Friday, February 5
Madison, Wis.
6:30 PM
Texas A&M
vs
Virginia
Photo by: Texas A&M Athletics
No. 9 Texas A&M Opens National Indoor Championship Against No. 7 Virginia
Feb 04, 2016 | Women's Tennis
ITA Tournament Page | Host Tournament Page | Bracket
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The ninth-ranked Texas A&M women's tennis team will face No. 7 Virginia, Friday at 6:30 p.m., in the first round of the ITA National Women's Team Indoor Championship at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium in Madison, Wis., the Intercollegiate Tennis Association announced.
"We are definitely looking forward to the opportunity to compete in the prestigious national indoor championships," A&M first-year head coach Mark Weaver said. "After not qualifying last year following a disappointing loss to TCU during the Kick-Off Weekend, it is a nice feeling to now make it to this point.
"Virginia is a very good team and an even better indoor team. We have played them a lot in recent years, and we know that we will have our hands full. Their top positions are arguably the best 1-2 combination in the country."
The Aggies (3-1) are the No. 5 seed in the 16-team tournament, which also includes Southeastern Conference foes Vanderbilt and Georgia, the two top-ranked teams in the country, respectively. The SEC also is represented by Alabama and LSU, while the remainder of the bracket consists of California, Duke, Fresno State, Miami, Michigan, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, North Carolina, Texas Tech and Wisconsin.
The Badgers received an automatic entry by serving as the tournament host, while the other 15 teams qualified for the prestigious tournament by winning two matches at the ITA Kick-Off Weekend, Jan. 22-24. A&M defeated both No. 73 South Alabama and No 37 Wichita State at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center to advance.
Virginia marks the second consecutive top-10 opponent for the Aggies, who suffered their first loss of the season on Sunday at No. 5 North Carolina. The Tar Heels, who defeated A&M, 4-0, are the defending national indoor champions and have won two of the last three indoor titles.
Sophomore Eva Paalma, who was named the SEC Player of the Week following the ITA Kick-Off Weekend, leads the Aggies with a perfect 3-0 slate in dual match play, while junior All-American Saska Gavrilovska leads the Aggies with an overall 9-3 singles record and is A&M's highest nationally ranked player at No. 53. Juniors Rachel Pierson and Rutuja Bhosale are No. 58 and No. 106, respectively.
Bhosale and senior partner Anna Mamalat are 2-0 at the No. 2 doubles line and lead the Aggies with a 10-2 overall mark.
Like A&M, Virginia also is 3-1 on the season and is coming off its first loss. The Cavaliers, who were without five players who had been suspended for violating team rules, fell to 28th-ranked South Carolina, 4-3, Friday in Charlottesville, Virginia.
UVA, which defeated both BYU and then-No. 56 Columbia to qualify for the ITA national indoor tournament, has four players nationally ranked in singles, and the Cavaliers are the only team in the country with two players ranked in the top eight. Seniors Danielle Collins and Julia Elbaba are No. 4 and No. 8, respectively, while senior Stephanie Nauta is No. 30 and senior Skylar Morton is No. 32.
In doubles, Collins and Meghan Kelley are No. 19. Collins also is ranked 25th with Nauta, and Maci Epstein and Victoria Olivarez are No. 40.
Texas A&M owns a 3-1 lead in the all-time series against the Cavaliers. A&M won the first three matches in the series, which began at the 2013 ITA National Championship in Charlottesville, where the Aggies defeated the 12th-ranked Cavaliers, 4-1, in the consolation bracket. It was the first of three meetings between the two teams that year. A&M would later post a 5-2 victory over Virginia in College Station, and the teams met again in the round of 16 at the 2013 NCAA Championships in Urbana, Illinois. The Aggies won, 5-0, and went on to advance to the championship match for the first time in program history.
Virginia won the most recent meeting, shutting out the Aggies, 4-0, at the 2014 ITA National Indoor Championship in Charlottesville.
Friday's winner between A&M and Virginia will face the winner between sixth-ranked California and host Wisconsin in Saturday quarterfinal action. The championship match is slated for Monday, Feb. 8 at 11 a.m.
