Aggies Set to Open NCAA Individual Championsips
May 19, 2015 | Women's Tennis
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Texas A&M sophomores Rachel Pierson and Saska Gavrilovska begin play in the NCAA Women's Tennis Singles Championship on Wednesday, and Pierson and partner Eva Paalma open the NCAA Women's Tennis Doubles Championship on Thursday at Baylor University's Hurd Tennis Center in Waco.
First-round opponents of the 64-player singles bracket and the 32-doubles team bracket were revealed today. Pierson, from Princeton, N.J., will face Viktoriya Lushkova of Oklahoma State at 4 p.m. in Wednesday's opening round, while Serbia native Gavrilovska will take on Taylor Ng of Dartmouth at 4:30 p.m.
In doubles, Pierson and Paalma, a freshman from Estonia, drew Desirae Krawczyk and Stephanie Vlad of Arizona State in the first round. Thursday's start time is to be determined.
Pierson, who is in her first season at Texas A&M after transferring from the University of Virginia, is ranked a career-high 26th in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) national singles rankings and a season-high No. 13 in the national doubles rankings with Paalma.
The 2015 ITA Texas Region Player to Watch and a member of the All-SEC first team, Pierson is 22-13 in singles, including an 11-8 mark against ranked opponents. She is 11-5 in doubles with Paalma, and the pair is coming off an 8-5 victory over ninth-ranked Robin Anderson and Jennifer Brady of UCLA in the round of 16 of the team championship.
Pierson is making her first appearance in the singles tournament and will be competing in her second consecutive NCAA Doubles Championship, having been a No. 5-8 seed with Cavaliers partner Julia Elbaba as a freshman in 2014. The UVA duo suffered a first-round 6-3, 7-6 (8) loss to Brynn Boren and Zoe Katz of USC in Athens, Ga.
Lushkova, a sophomore from Ukraine, is ranked 17th with a 24-7 overall singles ledger after leading the 12th-ranked Cowgirls to the round of 16 of the team championship for the first time since the tournament field was expanded to 64 teams in 1996 . Lushkova earned All-America honors as a freshman by reaching the round of 16 at the 2014 NCAA Singles Championship.
The winner between Pierson and Lushkova will take on the winner between 13th-ranked Josie Kuhlman of Florida and 35th-ranked Kyle McPhillips on Thursday.
Gavrilovska will be competing in the singles tournament for the second consecutive season and will become only the second A&M player to compete in the prestigious event as both a freshman and sophomore. Former Aggie standout and A&M's only four-time NCAA singles participant Nazari Urbina is the only other A&M player to have competed in singles in each of her first two years.
Gavrilovska is currently No. 54 in the nation in singles with an 18-12 overall record. A member of the All-SEC second team for the second consecutive year, Gavrilovska is 11-7 against ranked opponents. Last year, Gavrilovska fell to No. 9-16 seed and senior All-American Anett Schutting of California, 6-4, 6-1, in the opening round.
Ng, an automatic qualifier from the Ivy League who is riding a 10-match win streak, is ranked 97th with a 36-6 overall singles record. The winner between Gavrilovska and Ng will take on the winner between No. 8 seed Sydney Campbell of Vanderbilt and 18th-ranked Klara Fabikova of California on Thursday.
In doubles, ASU's Krawczyk and Vlad are ranked 26th with a 15-4 record. The winner between the Aggies and the Sun Devils will take on the winner between Auburn's eighth-ranked Pleun Burgmans and Emily Flickinger and Baylor's 14th-ranked Ema Burgic and Blair Shankle in the round of 16 on Friday.
All matches will be the best of three sets. Regular scoring and a 12-point tiebreaker at six games all will be used for all matches.
This is the sixth consecutive year and 14th time overall A&M has been represented in the singles championships. A&M players are a combined 13-17 in singles matches since Kim Labuschagne became the first Aggie to compete in the postseason event in 1987. Labuschagne and Cristina Sanchez-Quintanar are tied for the best finish in school history, reaching the quarterfinals in 1987 and 2012, respectively.
A&M is represented in the doubles tournament for the fourth consecutive year and the 15th time overall. Aggies are a combined 2-15 since Labuschagne and partner Karen Marshall along with the A&M duo of Vanne Akagi and Gaye Lynne Gensler first represented the Maroon and White at the 1986 NCAA Doubles Championship. Only Jessica Roland and Helga Vieira (2004) and Tiffany Clifford and Sarah Foster (2006) have reached the round of 16.
