#4 Texas A&M dances to Sweet 16 by beating Baylor, 4-1

No. 4 Texas A&M women’s tennis advanced to the Sweet 16 by taking down Baylor 4-1 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday afternoon at the Mitchell Tennis Center.

Unfazed by their slow start, the Aggies rallied after a poor showing in doubles to dominate their singles matches and reverse sweep the Bears.

In the NHL and NBA playoffs, a dominant 4-1 series win is often referred to as a “gentlemen’s sweep.”

It’s not a sweep, but the manner in which a team won is just as dominant, and the one loss is brushed off as a polite gesture to save your opponent from the embarrassment of getting swept.

While head coach Mark Weaver won’t view losing the doubles point as a polite gesture, it may have been the perfect fuel his team needed to refocus, rally and dominate Baylor in singles.

“Pretty rough start in the doubles for us,” Weaver said. “Baylor played an amazing doubles point, and we just didn’t come out sharp and ready to go. It was not to our level.”

The Bears won 6-0 on Court 5 and 6-2 on Court 3 to secure an early 1-0 lead, but that’s about where the visitors’ success ended.

A&M completely dominated from that point on.

“Great bounce back,” Weaver said. “We won six first sets. Can’t ask for much more than that. We put a lot of scoreboard pressure on them, and I’m very pleased with how we responded.”

On Court 6, Daria Smetannikov raced out to a 6-0 win in set 1, went down 3-0 in the second set and then won six of the final seven games to get the Aggies on the board.

Mia Kupres also set the tone early, winning 6-1, 6-4 to put the Maroon & White up 2-1.

“I was trying to be aggressive, move her around, be patient and build the points,” Kupres said. “She was making errors before me. I was more consistent than her, and I also served well.”

Lucciana Perez was masterful. After going down 2-1 in the opener, she won 12 of the next 17 games to cruise to a 6-4, 6-3 win to put A&M within a point of moving on.

Less than a minute later, Ilinca Amariei clinched the win with a 6-4, 6-2 emphatic win on Court 3

“We have a veteran team,” Weaver said. “Most of our girls have been there and done that, so they’re able to settle in.”

Of the 11 completed singles sets, the Aggies won 10. If that isn’t complete domination and a sign of settling in after some rough doubles play, then what is?

Early adversity could have snowballed into immense pressure for other teams, but with so many key pieces back from last year’s national runner-up squad, A&M is hungry to make another deep run in May Madness.

“Going into this tournament as a high seed, you expect to be in this place,” Kupres said. “But you have to get all the first steps done first. You have to go through every match. We’re super excited for what’s to come.”

The first two steps are complete, and now a super regional in Aggieland is their reward.

Advancing to their seventh consecutive Sweet 16, Weaver’s Aggies will host No. 13 seed USC on Friday.