Story by Nick Whitley, Texas A&M Athletics Communications
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Behind the most dominant scoring run in program history, No. 13 Texas A&M women’s tennis powered past Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Prairie View A&M in a pair of 7-0 sweeps on Thursday at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center. The Aggies are off to a 6-0 start in the 2022 campaign and have outscored their opponents by a 42-0 margin.
The Maroon & White started things off in doubles against A&M-Corpus Christi, as the No. 5-ranked tandem of Jayci Goldsmith and Tatiana Makarova dismantled Mariya Shumeika and Camille Townsend in a 6-2 outing. Carson Branstine and Mary Stoiana followed minutes later with a 6-3 result over Islander duo Emma Aucagne and Emma Honore to clinch the 1-0 lead. Jeanette Mireles and Gianna Pielet held a 5-2 lead over Leopoldine Boisseau and Kateryna Rublevska, but the match went unfinished after the Aggies took the lead.
In singles action, A&M quickly tallied up three more points to secure the match victory, as Pielet, Goldsmith and Mireles added straight-set wins in the bottom half of the lineup. No. 122 Makarova used a 10-5 performance in her third set super tiebreaker to garner the team’s fifth point of the afternoon, while Stoiana and Branstine completed the 7-0 result on courts three and one, respectively.
Following a brief intermission, Texas A&M returned to the courts to face off against Prairie View. Across three doubles courts, the Aggies surrendered three total games and cruised to an early 1-0 advantage. In singles play, the Aggies won all six first sets with Ellie Pittman, Isa Di Laura and Kayal Gownder all garnering 6-0, 6-0 victories. Pielet, Mireles and Renee McBryde each booked straight-set victories of their own, finalizing the 7-0 score.
In the history of Texas A&M women’s tennis, the 2022 team is the only one to start a season 6-0 with all six matches ending in 7-0 scores. Following Thursday’s action, the Houston native Mireles takes sole ownership of the team’s top spot in singles victories with a 12-4 overall record. Stoiana ranks second with an 11-2 mark in overall singles action. On the doubles courts, No. 5 Goldsmith and Makarova continue to pace the squad with a dominant 12-3 record when playing together. The Moscow, Russia, native Makarova is only one win shy of tying Morgan Frank for the No. 10 spot on A&M’s career doubles win chart.
UP NEXT
No. 13 Texas A&M women’s tennis returns to the courts Saturday, Jan. 29, as the Aggies host the Bryan-College Station regional as a part of the 14th annual ITA Kickoff Weekend. A&M faces off with the Princeton Tigers in their first-round matchup and will take on either South Carolina or Texas Tech on Sunday at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center.
POSTMATCH QUOTES
TEXAS A&M QUOTES
Head Coach Mark Weaver
On the lessons learned Thursday in preparation for ITA Kickoff Weekend…
“Everybody who was healthy got an opportunity to play today, and we definitely gained a lot of positive experiences out of today’s matches. We were challenged in a few positions against A&M-Corpus Christi, which we definitely needed. We haven’t been challenged a whole lot this year, so I was really glad that we were able to embrace some close matches. At the end of the day, we’re 6-0 as a team and we’ve outscored everybody 42-0, so we are a very confident team heading into ITA Kickoff Weekend. Phase one of the season is out of the way, and now we enter the next part of our journey this season. This is a great opportunity to get some good matches in and hopefully have a shot of competing at the National Indoor Championships in a couple of weeks.”
Freshman Jeanette Mireles
On the team’s confidence through the first six matches…
“I feel like the team is really coming together right now. With all of the freshmen on our team, including myself, these early matches have been a great opportunity for us to get acclimated to the college tennis environment. We have such great chemistry as a group, and our level of play has really skyrocketed over the past few months. Personally, I’m feeling really good right now and I’m looking forward to the weekend.”
TENNIS MATCH RESULTS
#13 Texas A&M 7, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 0
George P. Mitchell Tennis Center – Bryan-College Station, Texas
SINGLES
1. Carson Branstine (TAMU) def. Emma Aucagne (AMCC) 2-6, 6-1, 6-3
2. #122 Tatiana Makarova (TAMU) def. Mariya Shumeika (AMCC) 4-6, 6-1, 1-0(5)
3. Mary Stoiana (TAMU) def. Camille Townsend (AMCC) 7-5, 6-1
4. Jayci Goldsmith (TAMU) def. Emma Honore (AMCC) 6-2, 6-2
5. Gianna Pielet (TAMU) def. Leopoldine Boisseau (AMCC) 6-1, 6-0
6. Jeanette Mireles (TAMU) def. Victoire Delattre (AMCC) 6-0, 6-1
DOUBLES
1. #5 Jayci Goldsmith / Tatiana Makarova (TAMU) def. Mariya Shumeika / Camille Townsend (AMCC) 6-2
2. Carson Branstine / Mary Stoiana (TAMU) def. Emma Aucagne / Emma Honore (AMCC) 6-3
3. Jeanette Mireles / Gianna Pielet (TAMU) vs. Leopoldine Boisseau / Kateryna Rublevska (AMCC) 5-2, unfinished
Order of Finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (5,4,6*,2,3,1)
#13 Texas A&M 7, Prairie View A&M 0
George P. Mitchell Tennis Center – Bryan-College Station, Texas
SINGLES
1. Gianna Pielet (TAMU) def. Gabrielle Leslie (PVAMU) 6-2, 6-0
2. Jeanette Mireles (TAMU) def. Victoria Fuenmayor Castillo (PVAMU) 6-1, 6-1
3. Renee McBryde (TAMU) def. Ruju Chauhan (PVAMU) 6-2, 6-3
4. Ellie Pittman (TAMU) def. Mahogani Green (PVAMU) 6-0, 6-0
5. Isa Di Laura (TAMU) def. Jada Hill (PVAMU) 6-0, 6-0
6. Kayal Gownder (TAMU) def. Claudia Andrea Islas Medina (PVAMU) 6-0, 6-0
DOUBLES
1. #5 Jayci Goldsmith / Tatiana Makarova (TAMU) def. Victoria Fuenmayor Castillo / Mahogani Green (PVAMU) 6-0
2. Renee McBryde / Gianna Pielet (TAMU) def. Jada Hill / Gabrielle Leslie (PVAMU) 6-1
3. Ellie Pittman / Elise Robbins (TAMU) vs. Ruju Chauhan / Salma Sanchez Villalobos (PVAMU) 4-2, unfinished
Order of Finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (4,5,1*,6,2,3)
POSTMATCH NOTES
Texas A&M improves upon the most dominant start in program history, rising to 6-0 and outscoring its opponents by a 42-0 margin
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi falls to 4-1 overall, while Prairie View A&M drops to 0-6.
The Aggie take a 1-0 series lead with A&M-Corpus Christi and rise to 7-0 against Prairie View.
Graduate Tatiana Makarova is one win shy of tying Morgan Frank for the No. 10 spot on the program’s career doubles win chart.
The Moscow, Russia, native Makarova needs only eight more wins to achieve the same honor in singles.
Head Coach Mark Weaver rises to 116-55 in his head coaching career, which began in the 2015-16 season.