BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The No. 2 overall seed Texas A&M women’s tennis team hosts conference foe No. 15 seed Tennessee in the NCAA Tournament Round of 16 with first serve set for 2 p.m. on Friday at the Mitchell Tennis Center.
“We’re excited to be playing at home one more time this season in front of the 12th Man,” head coach Mark Weaver said.
The Aggies (29-2, 13-0 SEC) took care of business in the opening rounds with a pair of sweeps, topping Quinnipiac and Baylor by 4-0 scores. In the teams regular-season matchup with the Volunteers (21-5, 11-2 SEC), A&M put on a dominant performance in a 6-1 victory. The Maroon & White ended doubles with the advantage, then continued to capitalize in singles with wins coming from Mary Stoiana, Mia Kupres, Jayci Goldsmith, Daria Smetannikov and Jeanette Mireles.
“The opening rounds were beneficial for our team, as we got to give our younger girls some good NCAA postseason matches,” Weaver continued. “Mia and Daria, being freshmen, handled it quite well. I think that experience will show itself this weekend.”
The Volunteers are coached by co-SEC Coach of the Year Alison Ojeda, who served as an assistant coach at Texas A&M from 2002-04, and field three First-Team All-SEC players in Daria Kuczer, Rebeka Mertena and Elza Tomase. Tennessee swept Southeastern Missouri State University in the opening round (4-0), and then followed that up besting Wake Forest (4-1) to advance to the Round of 16.
“I think it will be similar matchups from our meeting in the regular season,” Weaver said. “We played well across the board last time out, but a lot of those matches went to third sets and there was a lot of great tennis being played. It will be a battle on Friday. It will all depend on who plays better in the big moments.”
TICKETS
Fans can purchase tickets beforehand through the 12thMan Foundation, or at the main entrance of the Mitchell Tennis Center.
STREAMING & STATS
Fans can tune in to the action through the Tennis Center’s live stream, or also follow the match with live stats on 12thman.com.
MATCH STATS
- Mary Stoiana leads the team with 23 dual match singles wins.
- Stoiana leads the Aggies in singles winning percentage .920 (Min. 10 dual matches played).
- In singles, court 1 holds the highest winning percentage at .893.
- Jayci Goldsmith/Salma Ewing lead…
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