Texas A&M
Auburn
Aggies Tame the Tigers to Win Fourth Straight
Mar 20, 2015 | Women's Tennis
COLLEGE STATION – With rain forecast for Friday afternoon the Texas A&M women's tennis team took care of business taking less than two hours to defeat Auburn 4-0 at the George P Mitchell Tennis Center. The 30th-ranked Aggies improved to 7-3 overall and 4-1 in SEC play, while the visiting Tigers fell to 11-7 this spring and 1-5 in league play.
The decision was made to play singles matches first and only play doubles if necessary in order to increase the chance that the match would be completed.
“This year the weather has been terrible across the country, it was imperative that we get the match played today,” Texas A&M women's tennis head coach Howard Joffe said. “We have had to reschedule several matches this season and today we would not have the opportunity to reschedule if weather became an issue.”
The maroon and white wasted little time to claim the match's momentum, winning the first set on four courts. In just over an hour the home team put the first point on the board as No. 123 Stefania Hristov took 12-of-13 games from Jen Pfeifler on court six, winning 6-1, 6-0. The maroon and white clad junior moved to 11-9 on the year and 2-0 in SEC matches.
“Stefania is definitely the stalwart of our team, she may not appreciate that moniker, but it is definitely fitting,” Joffe said. “She has had a tough go of things in a couple matches recently. For her to come back after dropping a match last night was a testament to her character. The score line did not show how grizzly the match was competitively. Stefania battled and played great today, it is what we have come to expect from her and I am grateful because it is very easy for a player to go the other way.”
Just 15 minutes later, Rutuja Bhosale staked the Aggies to a 2-0 lead, besting Emily Flickinger 6-3, 6-1 on court four. The A&M sophomore improved to 6-2 in dual matches and 3-1 against league opponents.
Once again the home crowd waited nearly 15 minutes to see the next point added to the Aggie tally. In the only match-up of ranked players, No. 46 Rachel Pierson battled No. 73 Pleun Burgmans to a 6-3, 6-4 straight-set victory. Pierson is now 2-0 on court one, 4-1 against the SEC and 7-3 against ranked foes.
“Obviously Rachel's match was a big win for us,” Joffe pontificated. “Pleun [Burgmans] has really battled with whoever she has matched up against from our side for the past three years. This was a great win for Rachel. Today yet again shows that we have started to play better at each of our lines. It does not matter what line you play, if we play poorly we can get beat on any court.”
Play seemed to tighten up as No. 62 Saska Gavrilovska and Eva Paalma forced third sets on courts three and five, respectively, but neither were afforded the opportunity to finish as Ines Deheza clinched the Aggies fourth straight victory on court two. Deheza bested Andie Dikosavljevic 6-2, 7-5 rallying from a 3-0 deficit in the second set. The sophomore remained perfect at 4-0 in league action and improved to 6-2 in duals.
“I was happy getting the win from four singles victories,” Joffe added. “The way the format was today, to preserve the opportunity to play the match out, we did not want to have to go to the doubles point. I have faced that situation before in my coaching career and with Hristov finished over an hour ago having to get warm again for doubles could have gotten hairy.”
A&M will take on defending Southeastern Conference regular-season champion and ninth-ranked Alabama, Sunday at noon. The Aggies conclude the six-match 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, #37 Auburn 0
Singles - Order of finish: (6,4,1,2)
1. #46 Rachel Pierson (A&M) def. #73 Pleun Burgmans (AU) 6-3, 6-4
2. Ines Deheza (A&M) def. Andie Dikosavljevic (AU) 6-2, 7-5
3. #62 Saska Gavrilovska (A&M) vs. Reka Muller (AU) 2-6, 6-1, 4-4, unfinished
4. #57 Rutuja Bhosale (A&M) def. Emily Flickinger (AU) 6-3, 6-1
5. Eva Paalma (A&M) vs. Paula de Man (AU) 4-6, 6-1, 1-2, unfinished
6. #123 Stefania Hristov (A&M) def. Jen Pfeifler (AU) 6-1, 6-0
Players Mentioned