Updated draws, complete results, live scoring, daily recaps and photo galleries will be available at ITATennis.com. Fans also can follow the live scoring on the Wisconsin tournament page at UWBadgers.com.
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
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The ninth-ranked Texas A&M women's tennis team will face No. 7 Virginia, Friday at 6:30 p.m., in the first round of the ITA National Women's Team Indoor Championship at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium in Madison, Wis., the Intercollegiate Tennis Association announced.
"We are definitely looking forward to the opportunity to compete in the prestigious national indoor championships," A&M first-year head coach Mark Weaver said. "After not qualifying last year following a disappointing loss to TCU during the Kick-Off Weekend, it is a nice feeling to now make it to this point.
"Virginia is a very good team and an even better indoor team. We have played them a lot in recent years, and we know that we will have our hands full. Their top positions are arguably the best 1-2 combination in the country."
The Aggies (3-1) are the No. 5 seed in the 16-team tournament, which also includes Southeastern Conference foes Vanderbilt and Georgia, the two top-ranked teams in the country, respectively. The SEC also is represented by Alabama and LSU, while the remainder of the bracket consists of California, Duke, Fresno State, Miami, Michigan, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, North Carolina, Texas Tech and Wisconsin.
The Badgers received an automatic entry by serving as the tournament host, while the other 15 teams qualified for the prestigious tournament by winning two matches at the ITA Kick-Off Weekend, Jan. 22-24. A&M defeated both No. 73 South Alabama and No 37 Wichita State at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center to advance.
Virginia marks the second consecutive top-10 opponent for the Aggies, who suffered their first loss of the season on Sunday at No. 5 North Carolina. The Tar Heels, who defeated A&M, 4-0, are the defending national indoor champions and have won two of the last three indoor titles.
Sophomore Eva Paalma, who was named the SEC Player of the Week following the ITA Kick-Off Weekend, leads the Aggies with a perfect 3-0 slate in dual match play, while junior All-American Saska Gavrilovska leads the Aggies with an overall 9-3 singles record and is A&M's highest nationally ranked player at No. 53. Juniors Rachel Pierson and Rutuja Bhosale are No. 58 and No. 106, respectively.
Bhosale and senior partner Anna Mamalat are 2-0 at the No. 2 doubles line and lead the Aggies with a 10-2 overall mark.
Like A&M, Virginia also is 3-1 on the season and is coming off its first loss. The Cavaliers, who were without five players who had been suspended for violating team rules, fell to 28th-ranked South Carolina, 4-3, Friday in Charlottesville, Virginia.
UVA, which defeated both BYU and then-No. 56 Columbia to qualify for the ITA national indoor tournament, has four players nationally ranked in singles, and the Cavaliers are the only team in the country with two players ranked in the top eight. Seniors Danielle Collins and Julia Elbaba are No. 4 and No. 8, respectively, while senior Stephanie Nauta is No. 30 and senior Skylar Morton is No. 32.
In doubles, Collins and Meghan Kelley are No. 19. Collins also is ranked 25th with Nauta, and Maci Epstein and Victoria Olivarez are No. 40.
Texas A&M owns a 3-1 lead in the all-time series against the Cavaliers. A&M won the first three matches in the series, which began at the 2013 ITA National Championship in Charlottesville, where the Aggies defeated the 12th-ranked Cavaliers, 4-1, in the consolation bracket. It was the first of three meetings between the two teams that year. A&M would later post a 5-2 victory over Virginia in College Station, and the teams met again in the round of 16 at the 2013 NCAA Championships in Urbana, Illinois. The Aggies won, 5-0, and went on to advance to the championship match for the first time in program history.
Virginia won the most recent meeting, shutting out the Aggies, 4-0, at the 2014 ITA National Indoor Championship in Charlottesville.
Friday's winner between A&M and Virginia will face the winner between sixth-ranked California and host Wisconsin in Saturday quarterfinal action. The championship match is slated for Monday, Feb. 8 at 11 a.m.
Updated draws, complete results, live scoring, daily recaps and photo galleries will be available at ITATennis.com. Fans also can follow the live scoring on the Wisconsin tournament page at UWBadgers.com.
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
/ Women's Tennis
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