Thursday, March 3
Auburn, Ala.
2:00 PM
Texas A&M
at
Auburn
Photo by: Texas A&M Athletics
Preview: Texas A&M Opens SEC Play at Auburn, Alabama
Mar 02, 2016 | Women's Tennis
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The 14th-ranked Texas A&M women's tennis team begins Southeastern Conference play this week as the Aggies open at No. 29 Auburn, Thursday and also play at No. 38 Alabama on Saturday. First serve against the Tigers is at 2 p.m. at the Yarbrough Tennis Center in Auburn, Alabama, and the match against the Crimson Tide begins at 1 p.m. at the Alabama Tennis Stadium in Tuscaloosa.
"Every match in our conference will be a test and we will need to come ready to play against two very good teams, added in to the fact that we are playing them both on their home courts," A&M first-year head coach Mark Weaver said. "Auburn is coming off of an impressive win over a very good Oklahoma State team, and they will be playing with some added confidence. However, our girls are looking forward to the challenges of playing both Auburn and Alabama and the remaining SEC schedule, which is filled with a lot of opportunities all the way through."
Texas A&M has won its last four matches and enters conference play 8-3. The Aggies, who jumped six spots in the latest Oracle/ITA Collegiate Tennis Rankings released Tuesday, closed out the nonconference portion of their schedule by defeating 45th-ranked Baylor, 4-2, on Feb. 24 at the George P. Mitchell Center to improve to 6-0 in home matches.
A&M, entering its fourth season as a member of the SEC, is picked to finish fourth in the conference standings this year according to a preseason vote of the league's head women's tennis coaches. The Aggies, who won the SEC regular season title with Florida and Georgia in their inaugural season in the conference, went 11-2 and finished in a three-way tie with Georgia and eventual national champion Vanderbilt for second place in the SEC standings last year.
Auburn, 12-2, catapulted from No. 61 to No. 29 in this week's rankings, marking the biggest jump in the nation, after capping a 10-match win streak with a 4-3 victory over then-No. 11 Oklahoma State on Feb. 27. The Tigers then fell to No. 10 Pepperdine in their most recent outing.
Auburn finished 12th in the SEC with a 3-10 conference mark last year and is picked to finish 12th again this season.
Alabama is 4-4, including 3-0 in home matches, entering its SEC opener against No. 9 LSU on Thursday. The Tide dropped from No. 28 to No. 38 in this weeks' ITA rankings and is looking to rebound after suffering a 4-0 loss against then-No. 11 Oklahoma State in its most recent match.
Alabama went 8-5 in SEC play last year to finish in fifth place and is picked to finish fifth again this season according to the coaches' preseason poll.
Individually, All-American Saska Gavrilovska is the Aggies' top-ranked singles player at No. 53. The junior from Serbia is 11-3 overall, including 3-0 in dual matches, and she has won her last six decisions overall. Freshman Domenica Gonzalez is riding a five-match win streak, and she and reigning SEC Player of the Week Rutuja Bhosale lead the team in singles victories with identical 12-6 overall records and 6-2 dual match ledgers.
Bhosale and senior partner Anna Mamalat are No. 48 in the ITA doubles rankings and lead the Aggies with a 14-4 overall mark, including a 6-2 record in dual matches only.
Auburn is led by 32nd-ranked Andie Dikosavljevic, who is 8-2 in singles in dual matches. Two-time All-American Pleun Burgmans is unranked despite an 11-0 mark in dual matches, having gone 5-0 at the No. 1 line and 6-0 at No. 2.
Alabama is led by 38th-ranked Andie Daniell in singles. Daniell is 16-4, including 4-1 in dual matches only and 6-3 against ranked opponents. Daniell and partner Erin Routliffe, a two-time NCAA doubles champion with Maya Jansen, are 13-3 in doubles.
A&M is 6-0 in the all-time series against Auburn, including 1-0 in matches played at Auburn. Last year, the Aggies shut out the Tigers, 4-0, at the Mitchell Tennis Center in College Station.
