Aggie women get revenge on TCU, advance to Sweet 16 with 4-0 win
COLLEGE STATION - One day after the Aggie men's tennis team punched its ticket to the Sweet 16, the Texas A&M women had a chance to do the same. Though the men made fans sweat en route to a win over Oklahoma State, the women let the 12th Man breathe a little easier.
The girls faced a familiar opponent on Sunday, taking on a TCU team that beat them in January and dashed their hopes of an ITA indoor title. Motivated by the defeat, the Aggies weren't about to let it happen again.
After an easy round of doubles and a surprisingly dominant performance in singles, the Aggies sent the Horned Frogs back to Fort Worth, shutting them out, 4-0, within the friendly confines of the Mitchell Tennis Center.
Carrying the momentum from the win over Alcorn State into Sunday's match, the Aggie doubles teams had little trouble with TCU. Ines Deheza and Stefania Hristov went up early on court three and didn't look back, winning 8-2.
While the Ags' top duo, Rachel Pierson and Eva Paalma, fell 4-8, Rutuja Bhosale and Saska Gavrilovska picked up the slack, taking the match on court five, 8-4, and giving the hosts an early 1-0 lead.
Although Texas A&M won the doubles point, singles was the true test. In January, during the first match against TCU, the Aggies lost four singles matches after winning the initial point.
They made sure not to repeat that performance.
The girls in maroon attacked the Horned Frogs from the beginning, going up early on all six courts. It didn't take long before Stefania Hristov won the first set of the day, 6-2, on court six. Her teammates followed suit shortly thereafter, winning the first set on each of the remaining courts.
Hristov lead the way once again in the second set. Tied Alexis Pereira at 5-5 in the frame, the junior broke her opponent's serve for the first time in the set. One game later, Hristov closed out a 6-2, 7-5, victory to give the Ags a 2-0 lead.
Minutes later, Eva Paalma held serve on court five, finishing off a dominant 6-2, 6-2, win over Seda Arantekin. The win put Texas A&M just one point away from Waco and the program's third straight Sweet 16 appearance.
Ines Deheza provided the final blow to the Horned Frog's hopes just three minutes later. Up 6-4, 5-3, Deheza broke Palina Dubavets' serve, giving the bottom half of the Aggie line-up its third win of the day.
Stefania Hristov was happy to get back at Horned Frogs, noting that the team was looking forward to the match-up.
"I remember when we found out about the draw and we saw that we were playing TCU, all the girls, myself included, were really motivated," she said. "We really wanted to play them even before we saw the draw, because we wanted revenge."
With the 4-0 win, Texas A&M got some sweet revenge on TCU and earned it's fourth Sweet 16 trip in program history. Head Coach Howard Joffe noticed that his team was playing with a chip on its shoulder against the Frogs.
"More than anything, I'm delighted for the girls, because they -- I think if you saw the tennis today -- they came ready to play," he said. "There was a little extra fire in the belly, and they really took it to the opposition today."
The Aggies will need that fire in Waco. They'll take on the winner of today's matchup between Northwestern and UCLA, the defending national champion, on Friday at 9 AM.
The girls faced a familiar opponent on Sunday, taking on a TCU team that beat them in January and dashed their hopes of an ITA indoor title. Motivated by the defeat, the Aggies weren't about to let it happen again.
After an easy round of doubles and a surprisingly dominant performance in singles, the Aggies sent the Horned Frogs back to Fort Worth, shutting them out, 4-0, within the friendly confines of the Mitchell Tennis Center.
Carrying the momentum from the win over Alcorn State into Sunday's match, the Aggie doubles teams had little trouble with TCU. Ines Deheza and Stefania Hristov went up early on court three and didn't look back, winning 8-2.
While the Ags' top duo, Rachel Pierson and Eva Paalma, fell 4-8, Rutuja Bhosale and Saska Gavrilovska picked up the slack, taking the match on court five, 8-4, and giving the hosts an early 1-0 lead.
Although Texas A&M won the doubles point, singles was the true test. In January, during the first match against TCU, the Aggies lost four singles matches after winning the initial point.
They made sure not to repeat that performance.
The girls in maroon attacked the Horned Frogs from the beginning, going up early on all six courts. It didn't take long before Stefania Hristov won the first set of the day, 6-2, on court six. Her teammates followed suit shortly thereafter, winning the first set on each of the remaining courts.
Hristov lead the way once again in the second set. Tied Alexis Pereira at 5-5 in the frame, the junior broke her opponent's serve for the first time in the set. One game later, Hristov closed out a 6-2, 7-5, victory to give the Ags a 2-0 lead.
Minutes later, Eva Paalma held serve on court five, finishing off a dominant 6-2, 6-2, win over Seda Arantekin. The win put Texas A&M just one point away from Waco and the program's third straight Sweet 16 appearance.
Ines Deheza provided the final blow to the Horned Frog's hopes just three minutes later. Up 6-4, 5-3, Deheza broke Palina Dubavets' serve, giving the bottom half of the Aggie line-up its third win of the day.
Stefania Hristov was happy to get back at Horned Frogs, noting that the team was looking forward to the match-up.
"I remember when we found out about the draw and we saw that we were playing TCU, all the girls, myself included, were really motivated," she said. "We really wanted to play them even before we saw the draw, because we wanted revenge."
With the 4-0 win, Texas A&M got some sweet revenge on TCU and earned it's fourth Sweet 16 trip in program history. Head Coach Howard Joffe noticed that his team was playing with a chip on its shoulder against the Frogs.
"More than anything, I'm delighted for the girls, because they -- I think if you saw the tennis today -- they came ready to play," he said. "There was a little extra fire in the belly, and they really took it to the opposition today."
The Aggies will need that fire in Waco. They'll take on the winner of today's matchup between Northwestern and UCLA, the defending national champion, on Friday at 9 AM.
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