Aggie Women Advance to National Indoor Championship

Sunday, January 24

College Station

12:00 PM

Texas A&M

Wichita State

Jan 24, 2016 | Women's Tennis

By: Texas A&M Media Relations

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Texas A&M secured its spot at the ITA National Indoor Championship after sophomore Eva Paalma held off Wichita State's Alexsandra Trifunovic, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5, in the last match standing to clinch the 10^th-ranked Aggies' thrilling 4-3 victory over the 37^th-ranked Shockers this afternoon at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center.

The 16-team national tournament will be played Feb. 5-8, at the University of Wisconsin's Nielsen Tennis Stadium in Madison, Wis.

The Aggies (2-0) would have to fight from behind after dropping the first two matches to be completed in the tightly contested race for the doubles point. WSU's Giulia Guidetti and Luca Pump gave the Shockers the early edge, overcoming a 4-2 deficit against Ines Deheza and Saska Gavrilovska and fighting off a match point at 5-4 en route to the 7-5 victory at the No. 3 line.

The doubles point was decided in a tiebreaker at the No. 1 line. The match between A&M's Paalma and Rachel Pierson and WSU's Gabriela Porubin and Julia Shiller was on serve at 6-6, forcing the tiebreaker. A&M held a 4-2 lead in the extra frame, but the Shockers duo went on to outscore A&M, 5-2, to win the point and take the match 7-6, giving WSU the 1-0 lead heading into singles.

The No. 2 match between A&M's Rutuja Bhosale and Anna Mamalat and WSU's Rebecca Pedrazzi and Trifunovic was stopped with the Shockers duo up a service break at 6-5 when the doubles point was decided.

Gavrilovska, ranked 54^th in the nation in singles, would even the score once singles began, winning four consecutive games to close out a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Schiller at the No. 2 line.

Bhosale, ranked 106^th, gave the Aggies their first lead with a win over Pedrazzi at No. 3. Bhosale, a junior from Pune, India, cruised to a 6-0 first-set victory and then broke away from a 2-2 tie to win the second set, 6-3, to put A&M ahead, 2-1.

The lead was short lived as 71^st-ranked Porubin topped 58^th-ranked Pierson, 6-4, 6-1 at No. 1 to tie the score, 2-2. Guidetti then gave the Shockers a 3-2 edge, overcoming a 4-2 first-set deficit against Mamalat to win the match, 7-5, 6-1 at No. 6.

If A&M were to win the match and advance, it had to win the remaining two matches, both of which went to a third set. The Aggies' lone freshman Domenica Gonzalez, making her A&M debut in a dual match, had dropped her first set, 7-5, to Abby Stevens at the No. 5 line. Gonzalez, from Guayaquil, Ecuador, then lost the opening game of the second set before reeling off six consecutive games to take the set, 6-1, and force a third set.

Gonzalez appeared to retain the momentum as she jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the final set. Stevens, however, made things interesting as she rallied to win three consecutive games to get within 5-4. For at least the third time in the final set, the next game was tied at 40-40. With the no-ad scoring format in effect, Gonzalez ended Stevens' comeback threat by winning the decisive point to close out the 6-4 third-set victory, evening the overall team score at 3-3.

Paalma had gone up a break in the first set at 5-3, but Trifunovic broke back to get within 5-4 before Paalma held serve to win the opening set, 6-4. The second set was tied at 3-3 before Trifunovic won three consecutive games to win the set, 6-3, and even the match at 1-1. Paalma was up a break at 4-3 in the final set, but Trifunovic broke back to tie the score at 4-4 and then held serve to go up 5-4. Paalma, who had started to cramp, held to tie the score at 5-5 and then won a no-ad point in the following set to go up a break, 6-5. Paalma then held serve to close out a 7-5 third-set victory to clinch the win for A&M and return the Aggies to the national tournament after falling in the ITA Kick-Off championship match a year ago.

The Aggies will prime for the tournament with two challenging road matches. A&M will take on former Big 12 Conference foe and 14^th-ranked Baylor on Wednesday at 5 p.m. at the Hurd Indoor Tennis Center in Waco, Texas, and then face No. 5 North Carolina on Sunday, Jan. 31 in Chapel Hill, N.C., before heading to Wisconsin.

Texas A&M quotes:

Head Coach Mark Weaver:

Opening statement…
"I am so proud of the girls. This is kind of the way the schedule is set up. I knew we had a lot against us with this being our second match of the year -- I think it's [Wichita State's] fifth match. You couldn't give enough credit to our girls. I am so proud of them. They came in and definitely weren't match tough, and today was just all about being match tough. It was just an incredible performance. Wichita State is a very good team. They're use to winning a lot of matches. I think they went 24-4 last year, so they know how to win. We had a lot against us today and just had an incredible, gutsy performance by Eva Paalma and also by Domenica Gonzalez. As a freshman, that's a pretty impressive performance to come out on her first match and win such a big match being a set down."

On Domenica Gonzalez's performance…
"To her defense she has hardly practiced the last few weeks. She's had an injury, so it's actually an even more incredible performance from the context that she's hardly practice since we've been back this January. So it's just an amazing effort. She's just an extremely talented player, and it showed today. If you're not as talented as her, it's very hard to come out and play that good of tennis without being able to practice. She's a lot of fun to watch. I expect her to be a superstar for us one day."