Last year, all three A&M entries were eliminated in the first round, with Gavrilovska and then-senior Cristina Stancu each suffering opening-round losses in singles, and Stancu and partner Stefania Hristov also suffering a first-round loss in doubles.
Texas A&M recently completed the team portion of the NCAA Women's Tennis Championship, finishing the season 17-6 after being eliminated by defending national champion UCLA, 4-1, in the round of 16. It marked the third consecutive year and the fourth time in program history the Aggies reached at least the round of 16.
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 all-time NCAA Individual Championship results:
2014 (University of Georgia, Athens, Ga.)
Round of 64
Anett Schutting (9-16), California, def. Saska Gavrilovska, Texas A&M, 6-4, 6-1
Zsofi Susanyi, California, def. Cristina Stancu (9-16), Texas A&M, 6-0, 6-4
Round of 32
Masa Grgan/Abigail Tere-Apisah, Georgia State def. Stefania Hristov/Cristina Stancu, Texas A&M, 6-3, 7-6 (4)
2013 (University of Illinois, Urbana, Ill.)
Round of 64
Cristina Sanchez-Quintanar (4), Texas A&M def. Courtney Collins, Memphis, 6-1, 6-3
Sabrina Santamaria (2) def. Nazari Urbina, Texas A&M, 6-3, 6-2
Round of 32
Cristina Sanchez-Quintanar (4), Texas A&M def. Maho Kowase, Georgia, 6-2, 6-1
Hermon Brhane/Whitney Ritchie (5-8), Oklahoma def. Stefania Hristov/Cristina Stancu, Texas A&M ... 5-7, 6-2, 6-4
Round of 16
Nicole Gibbs (9-16), Stanford def. Cristina Sanchez-Quintanar (4), Texas A&M, 6-4, 6-4
2012 (University of Georgia, Athens, Ga.)
Round of 64
Cristina Sanchez-Quintanar (7), Texas A&M def. Alexa Guarachi, Alabama, 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (3)
Cristina Stancu, Maryland def. Nazari Urbina, Texas A&M, 7-6 (3), 6-0
Round of 32
Cristina Sanchez-Quintanar (7), Texas A&M def. Joelle Kissell, North Carolina State, 6-2, 6-0
Lorraine Guillermo/Khunpak Issara, Pepperdine def. Cristina Sanchez-Quintanar/Wen Sun, Texas A&M ... 6-4, 6-2
Round of 16
Cristina Sanchez-Quintanar (7), Texas A&M def. Petra Niedermayerova, Kansas State, 6-4, 6-3
Quarterfinals
Allie Will (1), Florida def. Cristina Sanchez-Quintanar (7), Texas A&M, 6-3, 6-3
2011 (Stanford University, Stanford, Calif.)
Round of 64
Cristina Sanchez-Quintanar, Maryland def. Nazari Urbina, Texas A&M ... 6-3, 6-4
2010 (University of Georgia, Athens, Ga.)
Round of 64
Caitlin Whoriskey (9-16), Tennessee def. Nazari Urbina, Texas A&M ... 2-6, 6-2, 6-3
Alison Ramos, USC def. Elzé Potgieter, Texas A&M ... 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
2007 (University of Georgia, Athens, Ga.)
Round of 64
Susie Babos (5), California def. Anna Lubinsky, Texas A&M ... 7-5, 6-7 (6), 6-2
Round of 32
Caitlin Collins/Sanaz Marand, North Carolina def. Tiffany Clifford/Sarah Foster, Texas A&M ... 6-2, 6-2
2006 (Stanford University, Palo Alto, Calif.)
Round of 64
Anna Lubinsky, Texas A&M def. Gira Schofield, South Carolina ... 5-7, 6-4, 6-4
Round of 32
Amber Liu (8), Stanford def. Anna Lubinsky, Texas A&M ... 6-1, 6-2
Tiffany Clifford/Sarah Foster, Texas A&M def. Megan Moulton/Katrina Zoricic, William & Mary ... 2-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2)
Round of 16
Sara Anundsen/Jenna Long (5-8), North Carolina def. Tiffany Clifford/Sarah Foster, Texas A&M ... 6-2, 7-6 (4)
2005 (University of Georgia, Athens, Ga.)
