Sunday, February 14
College Station
1:00 PM
Texas A&M
7
vs
0
Abilene Christian
Photo by: Texas A&M Athletics
No. 16 Texas A&M Defeats ACU, 7-0
Feb 14, 2016 | Women's Tennis
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – No. 16 Texas A&M celebrated Valentine's Day with a 7-love victory over Abilene Christian today at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center.
The Aggies improves to 6-3 overall, including 4-0 in home matches, while ACU falls to 6-4.
A&M took the early lead by winning the doubles point for the third time in the last four contests. Rutuja Bhosale and Anna Mamalat, ranked 45th in the ITA national doubles rankings, improved to a team-leading 12-4 overall, winning three consecutive games to close out a 6-3 victory over Kaysie Hermsdorf and Lucile Pothier at the No. 2 line.
Ines Deheza and Rachel Pierson, playing together for the first time in 2015-16, then clinched the doubles point by the identical 6-3 score at the No. 1 court against Erin Walker and Whitney Williams to give A&M a 1-0 lead.
A&M's Mason Strickland and Domenica Gonzalez, also paired together for the first time, trailed the Wildcats' Andrea Cook and Nada Marjanovic, 5-4, at the No. 3 line when the match was halted.
For the second consecutive match, the Aggies won the first set on all six singles courts, but ACU would force two matches to be decided in a third set. Rachel Pierson was first off the court, giving A&M a 2-0 lead with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Walker at the No. 1 line.
Bhosale then put A&M ahead, 3-0 as she followed with a 6-3, 6-3 victory at No. 2, with Hermsdorf committing a double fault at match point.
Mamalat clinched the victory, holding on for a 7-5 first-set victory against Jordan Henry at the No. 5 line, and then winning three consecutive games to close out a 6-3 second-set win that put A&M ahead, 4-0.
Strickland, a junior from Dallas who has battled injuries and had not competed in a dual match since her freshman season (2014), gave the Aggies a 5-0 lead with a straight-set win against Andrea Crook at No. 6. The first set was decided by a tiebreaker in which Strickland lost the first four points but rallied back, fighting off set points at 6-4 and 6-5 to win, 8-6. The second set was tied, 4-4, before Strickland won the next two games to get the victory.
Gonzalez, playing the No. 3 line for the first time, missed an opportunity to close out a straight-set victory over Marjanovic, who entered the contest 8-0 in dual matches. Gonzalez, a freshman, won the first set, 6-2, and was serving for the match after breaking Marjanovic to go up 5-4 in the second set, but the Wildcat senior fought back to win the set, 7-5, and force a third set. Gonzalez never trailed in the final frame and won the last three games to close out a 6-2 victory to hand Marjanovic her first loss of the season and put the Aggies up, 6-0.
Deheza completed the shutout, defeating Pothier, 6-2, 3-6, 7-5, at No. 5.
The Aggies continue their four-match homestand on Saturday, Feb. 20 as they play host to Stephen F. Austin. First serve at the Mitchell Tennis Center is slated for 1 p.m.
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 Mark Weaver quotes:
On his thoughts of today's match…
"I'm very pleased. I definitely look at the last two days as a step forward for us. Abilene Christian is a very good doubles team, and it is funny kind of how things played out because we actually whacked them pretty good in the doubles, and I feel like that is their strength, so I felt like we actually executed our game plans well. They throw different things at you in the doubles; come to the net a lot. They've got good volleys and good hands, so I really felt like we handled the situation really well in the doubles.
"And I'm actually glad -- I know it sounds funny to say I'm glad the matches were tough – but it actually was better that we had some tough (singles) matches, because we really need to get more and more match tough as we go along. I feel like we actually benefitted by having to dig deep in two or three of those matches. So there was some stress out there, which I think was actually a good thing that we were able to deal with it and overcome it."
On playing at home this weekend after being on the road…
"I feel like we are getting back and playing more of our game. It is just a different type ballgame when you are playing indoors. Everything is so fast and quick, and you are not able to rally the balls out and play out the points quite as well. We played some really, really good indoor teams that are smashing the ball at us and we are having to react to everything, whereas now we are actually able to play the points out a little bit better and play our games a bit more, so I feel good about the progress we've made the last two days."
On the different lineup today…
"It's just based on injuries and health issues. We are trying to get over some injuries we are struggling with, and it was a great opportunity for Mason (Strickland) to get to play today. I actually had planned on her playing anyways, regardless of the injuries or not, but there's definitely some health issues that we are trying to work through that we are struggling with on a day-to-day basis. But the plan all along was to play Mason today, and I'm glad it all worked out that she got to play."
#16 Texas A&M 7, Abilene Christian 0
George P. Mitchell Tennis Center
College Station, Texas
Sunday, February 14, 2016
Singles
1. Rachel Pierson (A&M) def. Erin Walker (ACU), 6-2, 6-1
2. Rutuja Bhosale (A&M) def. Kaysie Hermsdorf (ACU), 6-3, 6-3
3. Domenica Gonzalez (A&M) def. Nada Marjanovic (ACU), 6-2, 5-7, 6-2
4. Ines Deheza (A&M) def. Lucile Pothier (ACU), 6-2, 3-6, 7-5
5. Anna Mamalat (A&M) def. Jordan Henry (ACU), 7-5, 6-3
6. Mason Strickland (A&M) def. Andrea Crook (ACU), 7-6 (6), 6-4
Doubles (A&M wins the point)
1. Deheza/Pierson (A&M) def. Walker/Williams (ACU), 6-3
2. #45 Bhosale/Mamalat (A&M) def. Hermsdorf/Pothier (ACU), 6-3
3. Gonzalez/Strickland (A&M) vs. Andrea Crook/Marjanovic (ACU), 4-5 unfinished
Order of finish
Doubles: 2, 1
Singles: 1, 2, 5*, 6, 3, 4
*-clinched match
Team records
Texas A&M: 6-3
Abilene Christian: 6-4
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
The Aggies improves to 6-3 overall, including 4-0 in home matches, while ACU falls to 6-4.
