Texas A&M’s Townsend Advances at NCAA Singles Championships

(Sam Craft/Texas A&M Athletics)

ORLANDO – Texas A&M women’s tennis freshman Katya Townsend defeated Michaela Haet of Rice Monday afternoon in the first round of the NCAA Women’s Tennis Singles Championships at the USTA National Campus.

“Katya [Townsend] played extremely well today and set the tone right from the start,” Weaver said. “Michaela [Haet] is a very good player that she lost to just a few weeks ago, so it was nice to see the improvement Katya with an elevated level of play and execution.”

No. 52 Townsend defeated No. 63 Haet, 6-2, 6-2, to advance to Tuesday’s second round. The A&M right-hander avenged a loss at the hands of Haet in the first round of the team championship on May 4 in Austin. With the win, Townsend advances to face No. 1 and top-seeded Estela Perez-Somarriba of Miami (FL) on Tuesday.

“There was definitely a mix of nerves and excitement in the days leading up to the match and as I went on court,” Townsend said. “I just knew how much I wanted to win and show how I can play. I felt like this was a solid first round for me. Michaela [Haet] is a really good player, I played her a few weeks ago and I have a lot of respect for her.  So far it has been such a great atmosphere here in Florida for NCAA’s and I’m so pumped to compete again tomorrow. I feel like I can still raise my game even higher and I know will give it my all.”

Texas A&M’s doubles tandem of Jayci Goldsmith and Tatiana Makarova are on location hoping to receive a place in the doubles bracket, scheduled to begin play on Tuesday. The pair were listed as the second alternate when the field was announced last month.

Visit 12thMan.com for more information on Texas A&M women’s tennis. Aggie fans also can keep up to date with the A&M women’s tennis team on Twitter or Instagram by following @AggieWTEN or on Facebook at Facebook.com/AggieWTEN.

2019 NCAA Singles and Doubles National Championships
Singles
Round of 64
No. 52 Katya Townsend (TAMU) def. No. 63 Michaela Haet (RICE) 6-2, 6-2

Round of 32
No. 52 Katya Townsend (TAMU) vs. No. 1 Estela Perez-Somarriba (UM)

Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics

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