Women's Tennis: Aggies fall 3-4 as #5 Florida derails winning streak
COLLEGE STATION — For third time this week, the Texas A&M tennis team faced off against a top-10 opponent. For the second time this week, the match was decided by the final singles match.
For the first time this week, the Aggies came up short.
After taking down the likes of #6 Baylor and #9 Alabama over the course of the weekend, Texas A&M (8-4, 5-2 SEC) faced yet another high-caliber team in #5 Florida in College Station. While the Aggies fought tough, they ultimately conceded a highly contested match, 3-4.
Both teams were evenly matched throughout the day, starting with the doubles point. The Aggies played three close matches against a formidable Florida line-up, featuring three top-60 duos.
On court five, Rutuja Bhosale and Saska Gavrilovska dropped their serve early, leading to a 3-5 deficit. They fought back, however, winning the next five games in a row to take the first match of the day 8-5.
On courts one and three, the matches were even closer. While Aggies Ines Deheza and Stefania were in a match-deciding tiebreak on court one, Rachel Pierson and Eva Paalma pulled out an 8-6 victory for the Maroon and White on court three.
Both Aggie pairs took down previously undefeated and nationally-ranked Gator duos en route to clinching the doubles point.
The Aggies weren't out of the woods, though. Florida's singles line-up was just as highly touted as its doubles. With six ranked players and three in the top-25, the Gators are one of the most potent teams in the nation.
Singles started well enough for the girls in maroon, and they won three out of six first sets against the visitors. #77 Saska Gavrilovska was the first to finish, beating #24 Brianna Morgan 6-2, 6-2.
The Gators evened the score with wins on courts one and five within the next couple of minutes as #5 Brooke Austin and #37 Kourtney Keegan defeated the Ags' #32 Rachel Pierson and Paalma, respectively.
Rutuja Bhosale put the Aggies back on top in short order with a 6-3, 6-3, win over #41 Belinda Woolcock on court four. The Aggies, up 3-2, needed to win just one of the last two matches to take their third top-10 win of the week.
Ines Deheza was the next Ag to go down, dropping a 6-7, 1-6, decision to #7 Josie Kuhlman. After repeatedly having line-calls overturned and questioning the official, Deheza was penalized on match-point, resulting in a point for the Gators.
Much like in the match against Alabama on Sunday, the Aggies had to rely on the final match of the day to pull out a victory.
They weren't so fortunate this time.
Stefania Hristov opened the match on court six with a 6-2 victory in set one. Her opponent, #112 Peggy Porter, clawed back in set two, however, and forced a third.
Hristov quickly lost three games to open the third, but came back to tie the set at 3-3. From there, it was a back and forth affair, eventually resulting in a 6-6 tie. The match came down to a tiebreak, and Hristov ran out of steam, losing 2-7 and capping off the first loss in five matches for the Aggies.
Howard Joffe, the Aggies' head coach, was unhappy with the loss, but likes the way his team has been trending after a slow start to the season.
"I think what the last five days shows us, is that we can play with anyone and beat anyone," he said. "And I think that was my message to the troopers, who are very disappointed. If we can keep the way we've been going for the next six weeks, it'll be an awful good team who'll get us in the end."
The Aggies will hit the road for the rest of the week, starting with a match against Mississippi State in Starkville on Friday at 3:00 PM.
For the first time this week, the Aggies came up short.
After taking down the likes of #6 Baylor and #9 Alabama over the course of the weekend, Texas A&M (8-4, 5-2 SEC) faced yet another high-caliber team in #5 Florida in College Station. While the Aggies fought tough, they ultimately conceded a highly contested match, 3-4.
Both teams were evenly matched throughout the day, starting with the doubles point. The Aggies played three close matches against a formidable Florida line-up, featuring three top-60 duos.
On court five, Rutuja Bhosale and Saska Gavrilovska dropped their serve early, leading to a 3-5 deficit. They fought back, however, winning the next five games in a row to take the first match of the day 8-5.
On courts one and three, the matches were even closer. While Aggies Ines Deheza and Stefania were in a match-deciding tiebreak on court one, Rachel Pierson and Eva Paalma pulled out an 8-6 victory for the Maroon and White on court three.
Both Aggie pairs took down previously undefeated and nationally-ranked Gator duos en route to clinching the doubles point.
The Aggies weren't out of the woods, though. Florida's singles line-up was just as highly touted as its doubles. With six ranked players and three in the top-25, the Gators are one of the most potent teams in the nation.
Singles started well enough for the girls in maroon, and they won three out of six first sets against the visitors. #77 Saska Gavrilovska was the first to finish, beating #24 Brianna Morgan 6-2, 6-2.
The Gators evened the score with wins on courts one and five within the next couple of minutes as #5 Brooke Austin and #37 Kourtney Keegan defeated the Ags' #32 Rachel Pierson and Paalma, respectively.
Rutuja Bhosale put the Aggies back on top in short order with a 6-3, 6-3, win over #41 Belinda Woolcock on court four. The Aggies, up 3-2, needed to win just one of the last two matches to take their third top-10 win of the week.
Ines Deheza was the next Ag to go down, dropping a 6-7, 1-6, decision to #7 Josie Kuhlman. After repeatedly having line-calls overturned and questioning the official, Deheza was penalized on match-point, resulting in a point for the Gators.
Much like in the match against Alabama on Sunday, the Aggies had to rely on the final match of the day to pull out a victory.
They weren't so fortunate this time.
Stefania Hristov opened the match on court six with a 6-2 victory in set one. Her opponent, #112 Peggy Porter, clawed back in set two, however, and forced a third.
Hristov quickly lost three games to open the third, but came back to tie the set at 3-3. From there, it was a back and forth affair, eventually resulting in a 6-6 tie. The match came down to a tiebreak, and Hristov ran out of steam, losing 2-7 and capping off the first loss in five matches for the Aggies.
Howard Joffe, the Aggies' head coach, was unhappy with the loss, but likes the way his team has been trending after a slow start to the season.
"I think what the last five days shows us, is that we can play with anyone and beat anyone," he said. "And I think that was my message to the troopers, who are very disappointed. If we can keep the way we've been going for the next six weeks, it'll be an awful good team who'll get us in the end."
The Aggies will hit the road for the rest of the week, starting with a match against Mississippi State in Starkville on Friday at 3:00 PM.
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