OXFORD, Miss. – The 15th-ranked Texas A&M women’s tennis team dropped the doubles point for only the third time this season but overcame several deficits in singles to complete a 4-2 come-from-behind victory against 21st-ranked Ole Miss today at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center.
Texas A&M, the winner of seven of its last eight matches, improves to 10-4 overall, including 7-2 in Southeastern Conference matches. Ole Miss suffers its fourth consecutive loss and drops to 11-8 overall and 3-7 in SEC matches only.
“Today’s win was a total team effort, which is emblematic of the cohesive group we have this year,” A&M head coach Howard Joffe said. “Losing the doubles point on the road in concert with our six matches in just over a week certainly made it a challenge, but we have a good team with excellent character and one-by-one we were able to get back in the match.”
In doubles, A&M’s 56th-ranked duo of Eva Paalma and Rachel Pierson opened by winning the first four games en route to an 8-4 victory over Julia Jones and Natalie Suk at the No. 1 line. The Rebels, however, pulled away for a victory at No. 2 as Mai El Kamash and Erin Stephens topped 80th-ranked Rutuja Bhosale and Saska Gavrilovska, 8-5.
The doubles point came down to Court 3, where A&M’s Stefania Hristov and Anna Mamalat and the Rebels’ Iris Verboven and Marija Milutinovic were embroiled in a back-and-forth affair. A&M had retaken the lead at 7-6, but Ole Miss won the next game to knot the score at 7-7 and force a tiebreaker. The Rebels then pulled away for a 7-3 win in the tiebreaker to win the match and clinch the doubles point for Ole Miss.
Mamalat would quickly rebound in singles with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Zalina Khairudinova at the No. 5 line to tie the team score at 1-1, but Jones, ranked 14th in the nation in singles, followed with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over 32nd-ranked Pierson at the No. 1 line to put the Rebels back on top, 2-1.
Bhosale, playing the No. 2 line for only the third time this season, knotted the score at 2-2, with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over El Kamash. It was the eighth consecutive victory for the reigning SEC Player of the Week, who improved to 8-1 in conference matches.
The Rebels had won the first set on two of the three remaining matches, but A&M mounted a comeback. Hristov had lost her first set, 6-3, to Verboven at No. 6 and dropped the first two games of the second set before beginning to turn the tables. Hristov won six of the next seven games to take the set, 6-3, and force a third set. The junior from Romania jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the final frame and held on to win, 6-4, giving A&M its first lead of the day at 3-2.
Gavrilovska followed a similar path, dropping her opening set, 6-3, to Suk at No. 3. Gavrilovska also lost the first two games of the second set but came back to take her first lead at 5-4. Suk tied the set at 5-5 before Gavrilovska won the next two games to win the set, 7-5, sending the match to a decisive third set. The sophomore from Serbia trailed the final set, 4-2, before reeling off four consecutive games to complete the come-from-behind victory and clinch the hard-fought win for the Aggies.
Court 4 went unfinished with Stephens holding a 4-0 lead over Paalma in the third set. Paalma had won the first set, 7-6, winning the intense tiebreaker, 11-9. Stephens had won the final three games of the second set to win, 6-3, and force the third set.
“Rutuja continues to play superbly, Mamalat chipped in with a good win and Hristov came back from a set down to get us close,” Joffe said. “Saska was able to muster up the emotional energy to hang in a match that was looking hopeless for a while, and a couple hours later she was able to clinch the win for us.
“The most encouraging thing about this is that I truly believe we are not yet playing near our best. I know out ladies are excited to get a few days off, and over the next three weeks they will focus in on getting to their best. In that event, the outlook for the stretch is awful good.”
The Aggies return home to the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center on Wednesday, April 1, for a non-conference, make-up match against Abilene Christian. First serve is at 2 p.m. The match was originally scheduled for Feb. 21 but the match was postponed because of the forecast of inclement weather.
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#15 Texas A&M 4, #21 Ole Miss 2
Singles – Order of finish: 5, 1, 2, 6, 3
1. #14 Julia Jones (OM) def. #32 Rachel Pierson (A&M), 6-3, 6-3
2. #57 Rutuja Bhosale (A&M) def. #120 Mai El Mamash (OM), 6-4, 6-4
3. #77 Saska Gavrilovska (A&M) def. #107 Natalie Suk (OM), 3-6, 7-5, 6-4
4. Erin Stephens (OM) vs. Eva Paalma (A&M), 7-6 (9), 3-6, 4-0 unfinished
5. Anna Mamalat (A&M) def. Zalina Khairudinaova (OM), 6-1, 6-3
6. #101 Stefania Hristov (A&M) def. Iris Verboven (OM), 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
Doubles – Order of finish: 1, 2, 3
1. #56 Paalma/Pierson (A&M) def. Jones/Suk (OM), 8-4
2.El Kamash/Stephens (OM) def. #80 Bhosale/Gavrilovska (A&M), 8-5
3. Verboven/Marija Milutinovic (OM) def. Hristov/Mamalat (A&M), 8-7 (3)
Team records:
Texas A&M: 10-4, 7-2 SEC
Ole Miss: 11-8, 3-7 SEC
Pronunciations:
Rutuja Bhosale roo-tooj-ah bo-slay
Ines Deheza ee-NAY de-HAZE-uh
Saska Gavrilovska SAUSH-ka gav-rah-lov-ska
Howard Joffe JOFF-ee
Eva Paalma A-va PALM-uh
Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics