The No. 7 Texas A&M women’s tennis team secured a 5-1 win over No. 63 Northwestern, Monday at the USTA National Campus.
The Aggies (11-1) opened with another fast start in doubles thanks to No. 34 Salma Ewing/Jayci Goldsmith. The pair faced Northwestern’s (4-6) Briana Crowley/Sydney Pratt and dominated the match (6-1). Mia Kupres/Gianna Pielet followed suit as they bested Kiley Rabjohns/Maria Shusharina on court 3 (6-3), which secured the doubles point for the Aggies. No. 10 Carson Branstine/Mary Stoiana held an advantage in their match with Justine Leong/Christina Hand on court 1 (5-4), but the match was left unfinished as the doubles point was sealed.
Singles started in similar fashion as No. 121 Kupres was the first on the board, winning her match on court 3 with No. 99 Hand (6-2, 6-4). The Wildcats struck back with a victory from Leong on court 2, snatching a victory over A&M’s Ewing (6-1, 6-2). The Maroon & White wasted no time regaining their two-point advantage as No. 9 Stoiana bested Shusharina on court 1 (6-3, 6-2). Clinching the match shortly after for A&M was No. 68 Daria Smetannikov on court 5, when she closed out her match with Pratt (7-5, 6-3). The coaches decided to allow court 6 to play out their match, and Jeanette Mireles secured the final victory for A&M defeating Rabjohns (6-1, 7-6(4)).
COACH’S QUOTES
Head coach Mark Weaver on today’s matchup…
“I credit Northwestern for putting up a good fight against us. They made us work for it and we will be better off because of it. This has been a highly productive trip for us, and we have gained some great experience as we will be striving to make a run for the national title come May. This has also been great preparation as we head into our opening weekend of SEC play.”
UP NEXT
The Aggies stay in Florida and head up to Gainesville for their first SEC dual match of the season. The Maroon & White face the Gators at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex, Friday, March 3 with first serve set for 4 p.m. CT.
TEAM NOTES
- Freshman Mia Kupres leads the Aggies with nine wins and remains undefeated.
- Pairing Mary Stoiana/Carson Branstine remain undefeated on the season with a 7-0 record.
- The Aggies boast an .857 winning percentage versus ranked opponents this season.
- A&M has only allowed six points to its opposition all season when the Aggies win the match.
- The Maroon & White have lost only one match on courts 3, 4 and 5 this season.
- In singles, court 4 holds the highest winning percentage at .900.
MATCH STATS
Singles Results
No. 9 Stoiana (7-1) Def. Shusharina (6-3, 6-2)
Salma Ewing (5-2) – Leong (1-6, 2-6)
No. 121 Kupres (9-0) Def. No. 99 Hand (6-2, 6-4)
No. 77 Goldsmith (6-2) – Crowley (7-5, 3-6, 1-1) unfinished
No. 68 Smetannikov (7-1) Def. Pratt (7-5, 6-3)
Mireles (3-1) Def. Rabjohns (6-1, 7-6(4))
Doubles Results
No. 10 Branstine/Stoiana (7-0) – Hand/Leong (5-4) unfinished
No. 34 Goldsmith/Ewing (8-2) Def. Crowley/Pratt (6-1)
Kupres/Pielet (5-2) Def. Rabjohns/Shusharina (6-3)
Credit to 12thman.com