FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The No. 2 Texas A&M women’s tennis team punched its ticket to the SEC Tournament final for the third-straight year, as it bested No. 4 seed Florida (4-2). The Aggies will aim to defend their title, playing the winner of Georgia/Tennessee, Sunday, April 23, at the Billingsley Tennis Center, with first serve set for 1 p.m.
The Aggies (27-1, 13-0 SEC) advanced to the SEC Tournament finals for the third-straight year in a back-and-forth semifinal with Florida (16-7, 9-4 SEC). A&M went up early following a pair of tiebreak doubles wins, and a Mary Stoiana masterclass on court 1 in singles. However, the Aggies had to battle through some adversity on the remaining courts to ensure their place in the championship.
“That was a highly entertaining college tennis match today,” head coach Mark Weaver said. “We were able to come away with a highly contested doubles point, which turned out to be crucial as we went down in five first sets early. However, we turned most of them around and found a way to get the win.”
The Maroon & White faced an uphill battle as the Gators opened doubles taking court 3. The Aggies, however, were ready as they fought all the way back and won a pair of tiebreakers to claim the point. No. 25 Jayci Goldsmith/Salma Ewing survived a tough contest on court 1 versus No. 21 Alicia Dudeney/Bente Spee (7-6(4)) to tie the teams with one match each. Moments later No. 55 Stoiana/Mia Kupres finished the job, outlasting No. 74 Carly Briggs/Rachel Gailis (7-6(3)) to secure the lead heading into singles.
Aiming to bounce back from just her second loss of the year in Friday’s quarterfinals, No. 2 Stoiana showed why she is one of the elite players in the nation. The sophomore dominated No. 25 Sara Dahlstrom on court 1 for her 20th singles dual match win of the season, doubling the Maroon & White’s advantage, 2-0.
The Gators struck back with a win on court 3, but A&M countered through No. 73 Ewing. She secured a come-from-behind win on court 2 over No. 45 Briggs (2-6, 6-2, 6-4) to claim her 15th dual match win of the season, and left the Aggies one point away from victory, 3-1.
With Florida edging closer through a win on court 4, freshman Jeanette Mireles left no doubt as she punched A&M’s ticket to the SEC Tournament finals for the third-straight year. She outlasted Spee on court 6…
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