Texas A&M
Baylor
No. 30 Texas A&M Upsets No. 6 Baylor
Mar 19, 2015 | Women's Tennis
COLLEGE STATION – On a clear beautiful evening at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center the 30th-rnaked Texas A&M women's tennis team upset No. 6 Baylor, 4-2. The Aggies improved to 6-3 on the season while their Brazos Valley counterpart fell to 15-4 this spring.
Fans were treated to a back and forth doubles match-up to open play under sunny skies. A&M's third doubles team of Rutuja Bhosale and Saska Gavrilovska steamrolled Rachel James-Baker and Theresa Van Zyl 6-0 in under 20 minutes. The first two matches were back and forth, both reaching a decisive 4-4 mark. The green and gold duo of Leolia Jean Jean and Kelley Anderson prevailed over 32nd-ranked Rachel Pierson and Eva Paalma on doubles court two.
With the crucial doubles point in the balance and all eyes turned to the Aggies 29th-ranked Ines Deheza and Stefania Hristov. The maroon and white pair did not disappoint, claiming the final three games in the match and defeating No. 10 Ema Burgic and Blair Shankle. With the doubles point against Baylor, Texas A&M has claimed the match opening doubles point in eight of its last nine matches.
As play transitioned to singles, the match got even tighter as the two heavyweights went blow for blow. The Aggies would not back down from the loftily ranked squad from up the Brazos River. The home team prevailed valiantly in the first set on four of six courts.
Amongst the confusion of the Aggie's spirited play, the maroon and white were staked to a convincing 2-0 lead as Bhosale got the better of Jean Jean on court four. The Baylor freshman saw the wheels come off after being overruled multiple times in the back-and-forth match. As the dust settled and confusion was erased, the A&M sophomore was award the match by default with a point penalty assessed to Burgic in the first-set tiebreaker against Pierson on court one.
Baylor bounced back to claim the next two points and even the match up at 2-2, winning 6-4, 6-4 on court six by Kelley Anderson over No. 123 Hristov followed by a 7-5, 6-2 win by No. 31 Shankle over Deheza on court two.
The battle tested Aggies shook off the momentary set-back to clinch the victory and upset the No. 6 Bears. A&M's Paalma trailed 5-1 in the first set, but stormed back to win 7-5, 6-1 over Van Zyl on court five. The Aggie freshman caught fire returning nearly every shot from Van Zyl, winning 12 of the final 13 games to push the Bears to the brink.
Gavrilovska was there waiting for the final blow pushing the Bears over the edge and clinching the Aggies sixth straight win in the long and storied rivalry between the two schools. The Aggie sophomore won 7-5 in the first-set tiebreaker before putting Generette away 6-2 in the second set.
The match against the Bears was the first of three top-10 teams the Aggies will face during their home-stand, spanning only six days. The maroon and white look to defend home court Friday at 11 a.m. against No. 37 Auburn. Following the match against the Tigers on Firday, A&M will take on defending Southeastern Conference regular-season champion and ninth-ranked Alabama, Sunday at noon. The Aggies conclude the home-stand Tuesday with a make-up match against No. 2 Florida at 2 p.m.
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.
#30 Texas A&M 4, #6 Baylor 2
Singles
1. #46 Rachel Pierson (A&M) vs. #22 Ema Burgic (BU) 7-6 (7-5), 2-5, unfinished
2. #31 Blair Shankle (BU) def. Ines Deheza (A&M) 7-5, 6-2
3. #62 Saska Gavrilovska (A&M) def. #75 Kiah Generette (BU) 7-6 (7-5), 6-2
4. #57 Rutuja Bhosale (A&M) def. Leolia JeanJean (BU) 7-6, w/d
5. Eva Paalma (A&M) def. Theresa Van Zyl (BU) 7-5, 6-1
6. Kelley Anderson (BU) def. #123 Stefania Hristov (A&M) 6-4, 6-4
Doubles
1. #29 Ines Deheza/Stefania Hristov (A&M) def. #10 Ema Burgic/Blair Shankle (BU) 6-4
2. Leolia JeanJean/Kelley Anderson (BU) def. #32 Rachel Pierson/Eva Paalma (A&M) 6-4
3. Rutuja Bhosale/Saska Gavrilovska (A&M) def. Rachael James-Baker/Theresa Van Zyl (BU) 6-0
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (4,6,2,5,3)
Players Mentioned
