Friday, February 10
New Haven, Conn.
5:30 PM
Texas A&M
vs
Pepperdine
No. 15 Texas A&M Draws No. 3 Pepperdine in National Indoor Championship Opener
Feb 09, 2017 | Women's Tennis
2017 ITA Division I National Women's Team Indoor Championship
Friday-Monday, Feb. 10-13
Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center (Yale University)
New Haven, Connecticut
Coverage:
ITA Tournament Page: http://bit.ly/1bde78x
Main Draw: http://bit.ly/2k8KbVW
Live scoring: http://bit.ly/2ltk6BO
Live video/FloTennis (subscription required): http://bit.ly/2kltqbD
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The 15th-ranked Texas A&M women's tennis team will face third-ranked and No. 4 seed Pepperdine on Friday in the first round of the four-day ITA National Women's Team Indoor Championship, the Intercollegiate Tennis Association announced. First serve against the Waves is slated for 5:30 p.m. (6:30 p.m. ET) at the Yale University Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center in New Haven, Connecticut.
The winner advances to the quarterfinals to face the winner between sixth-ranked Georgia and No. 10 Duke on Saturday. Others in the 16-team tournament field are No. 1 Florida, No. 2 North Carolina, No. 5 Oklahoma State, No. 7 Ohio State, No. 8 and defending tournament champion California, No. 9 Vanderbilt, No. 11 Georgia Tech, No. 12 Texas Tech, No. 13 Michigan, No. 14 Auburn, No. 19 Ole Miss and host Yale.
Texas A&M (5-1) qualified for the tournament by defeating both South Alabama and No. 12 Miami at the ITA Kick-Off Weekend in Coral Gables, Florida, last weekend.
"It is quite an accomplishment for our team to qualify for the prestigious national indoor event," Texas A&M second-year head coach Mark Weaver said. "I am very proud of our group and also pleased with the level that we are playing at so far. The encouraging part is we are playing quite well, yet I do see areas where we can still improve to help us get better and better throughout the course of a very long season."
Texas A&M, which opened the season 5-0 for the first time since 2002 and the eighth time in program history, came up short of becoming the third team to open 6-0 after falling to Rice on Sunday at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center. The Aggies dropped the doubles point for the first time this season and went on to fall to the Owls, 4-1. Junior Macarena Olivares posted A&M's only point with a straight-set victory at the No. 4 singles line to improve to a team-leading 5-0 in dual matches. Senior Rachel Pierson, who at No. 71 is A&M's only ranked singles player, is 4-1 at the No. 1 line, and senior Rutuja Bhosale and junior Tina Bokhua also are 4-1 at No. 2 and 3, respectively. The Aggies are a combined 20-7 in singles in dual matches.
In doubles, Pierson and Bhosale are ranked 16th nationally and are 5-0 at the No. 1 line. The duo has won eight consecutive matches dating back to the fall season and is 16-2 overall, including 4-0 against ranked opponents. Texas A&M is a combined 11-3 in doubles matches in the spring season.
A&M is 0-5 all-time against Pepperdine, which is 2-1 on the season after falling to top-ranked Florida, 5-2, on Feb. 4 in Malibu, Calif. The Aggies and Waves have not met since March 31, 2000, with then-No. 2 Pepperdine topping A&M, 6-3, in College Station.
Pepperdine opened its 2017 campaign by shutting out both UNLV and North Carolina State, 4-0, during the ITA Kick-Off Weekend at Malibu, California, to qualify for the national indoor tournament. The Waves have four players listed in the ITA national singles rankings: No. 7 Luisa Stefani, No. 14 Mayar Sherif, No. 22 Ashley Lahey and No. 72 Laura Gulbe. They also have two ranked doubles teams: No. 4 Christine Maddox and Mayar Sherif Ahmed and No. 28 Stefani and Apichaya Runglerdkriangkrai.
"Pepperdine is no doubt one of the best teams in the nation this year," Weaver said, "and we are looking forward to the challenge and opportunity of playing against them on Friday."
About the ITA Division I National Women's Team Indoor Championship:
The ITA Division I National Women's Team Indoor Championship is in its 30th year of existence. Fifteen teams qualified for the event by winning their respective 2017 ITA Kick-Off Weekend four-team regional, while Yale received an automatic bid as the host site. The teams will compete in a single-elimination tournament over a four-day span to crown a national indoor champion. Each team is guaranteed three matches at the event.
The top eight seeds in the tournament field were determined based on an unpublished ranking conducted by the National Ranking Committee. The remaining eight teams were placed into the draw by random selection. Teams were moved to avoid playing opponents in the first round already on their respective regular-season schedules.
ITA Indoors First Round Matches
No. 3 Seed Oklahoma State vs. Ole Miss, 9 a.m. (RH)
No. 6 Seed Ohio State vs. Auburn, 9 a.m. (Yale)
No. 2 Seed North Carolina vs. Yale, 12 p.m. (Yale)
No. 7 Seed California vs. Georgia Tech, 12 p.m. (RH)
No. 1 Seed Florida vs. Michigan, 3:30 p.m. (Yale)
No. 8 Seed Vanderbilt vs. Texas Tech, 3:30 p.m. (RH)
No. 4 Seed Pepperdine vs. Texas A&M, 6:30 p.m. (Yale)
No. 5 Seed Georgia vs. Duke, 6:30 p.m. (RH)
Yale = Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center
RH = Tennis & Fitness Center of Rocky Hill
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
Friday-Monday, Feb. 10-13
Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center (Yale University)
New Haven, Connecticut
Coverage:
ITA Tournament Page: http://bit.ly/1bde78x
Main Draw: http://bit.ly/2k8KbVW
Live scoring: http://bit.ly/2ltk6BO
Live video/FloTennis (subscription required): http://bit.ly/2kltqbD
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The 15th-ranked Texas A&M women's tennis team will face third-ranked and No. 4 seed Pepperdine on Friday in the first round of the four-day ITA National Women's Team Indoor Championship, the Intercollegiate Tennis Association announced. First serve against the Waves is slated for 5:30 p.m. (6:30 p.m. ET) at the Yale University Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center in New Haven, Connecticut.
The winner advances to the quarterfinals to face the winner between sixth-ranked Georgia and No. 10 Duke on Saturday. Others in the 16-team tournament field are No. 1 Florida, No. 2 North Carolina, No. 5 Oklahoma State, No. 7 Ohio State, No. 8 and defending tournament champion California, No. 9 Vanderbilt, No. 11 Georgia Tech, No. 12 Texas Tech, No. 13 Michigan, No. 14 Auburn, No. 19 Ole Miss and host Yale.
Texas A&M (5-1) qualified for the tournament by defeating both South Alabama and No. 12 Miami at the ITA Kick-Off Weekend in Coral Gables, Florida, last weekend.
"It is quite an accomplishment for our team to qualify for the prestigious national indoor event," Texas A&M second-year head coach Mark Weaver said. "I am very proud of our group and also pleased with the level that we are playing at so far. The encouraging part is we are playing quite well, yet I do see areas where we can still improve to help us get better and better throughout the course of a very long season."
Texas A&M, which opened the season 5-0 for the first time since 2002 and the eighth time in program history, came up short of becoming the third team to open 6-0 after falling to Rice on Sunday at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center. The Aggies dropped the doubles point for the first time this season and went on to fall to the Owls, 4-1. Junior Macarena Olivares posted A&M's only point with a straight-set victory at the No. 4 singles line to improve to a team-leading 5-0 in dual matches. Senior Rachel Pierson, who at No. 71 is A&M's only ranked singles player, is 4-1 at the No. 1 line, and senior Rutuja Bhosale and junior Tina Bokhua also are 4-1 at No. 2 and 3, respectively. The Aggies are a combined 20-7 in singles in dual matches.
In doubles, Pierson and Bhosale are ranked 16th nationally and are 5-0 at the No. 1 line. The duo has won eight consecutive matches dating back to the fall season and is 16-2 overall, including 4-0 against ranked opponents. Texas A&M is a combined 11-3 in doubles matches in the spring season.
A&M is 0-5 all-time against Pepperdine, which is 2-1 on the season after falling to top-ranked Florida, 5-2, on Feb. 4 in Malibu, Calif. The Aggies and Waves have not met since March 31, 2000, with then-No. 2 Pepperdine topping A&M, 6-3, in College Station.
Pepperdine opened its 2017 campaign by shutting out both UNLV and North Carolina State, 4-0, during the ITA Kick-Off Weekend at Malibu, California, to qualify for the national indoor tournament. The Waves have four players listed in the ITA national singles rankings: No. 7 Luisa Stefani, No. 14 Mayar Sherif, No. 22 Ashley Lahey and No. 72 Laura Gulbe. They also have two ranked doubles teams: No. 4 Christine Maddox and Mayar Sherif Ahmed and No. 28 Stefani and Apichaya Runglerdkriangkrai.
"Pepperdine is no doubt one of the best teams in the nation this year," Weaver said, "and we are looking forward to the challenge and opportunity of playing against them on Friday."
About the ITA Division I National Women's Team Indoor Championship:
The ITA Division I National Women's Team Indoor Championship is in its 30th year of existence. Fifteen teams qualified for the event by winning their respective 2017 ITA Kick-Off Weekend four-team regional, while Yale received an automatic bid as the host site. The teams will compete in a single-elimination tournament over a four-day span to crown a national indoor champion. Each team is guaranteed three matches at the event.
The top eight seeds in the tournament field were determined based on an unpublished ranking conducted by the National Ranking Committee. The remaining eight teams were placed into the draw by random selection. Teams were moved to avoid playing opponents in the first round already on their respective regular-season schedules.
ITA Indoors First Round Matches
No. 3 Seed Oklahoma State vs. Ole Miss, 9 a.m. (RH)
No. 6 Seed Ohio State vs. Auburn, 9 a.m. (Yale)
No. 2 Seed North Carolina vs. Yale, 12 p.m. (Yale)
No. 7 Seed California vs. Georgia Tech, 12 p.m. (RH)
No. 1 Seed Florida vs. Michigan, 3:30 p.m. (Yale)
No. 8 Seed Vanderbilt vs. Texas Tech, 3:30 p.m. (RH)
No. 4 Seed Pepperdine vs. Texas A&M, 6:30 p.m. (Yale)
No. 5 Seed Georgia vs. Duke, 6:30 p.m. (RH)
Yale = Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center
RH = Tennis & Fitness Center of Rocky Hill
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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