Texas A&M
LSU
LSU Tops A&M, 4-3, at SEC Tournament
Apr 17, 2015 | Women's Tennis
COLUMBIA, S.C. – No. 6 seed and 24th-ranked LSU won the third-set tiebreaker in the last match standing to upset No. 3 seed and seventh-ranked Texas A&M, 4-3, in the quarterfinals of the SEC Women's Tennis Tournament today at the Carolina Tennis Center.
A&M falls to 15-5, and the loss snaps the team's season-best seven-match win streak as well as the Aggies' seven-match winning streak in the series against the Tigers. It also marks the first time in A&M's three-year membership in the Southeastern Conference that the Aggies haven't reached the semifinals of the tournament.
A&M won the doubles point to take a 1-0 lead. The Aggies' 75th-ranked duo of Rutuja Bhosale and Saska Gavrilovska won the first four games of their match at the No. 3 line and went on to defeat Amanda Atanasson and Skylar Holloway, 8-4.
LSU's Skylar Kuykendall and Abby Owens then held off 20th-ranked Ines Deheza and Stefania Hristov, 8-6, at No. 2, before A&M's 26th-ranked Eva Paalma and Rachel Pierson won their seventh consecutive match, closing out an 8-3 victory over LSU's 33rd-ranked Joana Vale Costa and Noel Scott at the top of the lineup to give the Aggies a 1-0 lead.
Although Pierson, ranked No. 34 in singles, put the Aggies ahead, 2-0, at the start of singles with a quick 6-4, 6-0 victory over 29th-ranked Vale Costa at the No. 1 line, LSU was swiftly building momentum after winning the first set on four of the five other courts.
Kuykendall, ranked 60th, put the Tigers within 2-1, disposing of Bhosale, 6-3, 6-1 at No. 2. LSU's Ella Taylor then tied the score at 2-2, never trailing in a 6-2, 6-4 victory at No. 5 against Paalma, who entered the contest riding a four-match win streak in singles.
The remaining three matches would be decided in three sets. Owens gave the Tigers the lead, 3-2, with a 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-2 victory over Gavrilovska at the No. 3 line, snapping the sophomore's seven-match win streak. Deheza then knotted the score at 3-3, pulling away from Scott, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, at No. 4.
The overall match winner would be decided at the No. 6 court, where Mamalat, the reigning SEC Player of Week and the winner of seven consecutive matches, had forced a third set against Holloway. Holloway had taken the first set, 7-6, eking out an 8-6 win in a tiebreaker. Mamalat then shot out to a 4-0 lead in the second set and went on to win, 6-1.
Mamalat had jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the third set and was up, 5-3, as Deheza finished her match to tie the team score. Holloway would rally, however, winning the next three games to go up 6-5. Mamalat then won the next game to tie the set, 6-6, sending the final match to a tiebreaker.
Mamalat won the first point of the tiebreaker, but it would be the only lead the junior from Philadelphia would hold. The breaker was tied for the fourth time at 4-4 before Holloway scored three unanswered points to win, 7-4, clinching the victory for the Tigers.
LSU improves to 19-9 and advances to the semifinals for only the fourth time since 1990. The Tigers take on defending SEC Tournament Champion and No. 2-seed Georgia, Saturday at noon (ET). Florida, the 2015 regular-season champion, faces No. 3-seed Vanderbilt in the other semifinal match.
The Aggies now await the announcement of the 64-team NCAA Championship bracket, which will be revealed 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.
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
Texas A&M Head Coach Howard Joffe Quotes:
Opening statement…
“Obviously it is disappointing to lose the match. I will say, though, that LSU is a very good team. I don't even know where they rank, but they are a good team, and I think probably us getting beat today is a combination of they are a very hungry team with very little to lose. We have gone from an unranked team to No. 7, and so the dynamic changes just a little bit. LSU played very, very well. They were hungry. They didn't let up, and I think that one or two of the spots in our singles were sort of soft spots. I don't know if that's the product of tiredness or stress or a combination of all of it, but the charge certainly is going to be for us to, like I've been saying for a while now, is to get some rest, and then get geared up, because we need to be able to not necessarily play better, but just contest all the matches better if we want to achieve some of our goals with the NCAA tournament.”
On the match coming down to the last match standing…
“I feel just absolutely gutted for Anna [Mamalat]. Anna got in a really quirky position. She got up, 5-2, in the final set, which looks like she's got that match won, and it has that feeling. And so her opponent just really went for everything and played four games in a row of flawless tennis. Of course that's difficult when you are trying to close a match out. I feel terrible for Anna. She spilled her guts and actually did a very, very excellent job in my view.”
On awaiting the announcement of the NCAA tournament bracket…
“The announcement, I've never been a big waiter or nail biter for it. We've got to get our house in order. We've got to get rested and healthy, and we've got to get hungry, and whoever we play, we'll do just fine if that's the case.”
#24 LSU 4, #7 Texas A&M 3
Carolina Tennis Center
Columbia, S.C.
Singles - Order of finish: 1, 2, 5, 3, 4, 6
1. #34 Rachel Pierson (A&M) def. #29 Joana Vale Costa (LSU), 6-4, 6-0
2. #60 Skylar Kuykendall (LSU) def. #54 Rutuja Bhosale (A&M), 6-3, 6-1
3. Abby Owens (LSU) def. #47 Saska Gavrilovska (A&M), 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-2
4. Ines Deheza (A&M) def. Noel Scott (LSU), 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
5. Ella Taylor (LSU) def. Eva Paalma (A&M), 6-2, 6-4
6. Skylar Holloway (LSU) def. Anna Mamalat (A&M), 7-6 (6), 1-6, 7-6 (4)
Doubles - Order of finish: 3, 2, 1
1. #26 Paalma/Pierson (A&M) def. #33 Vale Costa/Scott (LSU), 8-3
2. Kuykendall/Owens (LSU) def. #20 Deheza/Hristov (A&M), 8-6
3. #75 Bhosale/Gavrilovska (A&M) def. Holloway/Amanda Atanasson (LSU), 8-4
Team records:
Texas A&M: 15-5
LSU: 19-9
2015 SEC Women's Tennis Tournament
April 15-19, University of South Carolina, Columbia, S.C.
(All times are Eastern)
Wednesday, April 15
Match 1 #12 Auburn def. #13 Tennessee 4-3
Match 2 #14 Missouri def. #11 Arkansas 4-3
Thursday, April 16
Match 3 #9 Ole Miss def. #8 Kentucky 4-0
Match 4 #5 Alabama def. #12 Auburn 4-0
Match 5 #10 Mississippi State def. #7 South Carolina 4-3
Match 6 6 LSU def. 14 Missouri 4-1
Friday, April 17 - Quarterfinals
Match 7 #1 Florida def. #9 Ole Miss 4-0
Match 8 #4 Vanderbilt def. #5 Alabama 4-0
Match 9 #2 Georgia def. #10 Mississippi State 4-0
Match 10 #6 LSU def. #3 Texas A&M 4-3
Saturday, April 18 - Semifinals
Match 11 #1 Florida vs. No. 4 Vanderbilt noon
Match 12 #2 Georgia vs. #6 LSU noon
Sunday, April 19 – Championship Match
Final Match 11 winner vs. Match 12 winner noon
Players Mentioned
