The Texas A&M women’s tennis team looks to improve on its 2-0 record this Wednesday as it faces its first big test on the road against No. 14 Baylor at Hawkins Tennis center.
The Aggies enter this match following a dramatic 4-3 victory over Wichita State, including a singles win from freshman Dominica Gonzalez, who despite battling an injury the last few weeks was able to swing the match in favor of the Aggies. A&M head coach Mark Weaver said the win from Gonzalez was impressive — and just a flash of what she is capable of.
“She’s just an extremely talented player, and it showed today,” Weaver said. “If you’re not as talented as her, it’s very hard to play that good of tennis without being able to practice. I expect her to be a superstar for us one day.”
Weaver said his goal heading into this week’s road matchup was to get his players into the necessary mindset to compete day-in and day-out. Aggie sophomore Eva Paalma relayed that message after their opening weekend wins, describing what hergoal mindset is for all matches throughout the season.
“We are going to go after it, after every game,” Paalma said. “It doesn’t matter who we play. We always fight and do our best. It is our tone and in that way we [set] the tone.”
The Bears present the toughest opponent so far for the Aggies, and they enter Wednesday after cruising to a 3-0 start with wins over Hawaii, McNeese State and UT Rio Grande Valley.
Baylor’s solid play up to this point is highlighted by their doubles play. The Bears boast an undefeated record and Blair Shankle and Kiah Generette, the No. 12 doubles team in the country.
The Aggies boast two top-60 singles players, Saska Gavrilovska and Rachel Pierson, as well as 106-ranked Rutuja Bhosale.
The match is set to begin at 5 p.m. at the Hawkins Tennis Center.