By: Nick Whitley, Texas A&M Athletics Communications
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – For the fourth time in the 2022 dual match season, Texas A&M women’s tennis recorded a sweep of the Southeastern Conference weekly honors, the league office announced Wednesday. Junior Carson Branstine was named SEC Player of the Week for the second time this season, while Mary Stoiana claimed SEC Freshman of the Week for the fourth time.
Branstine dropped a grand total of six games across four singles sets played, defeating No 65 Selin Ovunc of Auburn by a 6-2, 6-1 margin before crushing 74th-ranked Loudmilla Bencheikh of Alabama on Sunday by a 6-1, 6-2 score. In doubles play, Branstine teamed up with freshman Mary Stoiana and notched a 6-3 decision over Auburn’s Adeline Flach and Georgie Axon to clinch the doubles point in A&M’s eventual 7-0 rout of the Tigers. Against the Crimson Tide, Branstine and Stoiana clinched the doubles point yet again following a 6-1 demolition of Anna Parkhomenko and Petra Sedlackova on court two.
Meanwhile, Stoiana continues to take an active leadership role on Texas A&M’s record-setting 2022 roster, leading the pack of singles players with a stunning 26-3 overall record and an 11-2 mark against nationally-ranked opposition. Against Auburn, Stoiana published a three-set effort against No. 81 Carolyn Ansari that saw the freshman crack the double-digit win mark against ranked opponents this year. In A&M’s second match of the weekend against Alabama, Stoiana was the first off the courts in a stunning 6-2, 6-1 demolition of No. 107 Sedlackova on court three. Stoiana, a native of Southbury, Connecticut, owns the third longest win streak on the team at 12 consecutive victories and is one of three Aggies to boast an unblemished 10-0 record against SEC singles opponents this year, all at the No. 3 line.
The Aggie women’s tennis team moved to the top spot in the SEC Standings last weekend and improved to 10-0 in Southeastern Conference play for the first time in program history. The Maroon & White have logged 10 consecutive league victories for the first time in school annals, irrespective of Texas A&M’s conference affiliation. The Aggies hold their best record all-time at 24-1 overall and have won 15 consecutive matches dating back to the team’s lone loss of the season against then-No. 4 California during the ITA National Women’s Team Indoor Championships. In the most recent ITA Collegiate Tennis Rankings sponsored by Tennis-Point, released Wednesday, Texas A&M climbed into the top-five for the first time since April 22, 2014.
No. 5 Texas A&M women’s tennis returns to the courts for the first leg of its three-match season-ending road trip, as the Aggies face off with the LSU Tigers on Friday, April 8. First serve at the LSU Tennis Complex in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is slated for noon (CT).