Aggie Women’s Tennis Rallies Past Auburn

News release from Texas A&M Athletics: 

The No. 2 Texas A&M women’s tennis team rallied past Auburn, 4-3, in Thursdays SEC first place battle at the Mitchell Tennis Center.

Freshmen Anna Perelman delivered the match-clinching moment for Texas A&M (19-3, 11-1), rallying from a set down to defeat Alice Battesti 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, on court 6. The comeback sealed the victory for the Aggies and marked Head Coach Mark Weaver’s 250th career win at Texas A&M.

Doubles play opened with a tightly contested battle as the Aggies split the first two courts with Auburn (26-3, 10-2). Daria Smetannikov/Lexington Reed put the Maroon & White on the board with a 6-1 win over Ekaterina Khairutdinova/Ashton Bowers on court 3, while No. 21 Angella Okutoyi/Merna Refaat countered with a 6-4 victory against No. 54 Ilinca Amariei/Violeta Martinez on court 2.

With the point on the line, the Tigers secured the doubles win on court 1 as No. 18 Mia Kupres/Lucciana Perez fell 6-4 to No. 10 DJ Bennett/Ava Esposito.

Singles play opened with Auburn extending its lead as Refaat defeated No. 102 Martinez, 6-1, 6-1, on court 4. Texas A&M answered back on court 2 as No. 43 Kupres delivered a strong 6-3, 6-0 victory over No. 80 Khairutdinova to get the Aggies on the board. The Tigers responded on court 3, where No. 55 Okutoyi bested No. 124 Reed, 6-4, 6-1.

The Maroon & White continued to battle back on court 5, where Smetannikov earned a 6-4, 6-2 triumph over No. 44 Bowers to pull the Aggies within one. Texas A&M evened the match on court 1 as No. 1 Perez took down No. 38 Bennett, 6-2, 6-4, extending her SEC regular season winning streak to 31 matches and improving to 20-0 overall.

UP NEXT…
The Aggies return to action Saturday when they host No. 16 Florida in a 12 p.m. contest at the Mitchell Tennis Center.

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