Texas A&M
Kentucky
#10 A&M Concludes Regular Season with 4-0 Victory Over #21 Kentucky
Apr 12, 2015 | Women's Tennis
The match, which had been moved up three hours to a 9 a.m. start and was the final match of the regular season for both teams, took just under an hour and a half to complete as the Aggies notched their seventh consecutive victory and their 12th win in the last 13 matches to improve to 15-5. In addition, A&M, picked to finish fifth in the Southeastern Conference according to a January preseason poll of the league's head coaches, secured at least a share of second place in the conference standings with an 11-2 league record.
If was the fifth consecutive loss for Kentucky, which drops to 15-11 overall, including 6-7 in SEC play.
With overcast skies and the probability of rain increasing, the coaches agreed to begin with singles and stop the match as soon as a team clinched the victory with its fourth point. A&M took command early, winning the first set on all six courts.
Junior Anna Mamalat continued her winning ways and quickly tallied the first point for A&M, dropping only one game en route to a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Kate Lanier at the No. 6 singles line. It marked the seventh consecutive win for the Philadelphia native.
Rachel Pierson, ranked 39th in the nation in singles, gave A&M a 2-0 lead as she disposed of 66th-ranked Nadia Ravita, 6-2, 6-2 at No. 1. Rutuja Bhosale, ranked 52nd, followed with a 6-3, 6-1 win against Kelsey Dieters at No. 2, putting A&M up, 3-0.
Eva Paalma clinched the 4-0 victory for the Aggies, defeating Stephanie Fox, 6-4, 6-1 at No. 5. It was a career-best fourth consecutive win for the freshman from Estonia.
Two other matches were still in progress when the victory was clinched and play was stopped. A&M's Ines Deheza had won her first set, 6-3, against Mami Adachi at the No. 3 line, and Adachi held a 5-4 second-set lead when Paalma clinched.
At the No. 4 line, A&M's 45th-ranked Saska Gavrilovska opened with a 6-3 first-set win over Kirsten Lewis at No. 4. The second set was tied at 4-4, but the match would go unfinished.
Doubles matches were not contested.
The Aggies will now travel to Columbia, S.C., to compete in the SEC Tournament, hosted by South Carolina. The tournament begins Wednesday with play-in matches and concludes Sunday. The SEC will announce the tournament seeds and schedule later today once all teams have concluded play.
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.
Texas A&M Head Coach Howard Joffe quotes:
On being able to get the match in before the rain…
“Obviously we are happy we won the match but just so darn grateful that we were able to get it in, because when we get to start to talk about what happened out here today in the actual match, the story is of just the end of the season, some weary legs, some injured teams and some tired teams. The alternative, not getting this match in, was that we were going to have to play it at 7 p.m. tonight down in Houston, which is so much extra emotional and obviously physical mileage on the group. On that basis, the good play or some divine intervention, but the fact that the rain thus far has stayed away has really been a break for us.”
On the team's play going into SEC tournament…
“The thing that I'm counting on as the coach, I feel a little bit like we still as a team haven't hit our best tennis yet. There is no question as a group, we've won whatever it is [12 of our last 13] so the confidence is there, but I really feel like, and I've said this every time and it's getting to be old hat, but we need to be able to catch our breath just a little bit, and one more push and I think we really may just save our best tennis for the NCAA tournament. Your question asks about the SEC tournament, and the difficulty -- and it is not just for us but for all the teams -- it is in short order and everyone is a little fatigued and depleted, but there is no reason why we wouldn't perform very well and certainly be one of the favorite teams based on how we are playing.”
On the ability to make changes in the lineup…
“Any of the kids on our team have been recruited because they are very, very fine players. In the mix comes things like injuries and actually having to study and grow up, so there is some oscillation in form and confidence and those types of things, but anyone of our players, when they are playing well and are confident, can play in my view any position in the lineup and be successful. Kentucky had to pull their No. 1 player, so they were a depleted team, and that definitely made the score lines easier, and yet we do have a formidable team. Hopefully it just keeps rolling along as they say.”
#10 Texas A&M 4, #21 Kentucky 0
Singles – Order of finish: 6, 2, 1, 5
1. #39 Rachel Pierson (A&M) def. #66 Nadia Ravita (UK), 6-2, 6-2
2. #52 Rutuja Bhosale (A&M) def. Kelsey Dieters (UK), 6-3, 6-1
3. Ines Deheza (A&M) vs. Mami Adachi (UK), 6-3, 4-5 unfinished
4. #45 Saska Gavrilovska (A&M) vs. Kirsten Lewis (UK), 6-3, 4-4 unfinished
5. Eva Paalma (A&M) def. Stephanie Fox (UK), 6-4, 6-1
6. Anna Mamalat (A&M) def. Kate Lanier (UK), 6-1, 6-0
Doubles – not played
Team records:
Texas A&M: 15-4, 11-2 SEC
Kentucky: 15-11, 6-7 SEC
Players Mentioned
