Defending champs advance again as Aggies eliminate Tennessee, 4-2

WACO, Texas — The title defense continues in Waco.

On a humid Thursday at the Hurd Tennis Center, No. 2 seed Texas A&M battled through adversity from weather and an injury to continue their title defense and knock off No. 10 seed Tennessee, 4-2.

“We dug deep,” A&M head coach Mark Weaver said. “It’s not always about who plays the best tennis. It’s the heart of the champion out there. Every day, we pride ourselves on being the hardest-working team in the country, and we know we can perform in these clutch situations.”

The doubles point served as a reminder of the first meeting between the two sides in Knoxville — a 4-1 win for the Aggies after losing the doubles point — as well as a preview of how competitive the rest of this SEC rematch would be in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals.

Mary Stoiana and Mia Kupres dominated on Court 1, winning 6-0, and Tennessee responded by winning 6-1 on Court 5.

With all eyes on Court 3, Lexington Reed and Daria Smetannikov fought back from a 3-0 deficit before eventually falling 6-4 on Court 3 as the Vols silenced a pro-A&M crowd. For the second time this season, Tennessee won the doubles point and took the early lead.

“Having past success over Tennessee helps,” Stoiana remarked. “Knowing we’ve never lost to Tennessee in my time at A&M helps. We can draw on past experience out there.”

Trailing 0-1, things went from bad to worse for A&M as Stoiana lunged for a ball just two minutes into her singles match with Tennessee’s Elza Tomase. Stoiana came up limping and then went down holding her left ankle.

“I was going for a backhand and then my left ankle got caught and rolled,” Stoiana said. “At first it was a shock, but we got it taped up, and after a couple of games, I knew it was nothing too serious. It will be all good. It was adversity right away, and I just embraced it.”

The All-American got back to her usual self, winning in straight sets 7-5, 6-2.

Nicole Khirin also won in straight sets 6-2, 6-2 on Court 2 to give the Aggies some momentum in singles play and a 2-1 lead over the Vols.

As the match reached a crucial moment, all eyes turned to Court 3 where Kupres battled back from a first-set loss to win the second in a 7-5 tiebreak. After falling down 1-4 in the tiebreaker, Kupres rattled off five straight points to swing all the momentum back towards the Aggies.

“I was definitely feeling it in that tiebreak,” Kupres said. “Coach (James Wilson) told me to go for it, and I did, and it worked well, so I’m thanking him for that.”

Court 6 was a match of runs, with Reed coming out of the gate hot, winning the first set 6-3 and leading 3-0 in the second set. Tennessee’s Saray Yli-Piipari then won seven straight games to take the second and a 1-0 lead in a decisive third set.

“It was an up-and-down match,” Weaver said about Reed. “She was dominating, and then she was backing away. I told her to go after her serve. At the end, that was the most dominating service game she had the whole match.”

Reed responded by winning five games in a row to win the third point for the Aggies, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.

Callie Garner, TexAgs

Mia Kupres’ 2-1 vicory clinched the Aggies’ 4-2 victory over Tennessee and moved the Maroon & White onto the Final Four

Leading 3-1 and needing just one more point to reach the semifinals, A&M turned to Kupres, who was riding the momentum from her comeback in the second set tiebreaker.

At a decisive point in her match, a loud siren rang out through the Hurd Tennis Center to signify a 30-minute lightning delay.

“There was a lot of pressure in my match, and I was feeling it,” Kupres said. “The delay gave me a chance to find some clarity, and I came out playing more aggressive tennis.”

Kupres was down 3-2 coming out of the delay, but she reversed the momentum of her match and ultimately ran away with the third set to clinch the win for the Aggies.

“We’ve played so many tough matches this season,” Kupres said. “We know that nobody is going to stop fighting, and we proved that today. Absolutely everyone refused to lose.”

Survive and advance is the name of the game, and that’s exactly what the Maroon & White did after four hours, weathering the storm of a lightning delay and injury to their star. Now, a trip to their second consecutive NCAA Tournament semifinals is in store for Weaver’s Aggies in Waco.

“It’s awesome to be back in the Final Four, and we’re really proud of ourselves as a group,” Stoiana said. “It’s really great that we can draw from last year and past experiences. We’re looking forward to the next match.”

They’ll face the winner of No. 3 seed Michigan and Oklahoma State in the Final Four on Saturday at 1 p.m. CT.