highest of levels.”
The top duo team, as well as both singles finalists, automatically qualify for the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships in Arizona. This tournament, held in November, features the champions from all 12 regionals as well as several at-large bids.
With this tournament being the final competition in the fall for many players, Weaver said he wants his team to enjoy the tournament.
“The main thing is we just want the girls that compete hard to have some fun out there,” Weaver said. “For six or eight girls, this’ll be their last tournament of the fall. We’ve been working very hard and now it’s just kind of time to let it shine.”