News release from Texas A&M Athletics:
The 4-seed Texas A&M Aggies advanced to the NCAA Women’s Tennis Championship Quarterfinals with a 5-1 victory over the No. 13 seed USC Trojans Friday afternoon at the Mitchell Tennis Center.
This win earned the Maroon & White their fifth straight bid to the Elite Eight, hosted this year at the University of Georgia’s campus in Athens. The Aggies will take on the winner of the North Carolina versus Michigan match.
The Trojans secured the early advantage after taking two straight courts to secure the doubles point. On court 1, the No. 27 duo of Lily Fairclough/Krisha Mahendran took court 1 over the No. 11 tandem of Mia Kupres/Lucciana Perez, 6-2. Court 3 followed shortly after, with Dani Borruel/Eugenia Zozaya defeating Daria Smetannikov/Lexington Reed, 6-4.
Moving into singles action, No. 1 Perez struck first in singles action on court 1, making quick work of No. 23 Jana Hossam, 6-1, 6-1. The Lima, Peru native extended her perfect singles streak this season to 26-0.
Right behind her was Violeta Martinez on court 5, topping Fairclough in straight sets, 6-1, 6-2. No. 71 Ilinca Amariei extended the Aggies lead to put them one away from the win after taking down No. 72 Emma Charney on court 3, 6-4, 7-5.
Reed and Kupres rounded out the scoring for the Maroon & White, both adding on points within seconds of each other. Reed clinched the match on court 4 against Mahendran, 3-6, 6-1, 7-5. Because Kupres started her match point as well, she added an additional point to the board to make it 5-1. The senior won against No. 107 Zozaya on court 2, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4.
