ATHENS, Ga. – The 21st-ranked Texas A&M women’s tennis team posted the highest ranked win in program history, stunning No. 2 Georgia, 4-2, in both teams’ regular-season finale today at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. It was the Aggies’ first-ever victory in the 13-match series against the Bulldogs.
“It was an amazing accomplishment for our fine group of ladies,” Aggies second-year head coach Mark Weaver proclaimed. “What an incredible turn to the regular season. This is the highest ranked win and also the first time in the history of our program to beat Georgia, and to do it on their home courts is quite a feat. The girls have shown an incredible amount of heart, not only today but how we have faced much adversity throughout the season. We are looking forward to getting right back to work as we head into the SEC tournament on Thursday.”
Texas A&M ties its longest win streak of the season with its fifth consecutive victory and improves to 16-11 overall heading in the SEC Tournament, which begins Wednesday at Vanderbilt’s Brownlee O. Currey Jr., Tennis Center in Nashville. The Aggies finish the Southeastern Conference regular season 6-7 and tied with LSU for eighth place in the league standings.
Georgia, which entered its “Senior Day” 8-0 in home matches and riding an overall 10-match win streak, had its hopes of a 10th SEC regular season championship crushed with the loss. The Bulldogs fall to 17-4 overall and 11-2 in SEC matches, tying Florida for second place in the SEC standings and allowing Vanderbilt, which defeated the Gators earlier in the day, to stake claim to the outright conference title.
The Aggies, whose previous highest ranked win was at No. 3 North Carolina on Feb. 4, 2014, won the doubles point, which went down to the wire. A&M’s Saska Gavrilovska and Stefania Hristov won their team-leading fifth straight match, winning six consecutive games to defeat Marta Gonzalez and Mariana Gould, 6-1, at No. 3. The Aggies, however, were down a break and trailing 4-2 on each of the remaining two courts.
Georgia’s 11th-ranked Caroline Brinson and Ellen Perez went up a break against A&M’s fourth-ranked Rutuja Bhosale and Rachel Pierson at 2-1 at the No. 1 line, and the Aggie duo was unable to break back as the Bulldogs went on to win, 6-4, to even the race to the doubles point.
A&M’s Domenica Gonzalez and Eva Paalma found themselves down two service breaks at 4-1 before they started to rally against 29th-ranked Elena Christofi and Kennedy Shaffer at No. 2. The Aggie duo got back-to-back breaks while also holding serve to go up 5-4. A&M held a 40-30 lead in the ensuing game but hit long and into the net on back-to-back plays to allow Georgia to tie the match, 5-5. The Aggies then jumped out to a 40-love lead, but Georgia won three consecutive points to set up the winner-take-all point. A&M won the no-ad point to take a 6-5 lead. Gonzalez and Paalma also pulled out to a 40-30 lead in the next game but had to win the intense no-ad point to seal the victory and clinch the crucial point.
Georgia would win the first two singles matches to be completed to take a 2-1 lead as Marta Gonzalez defeated Macarena Olivares, 6-2, 6-2, at the No. 5 line, and 67th-ranked Shaffer followed with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Domenica Gonzalez at No. 3.
Pierson, ranked 22nd, put her match against 25th-ranked Perez back on serve, getting a break to tie the first set, 4-4. The set remained on serve and was decided by a tiebreaker. Pierson won the first two points and never trailed as she went on to win the tiebreaker, 7-4, to take the set, 7-6.
Pierson jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the second set and went on to win, 6-3, to extend her team-leading win streak to six and tie the team score, 2-2.
Paalma gutted out a 6-4, 6-4 victory over 112th-ranked Gould at No. 6 to return the lead to the Maroon and White, 3-2, before Bhosale pulled off the highest ranked win of her singles career to clinch the team’s record-setting victory.
Bhosale, ranked 79th, jumped out to a 4-1 first-set lead over 11th-ranked Christofi at No. 2, but the Bulldog fought back and put the set back on serve at 4-3. The set remained on serve at 6-5 before Bhosale broke Christofi to win the set, 7-5.
Bhosale jumped out to a deceiving 5-0 lead in the second set, but Christofi, which entered the match 16-1 in dual matches including 9-1 in SEC matches only, made a furious comeback. The Bulldog began the rally by fighting off two match points to get within 5-2. She broke again to get within 5-4 before Bhosale closed out the 7-5, 6-4 historic win.
Gavrilovska and 28th-ranked Brinson had split sets at No. 4. Brinson won the first set, 6-3, and Gavrilovska won four consecutive games to win the second set, 6-4. Brinson held a 1-0 lead in the final set when the match was stopped.
The 2017 SEC Tournament, hosted by Vanderbilt, begins Wednesday, at Vanderbilt’s Brownlee O. Currey Jr., Tennis Center in Nashville, with the championship match slated for Sunday, April 23 at noon. The Aggies are the No. 9 seed and will open against No. 8 seed LSU on Thursday at 3 p.m. See the complete bracket at 12thMan.com.
Visit 12thMan.com for more information on Texas A&M women’s tennis. Aggie fans also can keep up to date with the A&M women’s tennis team on Twitter by following @AggieWTEN or on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=tn_tnmn#!/pages/Aggie-Womens-Tennis/143874782434654
Tennis Match Results
Texas A&M vs Georgia
Apr 16, 2017 at Athens, Ga
(Dan Magill Tennis Complex)
#21 Texas A&M 4, #2 Georgia 2
Singles competition
1. #22 Rachel Pierson (A&M) def. #25 Ellen Perez (UGA) 7-6 (7-4), 6-3
2. #79 Rutuja Bhosale (A&M) def. #11 Elena Christofi (UGA) 7-5, 6-4
3. #67 Kennedy Shaffer (UGA) def. Domenica Gonzalez (A&M) 6-2, 6-3
4. #58 Caroline Brinson (UGA) vs. Saska Gavrilovska (A&M) 6-3, 4-6, 1-0, unfinished
5. Marta Gonzalez (UGA) def. Macarena Olivares (A&M) 6-2, 6-2
6. Eva Paalma (A&M) def. #112 Mariana Gould (UGA) 6-4, 6-4
Doubles competition
1. #11 Ellen Perez/Caroline Brinson (UGA) def. #4 Rachel Pierson/Rutuja Bhosale (A&M) 6-4
2. Domenica Gonzalez/Eva Paalma (A&M) def. #29 Elena Christofi/Kennedy Shaffer (UGA) 7-5
3. Saska Gavrilovska/Stefania Hristov (A&M) def. #90 Marta Gonzalez/Mariana Gould (UGA) 6-1
Match Notes:
Texas A&M 16-11, 6-7; National ranking #21
Georgia 17-4, 11-2; National ranking #2
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (5,3,1,6,2)
UGA Rankins: ITA #2, USTA #5
Texas A&M Ranking: ITA #21, USTA #24
Official: Karen Badger-Mabry T-2:54 A-515