Wednesday, May 25
Tulsa, Okla.
Texas A&M
at
NCAA Individual Championships
Photo by: Texas A&M Athletics
Texas A&M’s Saska Gavrilovska set to Open NCAA Singles Championship
May 24, 2016 | Women's Tennis
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Texas A&M's Saska Gavrilovska begins play in the 64-player 2016 NCAA Division I Women's Tennis Singles Championship on Wednesday and will face ninth-ranked and No. 9-16 seed Stephanie Wagner of Miami in the first round, the NCAA announced today.
The match begins at 2:30 p.m. at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with the winner advancing to take on the winner between Arianne Hartono and Martina Frantova of North Carolina State in second-round action on Thursday.
The first-round meeting is a rematch of last year's round of 16 contest between then-54th-ranked Gavrilovska and then-No. 9-16 seed Wagner, who won the match, 6-1, 4-6, 6-1, in Waco, Texas, and went on to reach the semifinals.
Gavrilovska, a junior from Serbia, becomes only the second player in Texas A&M history to compete in the prestigious NCAA Singles Championship each of the first three years of her career. She joins former Aggie standout Nazari Urbina (2010-13), who is Texas A&M's only four-time NCAA singles participant.
Last year, Gavrilovska became Texas A&M's first underclassman to achieve All-America distinction after also becoming the first-ever Aggie underclassman to reach the NCAA round of 16. The then-sophomore defeated Taylor Ng of Dartmouth, 6-4, 6-2, in the round of 64 and then upset No. 8 seed Sydney Campbell of Vanderbilt, 6-4, 6-3, in the second round to reach the round of 16, thereby automatically earning All-America status. Gavrilovska was then eliminated by Wagner in a match that was interrupted several times by a light rain.
As a freshman, Gavrilovska fell to No. 9-16 seed and senior All-American Anett Schutting of California, 6-4, 6-1, in the opening round.
A member of the 2016 All-SEC first team, Gavrilovska is currently ranked a career-high No. 24 in the nation in singles with a 19-10 overall record. In her most recent outing, Gavrilovska defeated 25th-ranked Carol Zhao of Stanford, 7-6 (9), 6-2, on May 14 in the second round of the team portion of the NCAA Championship at Stanford.
Gavrilovska is 11-9 against ranked opponents in 2015-16, with her highest ranked win of the season coming against then-No. 9 Jasmine Lee of Mississippi State, 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-4, on March 11 at Texas A&M's George P. Mitchell Tennis Center.
This is the seventh consecutive year and 15th time overall A&M will be represented in the NCAA Singles Championship. A&M players are a combined 15-19 in singles matches since Kim Labuschagne became the first Aggie to compete in the postseason event in 1987. Labuschagne and Cristina Sanchez-Quintanar are tied for the best finish in school history, reaching the quarterfinals in 1987 and 2012, respectively.
Visit 12thMan.com for more information on Texas A&M women's tennis. Aggie fans also can keep up to date with the Texas A&M women's tennis team on Twitter by following @AggieWTEN or on Facebook at Facebook.com/AggieWomensTennis.
Complete NCAA tournament brackets, schedules, results and links to live scoring and video are available on the Championship Central page: http://tulsahurricane.com/sports/2016/3/25/2016-ncaa-mens-and-womens-tennis-championships-schedule.aspx
The match begins at 2:30 p.m. at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with the winner advancing to take on the winner between Arianne Hartono and Martina Frantova of North Carolina State in second-round action on Thursday.
The first-round meeting is a rematch of last year's round of 16 contest between then-54th-ranked Gavrilovska and then-No. 9-16 seed Wagner, who won the match, 6-1, 4-6, 6-1, in Waco, Texas, and went on to reach the semifinals.
Gavrilovska, a junior from Serbia, becomes only the second player in Texas A&M history to compete in the prestigious NCAA Singles Championship each of the first three years of her career. She joins former Aggie standout Nazari Urbina (2010-13), who is Texas A&M's only four-time NCAA singles participant.
Last year, Gavrilovska became Texas A&M's first underclassman to achieve All-America distinction after also becoming the first-ever Aggie underclassman to reach the NCAA round of 16. The then-sophomore defeated Taylor Ng of Dartmouth, 6-4, 6-2, in the round of 64 and then upset No. 8 seed Sydney Campbell of Vanderbilt, 6-4, 6-3, in the second round to reach the round of 16, thereby automatically earning All-America status. Gavrilovska was then eliminated by Wagner in a match that was interrupted several times by a light rain.
As a freshman, Gavrilovska fell to No. 9-16 seed and senior All-American Anett Schutting of California, 6-4, 6-1, in the opening round.
A member of the 2016 All-SEC first team, Gavrilovska is currently ranked a career-high No. 24 in the nation in singles with a 19-10 overall record. In her most recent outing, Gavrilovska defeated 25th-ranked Carol Zhao of Stanford, 7-6 (9), 6-2, on May 14 in the second round of the team portion of the NCAA Championship at Stanford.
Gavrilovska is 11-9 against ranked opponents in 2015-16, with her highest ranked win of the season coming against then-No. 9 Jasmine Lee of Mississippi State, 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-4, on March 11 at Texas A&M's George P. Mitchell Tennis Center.
This is the seventh consecutive year and 15th time overall A&M will be represented in the NCAA Singles Championship. A&M players are a combined 15-19 in singles matches since Kim Labuschagne became the first Aggie to compete in the postseason event in 1987. Labuschagne and Cristina Sanchez-Quintanar are tied for the best finish in school history, reaching the quarterfinals in 1987 and 2012, respectively.
Visit 12thMan.com for more information on Texas A&M women's tennis. Aggie fans also can keep up to date with the Texas A&M women's tennis team on Twitter by following @AggieWTEN or on Facebook at Facebook.com/AggieWomensTennis.
Complete NCAA tournament brackets, schedules, results and links to live scoring and video are available on the Championship Central page: http://tulsahurricane.com/sports/2016/3/25/2016-ncaa-mens-and-womens-tennis-championships-schedule.aspx
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