WACO, Texas –Texas A&M has advanced four players to the singles round of 16 and two teams to the doubles quarterfinals at the women's ITA/USTA Regional Championships. The Aggies were impressive on Day 2 of the tournament held at Baylor's Hurd Tennis Center, going a combined 6-1 in the singles and doubles main draws, including four singles victories in straight sets.
Aggie sophomore Rachel Pierson, the No. 4 seed in the 128-player singles draw, advanced to the round of 16 after defeating Judit Vives of TAMU-Corpus Christi, 7-5, 6-3. A&M junior Stefania Hristov also picked up a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Sabrina Federici of Texas Tech to advance and would face Pierson in the quarterfinals if both win their round of 16 matches.
A&M's Ines Deheza, the No. 6 seed, advanced with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Hristina Dishkova of SMU, and teammate Anna Mamalat also has reached the round of 16 with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Lisa Bulgakova of SMU.
Rutuja Bhosale was the only A&M player to suffer a loss in the main draw, falling to No. 3 seed and 31st-ranked Stefanie Tan of TCU, 6-2, 6-1.
In doubles, A&M's two teams each won two matches, setting up an Aggie showdown in Saturday's quarterfinals. Deheza and Pierson, the No. 1 seed in the 64-team doubles draw, defeated Jessica Birowski and Ekaterina Tugarinova of UTA, 8-4, in the round of 32 and then downed Katherine Ip and Stephanie Nguyen of Rice, 8-4 to reach the quarterfinals. They will take on the A&M duo of Bhosale and Hristov, who defeated Kaysie Hermsdorf and Lucille Pothier of Abilene Christian, 8-2, in the round of 32 and then topped Sofiko Kadzhaya and Simona Parajova of TCU, 8-7 (4) to advance.
In other action, A&M's Mason Strickland was unable to complete her consolation singles match, retiring after trailing Monica Pieratt of Texas State, 3-0, in the opening set. A&M's Saska Gavrilovska and Eva Paalma were unable to compete in their matches and were walkovers in both the singles consolation draw and the doubles main draw.
“The healthy contingent is performing extremely well so far with Pierson, Deheza, Mamalat and Hristov all playing well and getting much needed matches,” A&M coach Howard Joffe said. “For the others, it was another disappointing day of withdrawals of singles players and doubles teams due to a slew of maladies.”
The Aggies return to the court Saturday with doubles beginning at 9 a.m. and singles matches beginning at 10:45 a.m. Singles quarterfinal matches are scheduled to begin at 3 p.m.
The regional features some of the top players from across the state, with the winners advancing to face other regional winners across the country at the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships, Nov. 6-9 in Flushing, N.Y.
Live video live video from the front six courts at the Hurd Tennis Center as well as live scoring for all 12 courts is available at http://www.baylorbears.com/sports/m-tennis/live-stats-courts-only.html.
Visit 12thMan.com for more information on Texas A&M women's tennis. Aggie fans also can keep up to date with the A&M women's tennis team on Twitter by following @AggieWTEN or on Facebook at Facebook.com/AggieWomensTennis.
Day 2 Results, Friday, Oct. 17
Singles, Round of 32
#54 Rachel Pierson (A&M) def. Judit Vives (TAMU-CC), 7-5, 6-3
Stefania Hristov (A&M) def. Sabrina Federici (TTU), 6-2, 6-4
#65 Ines Deheza (A&M) def. Hristina Dishkova (SMU), 7-5, 6-2
#99 Anna Mamalat (A&M) def. Lisa Bulgakova (SMU), 6-3, 6-1
#31 Stefanie Tan (TCU) def. Rutuja Bhosale (A&M), 6-2, 6-1
Singles, Consolation Round of 32
Monica Pieratt (TXST) def. Mason Strickland (A&M), 3-0, retired (inj.)
Doubles, Round of 32
Deheza/Pierson (A&M) def. Jessica Birowski/Ekaterina Tugarinova (UTA), 8-4
Bhosale/Hristov (A&M) def. Kaysie Hermsdorf/Lucille Pothier (ACU), 8-2
Doubles, Round of 16
Deheza/Pierson (A&M) def. Katherine Ip/Stephanie Nguyen (Rice), 8-4
Bhosale/Hristov (A&M) def. Sofiko Kadzhaya/Simona Parajova (TCU), 8-7 (4)
Day 3 Schedule, Saturday, Oct. 18
Singles, Round of 16
#54 Rachel Pierson (A&M) vs. Elena Kordelaimi (UH), 10:45 a.m.
Stefania Hristov (A&M) vs. Katherine Ip (Rice), 10:45 a.m.
#99 Anna Mamalat vs. Despoina Vogasari (UH), 10: 45 a.m.
Singles, Quarterfinals: 3 p.m.
Doubles, Quarterfinals
Deheza/Pierson (A&M) vs. Bhosale/Hristov (A&M), 9 a.m