Saturday, February 13
College Station
1:00 PM
Texas A&M
vs
Houston
Photo by: Texas A&M Athletics
No. 16 Texas A&M Plays Host to Houston, ACU
Feb 12, 2016 | Women's Tennis
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – After playing its last five matches on the road, the 16th-ranked Texas A&M women's tennis team returns home this weekend to play host to Houston and Abilene Christian, Saturday and Sunday, respectively, at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center. Matches begin at 1 p.m. each day.
"After two weeks on the road, the entire group is very excited to be back home in familiar surroundings," A&M first-year head coach Mark Weaver said. "We have survived the difficult indoor season and after a couple days of much needed rest, the girls have really stepped it up and we have had some really good and productive practices. We also seem to have overcome a few lingering injuries which have been holding us back a bit. We are definitely making some good forward progress, which is obviously one of the main goals early on in the season."
The Aggies, 2-0 in home matches, are 4-3 overall and are coming off a 4-0 loss to then-No. 14 Duke on Sunday to conclude play at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships in Madison, Wisconsin. A&M, whose three losses this season are against teams currently ranked in the top 10, opened the prestigious tournament by falling to then-No. 7 Virginia, 4-1, in the first round of the tournament. The Aggies rebounded by defeating host Wisconsin, 4-0, in the first match of consolation play before facing the Blue Devils, who climbed to No. 7 in this week's ITA team rankings.
At No. 54, junior Saska Gavrilovska is A&M's only nationally ranked singles player. The Serbian, 9-3 overall, has played six of seven dual matches at the No. 1 line, and each of those six matches have gone unfinished.
Sophomore Eva Paalma, who opened the dual match season with five consecutive wins, leads the Aggies in singles victories with a 10-3 overall mark and a 5-1 record in dual matches.
In doubles, the duo of junior Rutuja Bhosale and senior Anna Mamalat leads the team with an 11-4 overall record, as well as a 3-2 ledger in dual matches only, all at the No. 2 line.
Houston, No. 38 in the preseason Oracle/ITA team rankings, has plummeted to No. 70 in the most recent rankings released earlier this week after dropping to 0-7 following a 5-2 loss to No. 51 Oregon on Feb. 7 in Houston. In the match against the Ducks, Houston forfeited matches at No. 3 doubles and No. 6 singles due to injuries. Despite forfeiting the doubles match, the Cougars went on to win the doubles point, and junior Despoina Vogasari gave Houston its second point with a straight-set win at No. 1 singles.
Vogasari, who defeated A&M's Gavrilovska in the semifinals and finished runner up at the USTA/ITA Texas Regional Championships held last fall at the Mitchell Tennis Center, is the Cougars' only ranked player and is listed No. 96 in the most recent ITA singles rankings. She leads the team in singles victories with a 3-4 record in dual match play and a 13-7 overall record.
The Cougars, a combined 7-31 in singles and 4-14 in doubles in dual match play, are under the direction of first-year head coach Courtney Steinbock, who took over the position following the departure of current A&M associate head coach Patrick Sullivan at the end of the 2015 season.
Texas A&M, the first top 20 team the Cougars have faced this season, has won the last eight meetings against the former Southwest Conference foe and owns a 21-8 overall lead in the all-time series. The teams last met in 2008 with the Aggies defeating Houston, 7-0, in College Station to improve to 13-3 in home matches against the Cougars.
Abilene Christian is 6-3 and riding a two-match win streak after defeating UTSA, 4-3, and St. Edwards, 7-0, in a doubleheader on Feb. 3. The Wildcats, 1-3 in away matches, are led by senior Nada Marjanovic, who is 9-1 overall and 8-0 in dual match play, including 5-0 at the No. 5 line. Lucile Pothier, who is second on the team with a 6-3 singles record in dual match play, is 5-3 in doubles with Kaysie Hermsdorf, who is a team-best 11-4 overall in doubles.
Hutton Jones, ACU's longest serving active head coach, is in his 20th season at the helm of the Wildcats' men's and women's tennis programs.
A&M is 2-0 all-time against Abilene Christian, with both matches being contested in College Station. The teams last met in 2004 with the Aggies pulling away for a 4-3 victory.
The Aggies' two matches this weekend mark the start of a four-match homestand that will close out their non-conference play. Texas A&M hosts Stephen F. Austin on Saturday, Feb. 20 and Baylor on Wednesday, Feb. 24 before opening conference play at Auburn on Thursday, March 3.
