Sam Thornton | Assistant Director, Athletics Communications – 12thman.com
ORLANDO, Fla. – The No. 2 Texas A&M women’s tennis team fell in the NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals to Stanford (4-0) Wednesday evening at the USTA National Campus.
The Aggies’ stellar season ended as A&M’s battle with the Cardinal came up short. The Maroon & White continued to raise the bar all season, accomplishing another perfect conference regular season sweep (13-0) and securing back-to-back SEC regular season titles. The Aggies continued that momentum as they reached their third-straight SEC Tournament final and made their second consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight.
In today’s match, the Maroon & White battled throughout doubles as they faced an early deficit. No. 35 Mia Kupres/Mary Stoiana knotted the teams with a dominant win on court three over Sara Choy/Alexandra Yepifanova. No. 22 Jayci Goldsmith/Salma Ewing were battling back-and-forth with No. 16 Angelica Blake/Alexis Blokhina, however, the Cardinal edged the victory and claimed the doubles point.
Stanford rattled off three singles points to decide the match, though three Aggies remained on the courts as the match was sealed. No. 2 Stoiana had just entered the third set in a ranked matchup with No. 29 Yepifanova on court 1, while fellow underclassmen Jeanette Mireles and Daria Smetannikov were also fighting on courts 5 and 6.
COACH’S QUOTES
Head coach Mark Weaver on today’s match …
“All credit to Stanford. They played consistently well on the big points which I think was the real difference in the match. The result stings right now as this team put in so much hard work, but it gives us another opportunity to learn and come back next year even stronger.”
Coach Weaver on the team’s season …
“We’ve got so much to be proud of this year. Going undefeated in back-to-back years in the SEC is an amazing achievement, and we’ve had some really tough matches. Our only losses have come against top-10 ranked opponents in championship matches, now we just need to keep putting ourselves in these positions to be able to win it all and achieve our ultimate goals.”
UP NEXT
Three Aggies return to play for the NCAA Individual Championships Monday, May 22, where Stoiana and Ewing will open their Singles Championship campaign, while Ewing/Goldsmith will compete in the Doubles Championships starting Tuesday, May 23.
MATCH RESULTS
Singles Results
(TAMU) No. 2 Mary Stoiana – (STAN) No. 29 Alexandra Yepifanova (6-4, 4-6, 1-1) unfinished
(TAMU) No. 58 Salma Ewing – (STAN) No. 18 Connie Ma (5-7, 2-5) unfinished
(STAN) No. 44 Angelica Blake Def. (TAMU) No. 68 Mia Kupres (6-3, 6-3)
(STAN) No. 84 Alexis Blokhina (TAMU) Def. No. 108 Jayci Goldsmith (6-4, 3-6, 6-1)
(STAN) Valencia Xu Def. (TAMU) Daria Smetannikov (6-3, 6-4)
(TAMU) Jeanette Mireles – (STAN) Sara Choy (6-7(3), 3-5) unfinished
Doubles Results
(STAN) No. 16 Angelica Blake/Alexis Blokhina Def. (TAMU) No. 22 Jayci Goldsmith/Salma Ewing (6-4)
(TAMU) No. 35 Mary Stoiana/Mia Kupres Def. (STAN) Sara Choy/Alexandra Yepifanova (6-2)
(STAN) Connie Ma/Valencia Xu Def. (TAMU) Gianna Pielet/Jeanette Mireles (6-2)
MATCH STATS
- Mary Stoiana leads the team with 24 dual-match singles wins.
- Stoiana leads the Aggies in singles winning percentage of .923 (Min. 10 dual matches played).
- In singles, court 1 holds the highest winning percentage at .897.
- Jayci Goldsmith/Salma Ewing lead the Maroon & White with 23 dual match doubles wins.
- In doubles, court 2 holds the highest winning percentage at .885.
- The Maroon & White boast a 20-5 record in ranked doubles matches.
NOTABLE STREAKS
- A&M reached back-to-back NCAA Elite Eights.
- The Maroon & White hold a 26-match winning streak in SEC regular season play, following their second straight undefeated campaign.
- Salma Ewing is on a seven-match winning streak, which leads the team.
TEAM NOTES
- The Aggies secured the No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, the highest in program history.
- The Maroon & White reached their 23rd-straight, 28th total, NCAA Tournament appearance.
- A&M has only allowed 27 points to its opposition all season when the Aggies win the match.
- The Maroon & White have lost only three matches on courts 1 and 3 this season.
- The Aggies have won 22 ranked matches this season, 11 of those have been the top 25.
- A&M has lost only five doubles points through 32 dual matches.
- The Maroon & White have swept 13 opponents this season.
- Jayci Goldsmith has broken the program record for both all-time doubles wins with 122 and all-time singles with 116.
- The Aggies have won back-to-back outright SEC regular season titles.
ITA RANKINGS
- The team has remained ranked No. 2 in the nation since February 28.
- Ranked in singles: No. 2 Mary Stoiana, No. 49 Carson Branstine, No. 58 Salma Ewing, No. 68 Mia Kupres, No. 108 Jayci Goldsmith and No. 119 Gianna Pielet.
- Ranked in doubles: No. 2 Stoiana/Branstine, No. 22 Goldsmith/Ewing, No. 35 Stoiana/Kupres and No. 57 Stoiana/Goldsmith.
AWARDS
- Mary Stoiana was named SEC Player of the Year, the first player to win the award in program history.
- Mark Weaver won his second consecutive SEC Coach of the Year.
- Stoiana and Carson Branstine were named to the All-SEC First Team.
- Salma Ewing, Jayci Goldsmith and Mia Kupres were awarded All-SEC Second Team honors.
- Kupres was also added to the SEC All-Freshman Team.
- Goldsmith & Ewing were named to the SEC All-Tournament team.
- Stoiana has been awarded SEC Player of the Week honors seven times this season: Feb. 1, March 1, March 8, March 29, April 5, April 12 and April 18.
- Kupres was awarded SEC Freshman of the Week honors five times this season: Feb. 15, March 1, March 15, March 22 and April 5.
- Goldsmith was named to the SEC Community Service Team, April 13.
FOLLOW THE AGGIES
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