ORLANDO, Fla. – The No. 7 Texas A&M women’s tennis team travels east to play a trio of matches at the USTA National Campus, Feb. 24-27. The Aggies will face three ranked opponents in No. 45 FIU, No. 2 Ohio State and No. 63 Northwestern.
The Aggies open their campaign in Orlando, Feb. 24, with No. 45 FIU at 12 p.m. CT, the team then has a recovery day before facing No. 2 Ohio State for the second time this season on Feb. 26 at 12 p.m. CT, in their first matchup A&M swept the Buckeyes in the quarterfinals of the ITA National Indoors. Closing out the matches at the USTA National Campus the Maroon & White face No. 63 Northwestern Feb. 27, at 12 p.m. CT.
“This is an important road trip for our team, and we are very much looking forward to it,” head coach Mark Weaver said. “Florida International upset UCLA earlier this year. Ohio State is one of the best teams in the country and Northwestern has historically been one of the best programs in the nation for a very long time. We are a very confident team that is off to a great start to the season, and we are ready for the challenges out in front of us.”
The Maroon & White return to action following a historic run at the ITA Indoor National Championships in Seattle, Washington. The team reached the semifinals for the first time in program history after defeating then-No. 17 San Diego in the opening round, and followed that up with another win versus then-No. 11 Ohio State in the quarterfinals. In the semifinal battle with then-No. 2 North Carolina the Aggies came up just short, losing the match (4-2) to the Tar Heels who went on to win the championship. Following its great tournament run A&M received All-Tournament Team awards, as Carson Branstine/Mary Stoiana were awarded honors for court 1 doubles, Salma Ewing/Jayci Goldsmith earned accolades for court 2 doubles and freshman Daria Smetannikov was recognized for court 6 singles.
The Aggies also recently received national recognition from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association with new singles and doubles rankings being released. In singles Stoiana is the highest-ranking Aggie coming in at No. 9. She is followed by No. 37 Branstine, No. 68 Smetannikov, No. 77 Goldsmith, No. 95 Gianna Pielet and No. 121 Mia Kupres. The Maroon & White also boast three ranked doubles pairs with No. 10 Branstine/Stoiana leading the way,…
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