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 Pronunciation Guide:
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 an-na MAM-ah-LOT
Eva Paalma A-va paul-ma
"After two weeks on the road, the entire group is very excited to be back home in familiar surroundings," A&M first-year head coach Mark Weaver said. "We have survived the difficult indoor season and after a couple days of much needed rest, the girls have really stepped it up and we have had some really good and productive practices. We also seem to have overcome a few lingering injuries which have been holding us back a bit. We are definitely making some good forward progress, which is obviously one of the main goals early on in the season."
The Aggies, 2-0 in home matches, are 4-3 overall and are coming off a 4-0 loss to then-No. 14 Duke on Sunday to conclude play at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships in Madison, Wisconsin. A&M, whose three losses this season are against teams currently ranked in the top 10, opened the prestigious tournament by falling to then-No. 7 Virginia, 4-1, in the first round of the tournament. The Aggies rebounded by defeating host Wisconsin, 4-0, in the first match of consolation play before facing the Blue Devils, who climbed to No. 7 in this week's ITA team rankings.
At No. 54, junior Saska Gavrilovska is A&M's only nationally ranked singles player. The Serbian, 9-3 overall, has played six of seven dual matches at the No. 1 line, and each of those six matches have gone unfinished.
Sophomore Eva Paalma, who opened the dual match season with five consecutive wins, leads the Aggies in singles victories with a 10-3 overall mark and a 5-1 record in dual matches.
In doubles, the duo of junior Rutuja Bhosale and senior Anna Mamalat leads the team with an 11-4 overall record, as well as a 3-2 ledger in dual matches only, all at the No. 2 line.
Houston, No. 38 in the preseason Oracle/ITA team rankings, has plummeted to No. 70 in the most recent rankings released earlier this week after dropping to 0-7 following a 5-2 loss to No. 51 Oregon on Feb. 7 in Houston. In the match against the Ducks, Houston forfeited matches at No. 3 doubles and No. 6 singles due to injuries. Despite forfeiting the doubles match, the Cougars went on to win the doubles point, and junior Despoina Vogasari gave Houston its second point with a straight-set win at No. 1 singles.
Vogasari, who defeated A&M's Gavrilovska in the semifinals and finished runner up at the USTA/ITA Texas Regional Championships held last fall at the Mitchell Tennis Center, is the Cougars' only ranked player and is listed No. 96 in the most recent ITA singles rankings. She leads the team in singles victories with a 3-4 record in dual match play and a 13-7 overall record.
The Cougars, a combined 7-31 in singles and 4-14 in doubles in dual match play, are under the direction of first-year head coach Courtney Steinbock, who took over the position following the departure of current A&M associate head coach Patrick Sullivan at the end of the 2015 season.
Texas A&M, the first top 20 team the Cougars have faced this season, has won the last eight meetings against the former Southwest Conference foe and owns a 21-8 overall lead in the all-time series. The teams last met in 2008 with the Aggies defeating Houston, 7-0, in College Station to improve to 13-3 in home matches against the Cougars.
Abilene Christian is 6-3 and riding a two-match win streak after defeating UTSA, 4-3, and St. Edwards, 7-0, in a doubleheader on Feb. 3. The Wildcats, 1-3 in away matches, are led by senior Nada Marjanovic, who is 9-1 overall and 8-0 in dual match play, including 5-0 at the No. 5 line. Lucile Pothier, who is second on the team with a 6-3 singles record in dual match play, is 5-3 in doubles with Kaysie Hermsdorf, who is a team-best 11-4 overall in doubles.
Hutton Jones, ACU's longest serving active head coach, is in his 20th season at the helm of the Wildcats' men's and women's tennis programs.
A&M is 2-0 all-time against Abilene Christian, with both matches being contested in College Station. The teams last met in 2004 with the Aggies pulling away for a 4-3 victory.
The Aggies' two matches this weekend mark the start of a four-match homestand that will close out their non-conference play. Texas A&M hosts Stephen F. Austin on Saturday, Feb. 20 and Baylor on Wednesday, Feb. 24 before opening conference play at Auburn on Thursday, March 3.
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 Pronunciation Guide:
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 an-na MAM-ah-LOT
Eva Paalma A-va paul-ma
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
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