Tennis: Men lose, women cruise as Aggies open spring
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."
We all know Charles Dickens wasn't referring to Aggie tennis when he wrote A Tale of Two Cities in 1859, but with that opening line, he could have been.
The Aggie men's and women's tennis teams opened their spring seasons at home on Saturday within the friendly confines of the Mitchell Tennis Center. Participating in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend, both teams played host to three other schools.
The 11th-ranked women started things off at noon, taking on the #70 North Texas Mean Green. The doubles point, all-important in collegiate tennis, was never in doubt, as the Aggie women came out swinging.
The duo of Rachel Pierson and Ines Deheza, ranked 30th nationally, easily dispatched their opponents, 6-2, winning the first match of the season. Shortly thereafter, Sashka Gavrilovska and Rutuja Bhosale earned the home team its first point.
Once the singles matches started, sophomores Pierson and Bhosale continued their winning ways, taking their respective matches in two sets each. The star of the day, however, was freshman Eva Paalma.
Paalma, a native of Estonia, handled her first collegiate match with the poise of someone far more experienced. Taking her match 6-1, 6-1, she made quick work of her opposition, finishing before either sophomore and earning the respect of her teammates.
All told, the Aggie women cruised to a 4-0 victory over the Mean Green.
The Aggie men were not so fortunate.
Matched up with #37 TCU, the #10 Aggie men had a stiffer test than their female counterparts. During the doubles matches, however, you wouldn't have noticed.
#25 Harrison Adams and Shane Vinsant eased into the season with a 6-3 win over the 20th-ranked duo in the nation, and #18 Jeremy Efferding and Jordan Szabo followed suit with a victory over TCU's 15th ranked Norrie and Johnson.
That was the end of the fun though, as TCU put Texas A&M on its heels the moment the singles matches started. TCU won short matches at the 1 and 6 spots to take the lead, 2-1, and never looked back.
Jeremy Efferding won his match at the 3 spot, but at that point, the hosts were playing from behind. A&M lost at the 5 spot, and needed to win both the 2 and the 4 to take the match. Shane Vinsant was putting up a valiant fight, but Arthur Rinderknech couldn't hold on after winning the first set.
Rinderknech, a lanky freshman from Paris, France, was matched up with TCU senior Arnau Dachs. Rinderknech won a hard-fought first set, 7-5, but fell off considerably in the next two, losing both, 1-6. TCU ended up taking the match 4-2.
Whether Saturday's matches told a tale of two freshman or a tale of two teams, Aggie tennis got a little taste of the best, and worst, of times to open the 2015 season.
Texas A&M tennis returns to the hard court tomorrow. The Aggie women match up with #41 TCU, while the men take on #33 San Diego. Both matches are at noon.
We all know Charles Dickens wasn't referring to Aggie tennis when he wrote A Tale of Two Cities in 1859, but with that opening line, he could have been.
The Aggie men's and women's tennis teams opened their spring seasons at home on Saturday within the friendly confines of the Mitchell Tennis Center. Participating in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend, both teams played host to three other schools.
The 11th-ranked women started things off at noon, taking on the #70 North Texas Mean Green. The doubles point, all-important in collegiate tennis, was never in doubt, as the Aggie women came out swinging.
The duo of Rachel Pierson and Ines Deheza, ranked 30th nationally, easily dispatched their opponents, 6-2, winning the first match of the season. Shortly thereafter, Sashka Gavrilovska and Rutuja Bhosale earned the home team its first point.
Once the singles matches started, sophomores Pierson and Bhosale continued their winning ways, taking their respective matches in two sets each. The star of the day, however, was freshman Eva Paalma.
Paalma, a native of Estonia, handled her first collegiate match with the poise of someone far more experienced. Taking her match 6-1, 6-1, she made quick work of her opposition, finishing before either sophomore and earning the respect of her teammates.
All told, the Aggie women cruised to a 4-0 victory over the Mean Green.
The Aggie men were not so fortunate.
Matched up with #37 TCU, the #10 Aggie men had a stiffer test than their female counterparts. During the doubles matches, however, you wouldn't have noticed.
#25 Harrison Adams and Shane Vinsant eased into the season with a 6-3 win over the 20th-ranked duo in the nation, and #18 Jeremy Efferding and Jordan Szabo followed suit with a victory over TCU's 15th ranked Norrie and Johnson.
That was the end of the fun though, as TCU put Texas A&M on its heels the moment the singles matches started. TCU won short matches at the 1 and 6 spots to take the lead, 2-1, and never looked back.
Jeremy Efferding won his match at the 3 spot, but at that point, the hosts were playing from behind. A&M lost at the 5 spot, and needed to win both the 2 and the 4 to take the match. Shane Vinsant was putting up a valiant fight, but Arthur Rinderknech couldn't hold on after winning the first set.
Rinderknech, a lanky freshman from Paris, France, was matched up with TCU senior Arnau Dachs. Rinderknech won a hard-fought first set, 7-5, but fell off considerably in the next two, losing both, 1-6. TCU ended up taking the match 4-2.
Whether Saturday's matches told a tale of two freshman or a tale of two teams, Aggie tennis got a little taste of the best, and worst, of times to open the 2015 season.
Texas A&M tennis returns to the hard court tomorrow. The Aggie women match up with #41 TCU, while the men take on #33 San Diego. Both matches are at noon.
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