Round of 64
Helga Vieira, Texas A&M def. Nicole Leimbach (9-16), Southern California … 7-5, 6-2
Round of 32
Helga Vieira, Texas A&M def. Zsuzsanna Fodor, Mississippi State … 5-7, 6-4, 6-2
Round of 16
Riza Zalameda, UCLA def. Helga Vieira, Texas A&M … 6-1, 7-5
2004 (University of Georgia, Athens, Ga.)
Round of 64
Dianne Hollands (9-16), Arizona def. Jessica Roland, Texas A&M … 6-0, 6-2
Round of 32
Jessica Roland/Helga Vieira, Texas A&M def. Sofia Holden/Barbora Zahnova, BYU … 6-2, 6-4
Round of 16
Maja Kovacek/Sandy Lukowski, New Mexico def. Jessica Roland/Helga Vieira, Texas A&M … 6-1, 6-4
2003 (University of Florida, Gainesville, Fla.)
Round of 64
Jessica Roland, Texas A&M def. Alicia Pillay, Tulsa … 2-6, 6-4, 6-0
Round of 32
Amber Liu (5), Stanford def. Jessica Roland, Texas A&M … 6-3, 6-3
Ziva Grasic/Kendra Strohm, Texas def. Jessica Roland/Roberta Spencer, Texas A&M … 6-4, 6-4
2002 (Stanford University, Palo Alto, Calif.)
Round of 32
Simone Jardim/Kim Niggemeyer, Fresno State def. Ashley Hedberg/Jessica Roland, Texas A&M … 7-5, 7-6 (6)
1997 (Stanford University, Palo Alto, Calif.)
Round of 32
Caroline Hora/Victoria Hunt, Miami (Fla.) def. Lisa Dingwall/Nancy Dingwall, Texas A&M … 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-2
1996 (Florida State University, Tallahassee, Fla.)
Round of 32
Bonnie Bleeker/Divya Merchant, Florida def. Wilson Pate/Nancy Dingwall, Texas A&M … 6-4, 7-5
1994 (University of Georgia, Athens, Ga.)
Round of 32
Rebecca Jensen/Nora Koves (3), Kansas def. Wilson Pate/Nancy Dingwall, Texas A&M … 7-5, 6-1
1993 (University of Florida, Gainesville, Fla.)
Round of 64
Katrin Guenther, William & Mary def. Janine Burton-Durham, Texas A&M … 6-2, 6-2
1990 (University of Florida, Gainesville, Fla.)
Round of 64
Lynn Staley, Texas A&M def. Camilla Ohrman, Pepperdine … 6-3, 6-2
Round of 32
Susan Gilchrist (9-16), Texas def. Lynn Staley, Texas A&M … 6-1, 6-2
1989 (University of Florida, Gainesville, Fla.)
Round of 32
Sharon Fletcher/Jean-Marie Lozano (5-8), California def. Robin Mawdsley/Lisa Keller, Texas A&M … 6-1, 6-1
1988 (UCLA, Los Angeles, Calif.)
Round of 32
Allyson Cooper/Stella Sampras (3), UCLA def. Gaye Lynne Gensler/Lisa Keller, Texas A&M … 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
1987 (UCLA, Los Angeles, Calif.)
Round of 64
Kim Labuschagne (9-16), Texas A&M def. Leslie Hakala, BYU … 6-0, 6-4
Round of 32
Kim Labuschagne (9-16), Texas A&M def. Mary Dineen, Rollins … 6-3, 4-6, 6-2
Round of 16
Kim Labuschagne (9-16), Texas A&M def. Ranata Baranski, Oklahoma State … 7-5, 6-4
Quarterfinals
Jennifer Santrock (9-16), SMU def. Kim Labuschagne (9-16), Texas A&M … 7-5, 6-2
1987 (University of Texas, Austin, Texas)
Round of 32
Jill Hetherington/Jan Martin (5-8), Florida def. Vanne Akagi/Gaye Lynne Gensler, Texas A&M … 6-1, 7-5
Jennifer Fuchs/Jane Thomas, UCLA def. Kim Labuschagne/Karen Marshall, Texas A&M … 6-3, 6-4
Players Mentioned
