COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Texas A&M's Rachel Pierson was named to the All-SEC first team for women's tennis, and Aggie teammates Saska Gavrilovska and Rutuja Bhosale were named to the second team, the Southeastern Conference announced today.
Playing in the nation's toughest conference, which boasts four teams in the top 10 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association national rankings, the A&M trio helped lead the No. 9 Aggies to an 11-2 record in SEC matches, tying No. 4 Vanderbilt and No. 7 Georgia for second place in the league's final standings.
Pierson, a sophomore from Princeton, N.J. who is in her first season at Texas A&M after playing her freshman campaign at Virginia, plays the No. 1 line in both singles and doubles. Currently ranked a career-high No. 26 in singles, Pierson went 8-5 in SEC matches only, including a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (4) victory over seventh-ranked Sydney Campbell of Vanderbilt to clinch the Aggies' 4-3 victory over the then-No. 8 Commodores. Pierson is tied with Bhosale for the team lead in overall singles victories with a 22-12 record.
The sophomore also leads the Aggies in doubles victories with a 20-9 overall record. Pierson went 7-3 in SEC matches with freshman partner Eva Paalma, including 6-3 at the No. 1 line. The duo, which closed out the SEC regular season riding a six-match win streak, is currently ranked a season-high No. 17 in the nation.
Gavrilovska is making her second consecutive appearance on the All-SEC second team, having also garnered the honor as a freshman. The Serbian is ranked No. 61 in singles with a 17-11 overall record, including an 11-6 mark against nationally ranked opponents. She went 7-4 in SEC singles matches, seeing action at the No. 1-4 lines.
Gavrilovska and Bhosale teamed in doubles and went 6-4 in SEC contests, including 3-0 against ranked opponents, as Texas A&M captured the doubles point in eight of 11 SEC matches.
Bhosale, a sophomore from India, led the Aggies with a 10-3 singles record in conference matches only, seeing action at the No. 2-4 lines. The SEC Player of the Week on March 25, Bhosale posted nine consecutive wins in SEC matches, including three wins against ranked opponents. She is 22-12 in all singles matches and ranked 64th in the nation.
The Aggies (15-5) now await the NCAA Tennis Selection Show and the announcement of the 64-team NCAA Championship field on Tuesday, April 28 at 4 p.m. on NCAA.com. A&M, which advanced to the Round of 16 last year after a runner-up finish in 2013, is expecting to make its 16th consecutive and 21st overall appearance in the postseason tournament.
Singles and doubles selections will be released on the NCAA website after 5 p.m. on Wednesday, April 29.
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: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=tn_tnmn#!/pages/Aggie-Womens-Tennis/143874782434654
A complete list of the SEC awards follows:
Player of the Year: Brooke Austin, Florida
Freshman of the Year: Brooke Austin, Florida
Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Emily Zabor, Alabama
Coach of the Year: Geoff Macdonald, Vanderbilt
All-SEC First Team
Maya Jansen, Alabama
Erin Routliffe, Alabama
Brooke Austin, Florida
Josie Kuhlman, Florida
Brianna Morgan, Florida
Lauren Herring, Georgia
Joana Vale, Costa LSU
Julia Jones, Ole Miss
Jasmine Lee, Mississippi State
Rachel Pierson, Texas A&M
Sydney Campbell, Vanderbilt
Astra Sharma, Vanderbilt
All-SEC Second Team
Yuliya Lysa, Arkansas
Pleun Burgmans, Auburn
Kourtney Keegan, Florida
Silvia Garcia, Georgia
Ellen Perez, Georgia
Kennedy Shaffer, Georgia
Aldila Sutjiadi, Kentucky
Skylar Kuykendall, LSU
Elixane Lechemia, South Carolina
Rutuja Bhosale, Texas A&M
Saska Gavrilovska, Texas A&M
Frances Altick, Vanderbilt
Courtney Colton, Vanderbilt
All-Freshman
Brooke Austin, Florida
Josie Kuhlman, Florida
Ellen Perez, Georgia
Kennedy Shaffer, Georgia
Arianne Hartono, Ole Miss
Astra Sharma, Vanderbilt