COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The No. 22 Texas A&M women’s tennis team improved to 2-0 with a 7-0 shutout over Louisiana Tech (1-2) under cool and windy conditions today at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center.
The Aggies took an early 1-0 lead by winning the first two doubles matches to be completed. Sophomore Domenica Gonzalez and junior Eva Paalma never trailed in their 6-2 victory over Alba Escalona Perny and Sonia Chen at the No. 2 line. A&M’s 17th-ranked senior duo of Rutuja Bhosale and Rachel Pierson then clinched the doubles point, breaking away from a 2-2 tie against Jazmin Britos and Marta Sramkova by winning the next four games to take the match, 6-2.
A&M’s senior Stefania Hristov and junior Tina Bokhua were on the verge of winning their match as they were up, 5-3, and were serving for match point at 40-30 against Nadja Manjon and Jill van den Dungen at the No. 3 line, but the match was abandoned once the doubles point was determined.
Hristov, Bhosale and Bokhua all completed straight set victories in singles to give the Aggies a 4-0 lead to secure the team win. Hristov was first off, winning nine consecutive games to close out a 6-2, 6-0 victory over van den Dungen at the No. 6 line to put A&M ahead, 2-0.
Bhosale would open her match by winning the first nine games against Chen at the No. 2 line. With Bhosale leading, 6-0, 3-0, Chen held serve to notch her only game of the match. Bhosale then won the next three games to complete the 6-0, 6-1 victory, giving A&M a 3-0 advantage.
Bokhua, who at No. 57 is A&M’s highest ranked singles player, never trailed in her 6-3, 6-1 triumph over Sramkova at No. 3. The first set was on serve at 3-3 before Bokhua broke and went on to close out the set on a three-game run. Bokhua would win the final four games of the second set to close out the victory and put the Aggies up, 4-0, to clinch the team win.
The remaining three matches would be decided in three sets. Olivares got off to a slow start, dropping her first set, 6-1, to Manjon at No. 4. The Santiago, Chile, native would turn the table in the second set, winning the frame, 6-1, to force a third set. Olivares trailed the final set, 5-4, but won the next two games to take a 6-5 lead. Manjon then tied the score at 6-6 to force a tiebreaker. Olivares never trailed in the tiebreaker as she jumped out to a 4-0 lead. Olivares would go on to win, 7-2, keeping the shutout intact and putting A&M ahead, 5-0.
Pierson was at risk of seeing her four-match win streak come to an end after dropping her first set against Britos at the No. 1 line. The opening set was on serve at 6-6 to force a tiebreaker, which Britos ran away with, 7-2. Pierson regrouped and jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the second set en route to winning 6-2 to even the match at a set apiece, forcing a 10-point tiebreaker to determine the third set. Pierson held her largest lead of the tiebreaker at 7-3 and was at set and match point at 9-6 when Britos began a comeback. The Lady Techster fought off two match points to get within 9-8 before Pierson closed out the match to run her win streak to a team-best five matches and put the Aggies up, 6-0.
Paalma preserved the 7-0 shutout, overcoming two match points before getting the victory. Paalma won her first set against Perny, 6-3, but Perny came back from a 5-4 deficit to win the second set, 7-5, and force a 10-point tiebreaker for the third set. Perny took control early, jumping out to a 4-1 lead. She continued to hold the three-point cushion at 8-5. Paalma managed to get within 8-7 before Perny scored to go up, 9-7. Paalma, however, would rally, winning the next four points to close out an 11-9 victory in the tiebreaker to end the match.
Next up for the Aggies is the ITA Kick-Off Weekend, Saturday and Sunday at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center on the University of Miami campus. Four teams will be competing at the Coral Gables, Florida, site, with the winner of the single-elimination event advancing to the ITA Division I National Team Indoor Championship next month at Yale. Texas A&M faces South Alabama on Saturday at 1 p.m. (CT) and will take on either No. 12 Miami or Brown University on Sunday.
Texas A&M quotes:
Head Coach Mark Weaver:
On what he was most impressed with…
“I thought we were pretty tough today. It was cold with chilly, swirling inconsistent winds. One of my challenges with the girls was just being focused from the beginning to the end of the match. I thought we did a very good job of that and mainly just being tough. It was tough conditions to play your best tennis. Having said that, I thought Rutuja (Bhosale) and Stefania (Hristov) played excellent tennis, and it sounds like Tina (Bokhua) did as well. Those three played really well, but that didn’t necessarily hold true on the other three courts. Those three played really well and the other three just had to tough it out today. It was just one of those days, but I thought we were tough and focused all the way through.”
On the improvements he saw…
“We were a little bit sharper. We have been working on some agility drills and the fitness the last couple of days, and I thought that kind of showed today. One of the big improvements was we just weren’t nearly as nervous today. We definitely were a tad-bit nervous in our opening match against SFA on Saturday, and I think we were definitely not as nervous, and if we were we definitely handled the nerves better because this is a good team. They had a couple pretty good wins last year, and it was a tougher opponent than our opening match. I thought we played a little better, and the scoreboard showed that. It is just another step in the right direction for the Aggies.”
#22 Texas A&M 7, Louisiana Tech 0
Jan 25, 2017 at College Station, Texas
(George P. Mitchell Tennis Center)
Singles
1. #85 Rachel Pierson (A&M) def. Jazmin Britos (Tech), 6-7 (2), 6-2, 1-0 (8)
2. Rutuja Bhosale (A&M) def. Sonia Chen (Tech), 6-0, 6-1
3. #57 Tina Bokhua (A&M) def. Marta Sramkova (Tech), 6-3, 6-1
4. Macarena Olivares (A&M) def. Nadja Manjon (Tech), 1-6, 6-1, 7-6 (2)
5. Eva Paalma (A&M) def. Alba Escalona Perny (Tech), 6-3, 5-7, 1-0 (9)
6. Stefania Hristov (A&M) def. Jill van den Dungen (Tech), 6-2, 6-0
Doubles
1. (#17) Bhosale/Pierson (A&M) def. Britos/Sramkova (Tech)
2. Domenica Gonzalez/Paalma (A&M) def. Perny/Chen (Tech)
3. Bokhua/Hristov (A&M) vs. Dungen/Manjon (Tech)
Match Notes:
Louisiana Tech: 1-2
Texas A&M 2-0; National ranking #22
Order of finish: Doubles (2, 1); Singles (6, 2, 3, 4, 1, 5)
Attn: 178
Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics