Saturday, January 21
College Station
12:00 PM
Texas A&M
5
vs
2
SFA
Photo by: Sam Craft/Texas A&M Athletics
No. 21 Texas A&M Opens Season with 5-2 Victory Over SFA
Jan 21, 2017 | Women's Tennis
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The No. 21 Texas A&M women's tennis team opened its season with a 5-2 victory over Stephen F. Austin today at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center.
It marked the fifth consecutive year the Aggies won their season opener. In addition, Texas A&M, which has not lost a home season opener since 2005, improved to 7-0 in the all-time series against the Ladyjacks, who also were playing their first dual match of the spring season.
A&M won the first two doubles matches to be completed, with senior Rachel Pierson and junior Eva Paalma giving the Aggies the early edge with a 6-0 shutout against Lauren Hidalgo-Smith and Darinka Tiboldi at the No. 1 court.
Saska Gavrilovska and Stefania Hristov then clinched the doubles point for the Aggies at the No. 2 line. SFA's Kaja Ljubic and Denise Maxl held serve to open the match before A&M's senior duo won six straight games to close out the 6-1 victory, giving the Aggies a 1-0 lead in the team score.
A&M junior transfers Tina Bokhua and Macarena Olivares had won their first four games against Gabi Guilarte and Vanesa Pardo and were leading 4-1 when the doubles point was determined and the match was stopped.
Olivares would give up only one game for the entire day as she raced to a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Hidalgo-Smith at No. 4 singles to give A&M a 2-0 lead.
Paalma also continued to keep her opponent scoreless heading into the second set of singles. Including her doubles shutout, the Estonia native won 13 consecutive games before Guilarte won a game to even the second set, 1-1, on the No. 5 court. The set was on serve at 2-2 when Paalma broke Guilarte and went on to win the match, 6-0, 6-2, to give the Aggies a 3-0 lead.
Tiboldi put the Ladyjacks on the scoreboard with a straight-set victory over Gavrilovska at the No. 3 line. Tiboldi had jumped out to a 4-1 lead to open the match, but Gavrilovska came back to tie the set, 4-4. Tiboldi held serve to go up 5-4 and then broke Gavrilovska to win the set. Tiboldi then held Gavrilovska scoreless in the second set to quickly close out the 6-4, 6-0 victory, putting SFA within 3-1.
Pierson, No. 85 in the national singles rankings, clinched the victory for the Aggies with a 7-5, 6-1 victory over Maxl at the No. 1 line. The first set was one serve at 5-5 before Pierson went up a break and then held serve to close out the set. Maxl held serve to open the second set before Pierson reeled off six consecutive games to win the match, 7-5, 6-1, giving the Aggies a 4-1 lead.
Hristov, a fifth-year senior who redshirted last season while recovering from should surgery, and Ljubic split the first two sets at No. 6, with Ljubic pulling away for a 6-3 win in the opening frame and Hristov taking the second set by the identical score. With the overall team victor already determined, the two played a 10-point super tiebreaker for the third set. Ljubic won the first five points of the super tiebreaker and went on to win, 10-2, to close out the contest.
Bokhua, No. 57 in the national singles rankings, capped the Aggies' victory with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Pardo at the No. 2 line
The Aggies return to the Mitchell Tennis Center on Wednesday, Jan. 25, to play host to Louisiana Tech. First serve is at 3 p.m.
Texas A&M quotes:
Head Coach Mark Weaver:
On finally opening the season…
"It definitely was nice to compete against someone else. We've kind of been beating up on each other every day in practice, and no matter how much you try to simulate what it is going to feel like on an actual game day, it always feels different. There is no doubt we battled some nerves today. Stephen F. Austin, to their credit, I knew they were a good team and they were maybe even actually a little bit stronger than what the girls and I were thinking. We definitely didn't underestimate them; that was definitely one of the locker room speeches, but Stephen F. Austin actually played some very good tennis and that is what we needed. Of course we always want to try to win every match that we play, but on the other hand I'm also glad that we got some tough matches in. That is what we need. Jumping right into the season, we wanted to be challenged, and there is no doubt we were challenged on a few of the courts. It definitely was a positive step forward, and the first match of the season, no matter what kind of team you have, always has its challenges. But overall I think we handled it well. We might have had some slow starts on some of the courts, but the good news is we overcame it quite well."
On getting convincing wins on several of the courts…
"Eva (Paalma) and Rachel (Pierson) played about as well as they could play at No. 1 doubles and I wasn't even planning on playing them together but Rutuja (Bhosale) was out today. The 2 and 3 were doing fine when all was said and done. And in singles, Macarena (Olivares) has been playing some very impressive tennis since returning in January, and that obviously showed in her score. That got us up on the scoreboard, 2-0, really quick, and Eva took care of business early as well. That got us up to a nice 3-0 lead, because it actually was kind of tight on a few of the courts, so the lead might have helped Rachel hang in there. Even Tina was having a tough first set, so to get those three points on the scoreboard kind of gives you some nice momentum."
#21 Texas A&M 5, Stephen F. Austin 2
Jan 21, 2017 at College Station, Texas
(George P. Mitchell Tennis Center)
Singles
1. #85 Rachel Pierson (A&M) def. Denise Maxl (SFA), 7-5, 6-1
2. #57 Tina Bokhua (A&M) def. Vanesa Pardo, (SFA), 6-3, 6-1
3. Darinka Tiboldi (SFA) def. Saska Gavrilovska (A&M) 6-4, 6-0
4. Macarena Olivares (A&M) def. Lauren Hidalgo-Smith (SFA), 6-0, 6-0
5. Eva Paalma (A&M) def. Gabi Guilarte (SFA), 6-0, 6-2
6. Kaja Ljubic (SFA) def. Stefania Hristov (A&M), 6-3, 3-6, 1-0 (10-2)
Doubles
1. Paalma/Pierson (A&M) def. Darinka/Hidalgo-Smith (SFA) 6-0
2. Gavrilovska/Hristov (A&M) def. Ljubic/Maxl (SFA) 6-1
3. Bokhua/Olivares (A&M) vs. Guilarte/Pardo (SFA) 4-1, unfinished
Match Notes:
Stephen F. Austin 0-1
Texas A&M 1-0; National ranking #21
Order of finish: Doubles (1, 2); Singles (4, 5, 3, 1, 6, 2)
T-1:59 Attn-196
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
Pronunciations
Rutuja Bhosale roo-too-jah bo-slay
Tina Bokhua bo-kwah
Saska Gavrilovska saush-ka gav-ril-ohv-ska
Stefania Hristov steff-on-ya RIS-tov
Eva Paalma A-va palma
It marked the fifth consecutive year the Aggies won their season opener. In addition, Texas A&M, which has not lost a home season opener since 2005, improved to 7-0 in the all-time series against the Ladyjacks, who also were playing their first dual match of the spring season.
A&M won the first two doubles matches to be completed, with senior Rachel Pierson and junior Eva Paalma giving the Aggies the early edge with a 6-0 shutout against Lauren Hidalgo-Smith and Darinka Tiboldi at the No. 1 court.
Saska Gavrilovska and Stefania Hristov then clinched the doubles point for the Aggies at the No. 2 line. SFA's Kaja Ljubic and Denise Maxl held serve to open the match before A&M's senior duo won six straight games to close out the 6-1 victory, giving the Aggies a 1-0 lead in the team score.
A&M junior transfers Tina Bokhua and Macarena Olivares had won their first four games against Gabi Guilarte and Vanesa Pardo and were leading 4-1 when the doubles point was determined and the match was stopped.
Olivares would give up only one game for the entire day as she raced to a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Hidalgo-Smith at No. 4 singles to give A&M a 2-0 lead.
Paalma also continued to keep her opponent scoreless heading into the second set of singles. Including her doubles shutout, the Estonia native won 13 consecutive games before Guilarte won a game to even the second set, 1-1, on the No. 5 court. The set was on serve at 2-2 when Paalma broke Guilarte and went on to win the match, 6-0, 6-2, to give the Aggies a 3-0 lead.
Tiboldi put the Ladyjacks on the scoreboard with a straight-set victory over Gavrilovska at the No. 3 line. Tiboldi had jumped out to a 4-1 lead to open the match, but Gavrilovska came back to tie the set, 4-4. Tiboldi held serve to go up 5-4 and then broke Gavrilovska to win the set. Tiboldi then held Gavrilovska scoreless in the second set to quickly close out the 6-4, 6-0 victory, putting SFA within 3-1.
Pierson, No. 85 in the national singles rankings, clinched the victory for the Aggies with a 7-5, 6-1 victory over Maxl at the No. 1 line. The first set was one serve at 5-5 before Pierson went up a break and then held serve to close out the set. Maxl held serve to open the second set before Pierson reeled off six consecutive games to win the match, 7-5, 6-1, giving the Aggies a 4-1 lead.
Hristov, a fifth-year senior who redshirted last season while recovering from should surgery, and Ljubic split the first two sets at No. 6, with Ljubic pulling away for a 6-3 win in the opening frame and Hristov taking the second set by the identical score. With the overall team victor already determined, the two played a 10-point super tiebreaker for the third set. Ljubic won the first five points of the super tiebreaker and went on to win, 10-2, to close out the contest.
Bokhua, No. 57 in the national singles rankings, capped the Aggies' victory with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Pardo at the No. 2 line
The Aggies return to the Mitchell Tennis Center on Wednesday, Jan. 25, to play host to Louisiana Tech. First serve is at 3 p.m.
Texas A&M quotes:
Head Coach Mark Weaver:
On finally opening the season…
"It definitely was nice to compete against someone else. We've kind of been beating up on each other every day in practice, and no matter how much you try to simulate what it is going to feel like on an actual game day, it always feels different. There is no doubt we battled some nerves today. Stephen F. Austin, to their credit, I knew they were a good team and they were maybe even actually a little bit stronger than what the girls and I were thinking. We definitely didn't underestimate them; that was definitely one of the locker room speeches, but Stephen F. Austin actually played some very good tennis and that is what we needed. Of course we always want to try to win every match that we play, but on the other hand I'm also glad that we got some tough matches in. That is what we need. Jumping right into the season, we wanted to be challenged, and there is no doubt we were challenged on a few of the courts. It definitely was a positive step forward, and the first match of the season, no matter what kind of team you have, always has its challenges. But overall I think we handled it well. We might have had some slow starts on some of the courts, but the good news is we overcame it quite well."
On getting convincing wins on several of the courts…
"Eva (Paalma) and Rachel (Pierson) played about as well as they could play at No. 1 doubles and I wasn't even planning on playing them together but Rutuja (Bhosale) was out today. The 2 and 3 were doing fine when all was said and done. And in singles, Macarena (Olivares) has been playing some very impressive tennis since returning in January, and that obviously showed in her score. That got us up on the scoreboard, 2-0, really quick, and Eva took care of business early as well. That got us up to a nice 3-0 lead, because it actually was kind of tight on a few of the courts, so the lead might have helped Rachel hang in there. Even Tina was having a tough first set, so to get those three points on the scoreboard kind of gives you some nice momentum."
#21 Texas A&M 5, Stephen F. Austin 2
Jan 21, 2017 at College Station, Texas
(George P. Mitchell Tennis Center)
Singles
1. #85 Rachel Pierson (A&M) def. Denise Maxl (SFA), 7-5, 6-1
2. #57 Tina Bokhua (A&M) def. Vanesa Pardo, (SFA), 6-3, 6-1
3. Darinka Tiboldi (SFA) def. Saska Gavrilovska (A&M) 6-4, 6-0
4. Macarena Olivares (A&M) def. Lauren Hidalgo-Smith (SFA), 6-0, 6-0
5. Eva Paalma (A&M) def. Gabi Guilarte (SFA), 6-0, 6-2
6. Kaja Ljubic (SFA) def. Stefania Hristov (A&M), 6-3, 3-6, 1-0 (10-2)
Doubles
1. Paalma/Pierson (A&M) def. Darinka/Hidalgo-Smith (SFA) 6-0
2. Gavrilovska/Hristov (A&M) def. Ljubic/Maxl (SFA) 6-1
3. Bokhua/Olivares (A&M) vs. Guilarte/Pardo (SFA) 4-1, unfinished
Match Notes:
Stephen F. Austin 0-1
Texas A&M 1-0; National ranking #21
Order of finish: Doubles (1, 2); Singles (4, 5, 3, 1, 6, 2)
T-1:59 Attn-196
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
Pronunciations
Rutuja Bhosale roo-too-jah bo-slay
Tina Bokhua bo-kwah
Saska Gavrilovska saush-ka gav-ril-ohv-ska
Stefania Hristov steff-on-ya RIS-tov
Eva Paalma A-va palma
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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