Tough start in the middle of the lineup. Need Nicole, Luci, and Mia to turn things around.

Lost 4 first sets. Jeannette won her first set. Mary is up 5-4. This is very very ouch-ville.

Jeanette and Mary are the only ones to win their first sets.

Second sets are looking better.

Neck and neck in set 2‼️

👍 0-1 🤘

1⃣Stoiana ⬆️6-4, 0-2
2⃣Khirin ⬇️4-6, 3-2
3⃣Kupres ⬇️2-6, 2-3
4⃣Perez ⬇️3-6, 3-1
5⃣Smetannikov ⬇️2-6, 3-4
6⃣Mireles ⬆️6-3, 2-2

📈 https://t.co/3krVeZ9ylc
📺 https://t.co/OJ29EP6UcL#AggieWT | #GigEm | #ITAIndoors

— Texas A&M Women's Tennis (@AggieWTEN) February 10, 2024

If Jeanette can take this second set, we have momentum on every other court.

Line 4 down 0-3 in the 3rd.

Nicole gets us on the board 1-3 tu

Mary wins 2-3 tu.

Mary wins. Down 2-3. Luci fighting back down 2-3 and Jeanette in a second set tiebreak.

Really need Jeanette to take this tiebreak.

Well. She didn't.

aggiedrjdub said:

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Well. She didn't.

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She had that second set too. Need her to keep it close and hope
Luci wins hers. Jeanette has struggled in third sets of big matches in the past.

All we can do is pray at this point.

Lucciana needs to break here or we are done as she is down 4-5.

And we lose to Texas 4-2.

Seems like it is time to make some adjustments at the bottom of the lineup in doubles (3) and singles (5 and 6).

Brutal start to the season. Strong on the top again but depth struggled.

Only real surprise to me was Mia no showing. Doubles and singles. Unusual for her - hopefully just a bad day and not injury related.

Gap said:

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And we lose to Texas 4-2.

Seems like it is time to make some adjustments at the bottom of the lineup in doubles (3) and singles (5 and 6).

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Gap - I'm not sure what else can be done. We just do not have the depth to compete with the better teams this year. I think you have to try something different at 5 and 6. Idk what else to do for doubles. It's just an absolute mess to watch.

Doubles is so disheartening tbh. Currently, we do not even have a competitive doubles lineup. I'm watching these doubles matches wondering what the hell is even going on? Do we even work on doubles as a team? When line 3 has had 5-6-7 different lineups, you know the coach is grasping. These coaches have an absolute mess to clean up for us to be remotely competitive this year. I think we now see how important Carson was for this team. Nicole is probably wondering wtf she did after being completely dominated by her previous team. Line 5 and 6 singles, mentally, they just cannot get over the hump. If I were coaching against them, I would tell my 5 and 6 to hang on bc they will fold. If we have left a scholarship on the table this is on Mark 100%. At this level, you just cannot do that and hope to be competitive. Overall, I cannot express how disappointing Aggie athletics has been this year. Just awful overall.

Ag4eva95 said:

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It's just crazy. Outside of Mary, the mental game isn't there. Did they fight, yes. Kind of. It just seemed like there could be more. There just isn't a sense of urgency from anyone other than Mary.

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Some have that dog in them, some don't. Some rise to the occasion under stress, and some fold. Some are phenomenal practice players and some just know how to fight and win no matter what the circumstances. We have a combination of all of these on our roster this year. And tbh in previous years; however, the depth of years past kind of hid these issues.

aggiedrjdub said:

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Ag4eva95 said:

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It's just crazy. Outside of Mary, the mental game isn't there. Did they fight, yes. Kind of. It just seemed like there could be more. There just isn't a sense of urgency from anyone other than Mary.

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Some have that dog in them, some don't. Some rise to the occasion under stress, and some fold. Some are phenomenal practice players and some just know how to fight and win no matter what the circumstances. We have a combination on all of these on our roster this year. And tbh in previous years; however, the depth of years past kind of hid these issues. Line 5 and 6 have truly always been a problem. The talent is there. The mental game is not.