Alabama owns a 4-3 edge in the all-time series against the Aggies, including a 2-0 lead in matches played in Tuscaloosa. Then-No. 30 A&M won the most recent meeting, upsetting the ninth-ranked Tide, 4-3, in College Station as then-freshman Eva Paalma won the last match standing, 7-6 (3), 6-7 (5), 7-5, against Emily Zabor at No. 5 singles to clinch the win.
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 anna MAM-ah-LOT
Eva Paalma A-va paul-ma
"Every match in our conference will be a test and we will need to come ready to play against two very good teams, added in to the fact that we are playing them both on their home courts," A&M first-year head coach Mark Weaver said. "Auburn is coming off of an impressive win over a very good Oklahoma State team, and they will be playing with some added confidence. However, our girls are looking forward to the challenges of playing both Auburn and Alabama and the remaining SEC schedule, which is filled with a lot of opportunities all the way through."
Texas A&M has won its last four matches and enters conference play 8-3. The Aggies, who jumped six spots in the latest Oracle/ITA Collegiate Tennis Rankings released Tuesday, closed out the nonconference portion of their schedule by defeating 45th-ranked Baylor, 4-2, on Feb. 24 at the George P. Mitchell Center to improve to 6-0 in home matches.
A&M, entering its fourth season as a member of the SEC, is picked to finish fourth in the conference standings this year according to a preseason vote of the league's head women's tennis coaches. The Aggies, who won the SEC regular season title with Florida and Georgia in their inaugural season in the conference, went 11-2 and finished in a three-way tie with Georgia and eventual national champion Vanderbilt for second place in the SEC standings last year.
Auburn, 12-2, catapulted from No. 61 to No. 29 in this week's rankings, marking the biggest jump in the nation, after capping a 10-match win streak with a 4-3 victory over then-No. 11 Oklahoma State on Feb. 27. The Tigers then fell to No. 10 Pepperdine in their most recent outing.
Auburn finished 12th in the SEC with a 3-10 conference mark last year and is picked to finish 12th again this season.
Alabama is 4-4, including 3-0 in home matches, entering its SEC opener against No. 9 LSU on Thursday. The Tide dropped from No. 28 to No. 38 in this weeks' ITA rankings and is looking to rebound after suffering a 4-0 loss against then-No. 11 Oklahoma State in its most recent match.
Alabama went 8-5 in SEC play last year to finish in fifth place and is picked to finish fifth again this season according to the coaches' preseason poll.
Individually, All-American Saska Gavrilovska is the Aggies' top-ranked singles player at No. 53. The junior from Serbia is 11-3 overall, including 3-0 in dual matches, and she has won her last six decisions overall. Freshman Domenica Gonzalez is riding a five-match win streak, and she and reigning SEC Player of the Week Rutuja Bhosale lead the team in singles victories with identical 12-6 overall records and 6-2 dual match ledgers.
Bhosale and senior partner Anna Mamalat are No. 48 in the ITA doubles rankings and lead the Aggies with a 14-4 overall mark, including a 6-2 record in dual matches only.
Auburn is led by 32nd-ranked Andie Dikosavljevic, who is 8-2 in singles in dual matches. Two-time All-American Pleun Burgmans is unranked despite an 11-0 mark in dual matches, having gone 5-0 at the No. 1 line and 6-0 at No. 2.
Alabama is led by 38th-ranked Andie Daniell in singles. Daniell is 16-4, including 4-1 in dual matches only and 6-3 against ranked opponents. Daniell and partner Erin Routliffe, a two-time NCAA doubles champion with Maya Jansen, are 13-3 in doubles.
A&M is 6-0 in the all-time series against Auburn, including 1-0 in matches played at Auburn. Last year, the Aggies shut out the Tigers, 4-0, at the Mitchell Tennis Center in College Station.
Alabama owns a 4-3 edge in the all-time series against the Aggies, including a 2-0 lead in matches played in Tuscaloosa. Then-No. 30 A&M won the most recent meeting, upsetting the ninth-ranked Tide, 4-3, in College Station as then-freshman Eva Paalma won the last match standing, 7-6 (3), 6-7 (5), 7-5, against Emily Zabor at No. 5 singles to clinch the win.
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 anna 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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