On the match being so close…
"Honestly, I'm not surprised at all it was this close. I'm just happy that we could squeak it out. I was expecting a very difficult match today, so it actually was no surprise that we were in a battle. It was maybe a little closer than I thought it would be, but they're an excellent team and they gave us all that we could handle."

On the doubles point being so close…
"Literally every point today, every single doubles match literally came down to one point. They were just a ton of no-ads that didn't go are way. We definitely had our chances to win the doubles point, and they were able to bounce back…The good news is we are a veteran team, and I think it really showed there. I know Domenica Gonzalez is a freshman, but she had a very gutsy performance."

On winning the championship match after losing it last year…
"We need to do a better job with our scheduling, which Coach [Patrick] Sullivan and I are working on, adding a match before this event next year. Last year with TCU, we weren't ready to go, and it almost caught us today. We've actually had two great weeks of practice. It's the only way we caught up. I definitely had that thought in my mind with the TCU match, and just how to prepare the girls. I don't think the practices could've gone much better, but we are going to do a better job of scheduling next year. I think the good news is the Kick-Off is a week later, so we are going to schedule a home match before, here in town. I think that will help us. If we are fortunate to host, that will definitely help us."

On Paalma's match…
"I didn't see a ton of that match but it did seem like that had similar games. I just kind of caught the tail end of that, and I could tell Patrick Sullivan did an excellent job there. Eva was really good at listening, and I could just tell they had really good chemistry working there. I didn't see enough of the match to really say, but it looked like they were pretty similar players. I think the determining factor was just that Eva was able to pull the trigger a little more, and the other girl was kind of just playing the ball and Eva just kind of took some chances towards the end. I know Coach Sullivan told her to just believe in herself and go for it."

Sophomore Eva Paalma:

On a dramatic way to start the season…
"I don't know what to say, I'm so excited. I'm glad it's over. I'm so glad it's over, but I am happy to come through that."

Thoughts on the match…
"I wouldn't say I was so frustrated. I knew that every point was tough, she was really tough. It was a tough match-up for me. She played uncomfortably to me. You have to keep going. I was thinking about my team and how hard we worked. I didn't care how bad I felt, I just did it for the team."

On cramping during the match…
"I got really tight in the second set, my thighs. And in the third set I felt a complete cramp, and then I kind of came back. My trainer came; we know what to do when I'm cramping. It's not something new. I've played through cramps. It wasn't something I was surprised about. You just have to keep going."

On her opponent having a similar game…
"I tried to hit her on her back hand, but she was really fast. She played the same as me. She could run around to her forehand. It was just a battle."

On playing with the wind…
"The wind definitely played a huge role today. It was my first match this year with that kind of wind. I got frustrated in the beginning, but then you have to accept what it is and just try to play through it. It's the same wind for me and her. There's no advantage for either side."

On no-ads making a difference…
"I feel like these ad points come with confidence. Yesterday even though I lost a couple ad points, you can't keep it in your head. You just have to stay confident. I know my strategy in ad points. It either comes or it [doesn't]. I don't want to think about these points too much, but they were definitely the big points today."

On her thoughts during the game…
"To be honest I played exactly how I played against Alabama [last year] when I was in the same position. So I was playing through the same complete game plan, and I think it just worked the same as it did against Alabama. That was the only thing I was thinking about. I completely zoned out, so I don't remember what I was thinking. I just played."

On Domenica Gonzalez's win…
"I am so happy for her. I haven't really talked to her yet, but when I saw that we were both [in a third set], I hoped it would [come down] to me to be honest. But I'm really happy she came through. I know she was struggling the same way. I am so happy for her."

#10 Texas A&M 4, #37 Wichita State 3
ITA Kick-Off Weekend, Championship Match
George P. Mitchell Tennis Center
College Station, Texas
January 24, 2016

Singles
1.     #71 Gabriela Porubin (WSU) def. # 56 Rachel Pierson (A&M), 6-4, 6-1
2.     #53 Saska Gavrilovska (A&M) def. Julia Schiller (WSU), 6-3, 6-2
3.     #106 Rutuja Bhosale (A&M) def. Rebecca Pedrazzi (WSU), 6-0, 6-3
4.     Eva Paalma (A&M) def. Aleksandra Trifunovic (WSU), 6-4, 3-6, 7-5
5.     Domenica Gonzalez (A&M) def. Abby Stevens (WSU), 5-7, 6-1, 6-4
6.     Giulia Guidetti (WSU) def. Anna Mamalat (A&M), 7-5, 6-1

Doubles (WSU wins the point)
1.     Porubin/Schiller (WSU) def. Paalma/Pierson (A&M), 7-6 (5)
2.     Bhosale/Mamalat (A&M) vs. Pedrazzi/Trifunovic (WSU), 5-6 unfinished
3.     Guidetti/Luca Pump (WSU) def. Deheza/Gavrilovska (A&M), 7-5

Order of finish
Doubles: 3, 1
Singles: 2, 3, 1, 6, 5, 4

Team records
Texas A&M: 2-0
Wichita State: 4-1

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

Pronunciations
Rutuja Bhosale                            roo-too-jah bo-slay
Ines Deheza                                  ee-NAY de-HAY-za
Saska Gavrilovska                     saush-ka gav-ril-ahv-ska
Stefania Hristov                         steff-on-ya RIS-tov
Anna Mamalat                             MAM-ah-LOT
Eva Paalma                                   A-va paul-ma