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This and what Harry said, older girls have just not stepped up. Thank God for Mary! Joffe just seems to come up with a team that fights hard. They do not have the talent we do (in my opinion)
Although next year they will be very tough.

Ag4eva95 said:

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It's just crazy. Outside of Mary, the mental game isn't there. Did they fight, yes. Kind of. It just seemed like there could be more. There just isn't a sense of urgency from anyone other than Mary.

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The difference in Mary outside of talent and experience is, she continually looks for her opponents weaknesses and attacks them. She also has the game to change it up if something isn't working. Her serve is more of a weapon at times and she has incredible hands. She outworks, and out smarts her opponents. She isn't waiting for mistakes. She's trying to force them from her opponent. She's in incredible shape and does not physically fatigue. Makes a difference in the mental game too when you know you can keep going.

aggiedrjdub said:

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Doubles is so disheartening tbh. Currently, we do not even have a competitive doubles lineup. I'm watching these doubles matches wondering what the hell is even going on? Do we even work on doubles as a team? When line 3 has had 5-6-7 different lineups, you know the coach is grasping. These coaches have an absolute mess to clean up for us to be remotely competitive this year. I think we now see how important Carson was for this team. Nicole is probably wondering wtf she did after being completely dominated by her previous team. Line 5 and 6 singles, mentally, they just cannot get over the hump. If I were coaching against them, I would tell my 5 and 6 to hang on bc they will fold. If we have left a scholarship on the table this is on Mark 100%. At this level, you just cannot do that and hope to be competitive. Overall, I cannot express how disappointing Aggie athletics has been this year. Just awful overall.

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In Mark's defense, if he was holding the scholarship for Carson and she didn't decide until the last minute, it's not exactly 100% on him.

Carson made it publicly clear though she wasn't coming back. As much as I would have loved for her to come back, you gotta move on. His job is on the line, not Carson. I put it back on the coaches a bit. You can't bet on someone that has pro aspirations.

I love Carson, so don't take me wrong. The gambled and lost.

Ag4eva95 said:

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Carson made it publicly clear though she wasn't coming back. As much as I would have loved for her to come back, you gotta move on. His job is on the line, not Carson. I put it back on the coaches a bit. You can't bet on someone that has pro aspirations.

I love Carson, so don't take me wrong. The gambled and lost.

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This. I don't think he was holding it for Carson. It was clear thru interviews and press conferences that he knew she was moving on (unless he was just playing that game). I think the scholarship was probably for Polina and she just decided against college. There was no backup plan apparently. Of course this is all speculation but those are my thoughts.

Edited to say: perhaps when he realized he wasn't going to get Polina he made a play for Carson? Idk. Only they know, but here we are.

All they have is a scholarship for one semester. Where are they going to get someone exceptional for one semester? They were just lucky to get Selma last year. The odds were not strong of that happening again.

tennisaggie said:

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All they have is a scholarship for one semester. Where are they going to get someone exceptional for one semester? They were just lucky to get Selma last year. The odds were not strong of that happening again.

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And Selma was supposed to be all year but couldn't make it happen in the fall.

Getting an elite player for one semester is basically impossible.

tennisaggie said:

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All they have is a scholarship for one semester. Where are they going to get someone exceptional for one semester? They were just lucky to get Selma last year. The odds were not strong of that happening again.

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Many solutions. Especially with transfers being open now. College coaches face this all the time across sports.

Still shocked there wasn't a solid backup plan. Difference in a true contender and the struggles we currently face.

Mark is one of my favorite coaches, but let's call it like it is - a huge miss.

We are still very talented and the SEC is down this year. Let's hope we can build some confidence and momentum.

We didn't need an elite player, we needed someone that could play solid doubles and maybe take a spot at #6 singles. We didn't need a top #3 player. There were many options in the portal we could have pursued. Lots of girls committed even in Jan. I don't necessarily agree with this take.


This team doesn't have depth and there are no other options at this point. We have to hope for development and right now it isn't looking pretty.