A&M took the early lead by winning the doubles point for the third time in the last four contests. Rutuja Bhosale and Anna Mamalat, ranked 45th in the ITA national doubles rankings, improved to a team-leading 12-4 overall, winning three consecutive games to close out a 6-3 victory over Kaysie Hermsdorf and Lucile Pothier at the No. 2 line.
Ines Deheza and Rachel Pierson, playing together for the first time in 2015-16, then clinched the doubles point by the identical 6-3 score at the No. 1 court against Erin Walker and Whitney Williams to give A&M a 1-0 lead.
A&M's Mason Strickland and Domenica Gonzalez, also paired together for the first time, trailed the Wildcats' Andrea Cook and Nada Marjanovic, 5-4, at the No. 3 line when the match was halted.
For the second consecutive match, the Aggies won the first set on all six singles courts, but ACU would force two matches to be decided in a third set. Rachel Pierson was first off the court, giving A&M a 2-0 lead with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Walker at the No. 1 line.
Bhosale then put A&M ahead, 3-0 as she followed with a 6-3, 6-3 victory at No. 2, with Hermsdorf committing a double fault at match point.
Mamalat clinched the victory, holding on for a 7-5 first-set victory against Jordan Henry at the No. 5 line, and then winning three consecutive games to close out a 6-3 second-set win that put A&M ahead, 4-0.
Strickland, a junior from Dallas who has battled injuries and had not competed in a dual match since her freshman season (2014), gave the Aggies a 5-0 lead with a straight-set win against Andrea Crook at No. 6. The first set was decided by a tiebreaker in which Strickland lost the first four points but rallied back, fighting off set points at 6-4 and 6-5 to win, 8-6. The second set was tied, 4-4, before Strickland won the next two games to get the victory.
Gonzalez, playing the No. 3 line for the first time, missed an opportunity to close out a straight-set victory over Marjanovic, who entered the contest 8-0 in dual matches. Gonzalez, a freshman, won the first set, 6-2, and was serving for the match after breaking Marjanovic to go up 5-4 in the second set, but the Wildcat senior fought back to win the set, 7-5, and force a third set. Gonzalez never trailed in the final frame and won the last three games to close out a 6-2 victory to hand Marjanovic her first loss of the season and put the Aggies up, 6-0.
Deheza completed the shutout, defeating Pothier, 6-2, 3-6, 7-5, at No. 5.
The Aggies continue their four-match homestand on Saturday, Feb. 20 as they play host to Stephen F. Austin. First serve at the Mitchell Tennis Center is slated for 1 p.m.
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 Mark Weaver quotes:
On his thoughts of today's match…
"I'm very pleased. I definitely look at the last two days as a step forward for us. Abilene Christian is a very good doubles team, and it is funny kind of how things played out because we actually whacked them pretty good in the doubles, and I feel like that is their strength, so I felt like we actually executed our game plans well. They throw different things at you in the doubles; come to the net a lot. They've got good volleys and good hands, so I really felt like we handled the situation really well in the doubles.
"And I'm actually glad -- I know it sounds funny to say I'm glad the matches were tough – but it actually was better that we had some tough (singles) matches, because we really need to get more and more match tough as we go along. I feel like we actually benefitted by having to dig deep in two or three of those matches. So there was some stress out there, which I think was actually a good thing that we were able to deal with it and overcome it."
On playing at home this weekend after being on the road…
"I feel like we are getting back and playing more of our game. It is just a different type ballgame when you are playing indoors. Everything is so fast and quick, and you are not able to rally the balls out and play out the points quite as well. We played some really, really good indoor teams that are smashing the ball at us and we are having to react to everything, whereas now we are actually able to play the points out a little bit better and play our games a bit more, so I feel good about the progress we've made the last two days."
On the different lineup today…
"It's just based on injuries and health issues. We are trying to get over some injuries we are struggling with, and it was a great opportunity for Mason (Strickland) to get to play today. I actually had planned on her playing anyways, regardless of the injuries or not, but there's definitely some health issues that we are trying to work through that we are struggling with on a day-to-day basis. But the plan all along was to play Mason today, and I'm glad it all worked out that she got to play."
#16 Texas A&M 7, Abilene Christian 0
George P. Mitchell Tennis Center
College Station, Texas
Sunday, February 14, 2016
Singles
1. Rachel Pierson (A&M) def. Erin Walker (ACU), 6-2, 6-1
2. Rutuja Bhosale (A&M) def. Kaysie Hermsdorf (ACU), 6-3, 6-3
3. Domenica Gonzalez (A&M) def. Nada Marjanovic (ACU), 6-2, 5-7, 6-2
4. Ines Deheza (A&M) def. Lucile Pothier (ACU), 6-2, 3-6, 7-5
5. Anna Mamalat (A&M) def. Jordan Henry (ACU), 7-5, 6-3
6. Mason Strickland (A&M) def. Andrea Crook (ACU), 7-6 (6), 6-4
Doubles (A&M wins the point)
1. Deheza/Pierson (A&M) def. Walker/Williams (ACU), 6-3
2. #45 Bhosale/Mamalat (A&M) def. Hermsdorf/Pothier (ACU), 6-3
3. Gonzalez/Strickland (A&M) vs. Andrea Crook/Marjanovic (ACU), 4-5 unfinished
Order of finish
Doubles: 2, 1
Singles: 1, 2, 5*, 6, 3, 4
*-clinched match
Team records
Texas A&M: 6-3
Abilene Christian: 6-4
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
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
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