Texas A&M Falls to Missouri, 4-3

Friday, March 10

Columbia, Mo.

5:00 PM

Texas A&M

Missouri

Photo by: Glen Johnson/Texas A&M Athletics

Mar 10, 2017 | Women's Tennis

By: Texas A&M Media Relations

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Playing in its first Southeastern Conference road match of the season, 17^th-ranked Texas A&M dropped the last match standing and fell to Missouri, 4-3, at the Mizzou Tennis Center's four-court indoor facility.

The Aggies fall to 8-6 overall and 0-3 in SEC matches. The Tigers improve to 10-3, 1-1 SEC as they snap a 15-match losing skid in the series against Texas A&M.

Texas A&M took an early lead by winning the doubles point. Domenica Gonzales and Eva Paalma were first off after defeating Brianna Lashway and Clare Raley, 6-2, at the No. 2 line. Teammates Rachel Pierson and Rutuja also won by the identical score, knocking off Beatriz Santos and Amina Ismail at the No. 1 line to clinch the point. A&M's Macarena Olivares and Stefania Hristov held a 5-2 lead over Cassidy Spearman and Tate Schroeder at No. 3 when play was stopped.

The Tigers won the first three singles matches to be completed to take a 3-1 lead. Spearman knotted the team score at 1-1 as she knocked off Saska Gavrilovska, 6-4, 6-2 at the No. 3 line. Schroeder gave Missouri the lead, coming from behind to defeat Olivares, 6-7, 6-4, 6-1 at No. 4, and Santos followed with a 6-3, 5-7, 6-1 victory over Bhosale at No. 2 to put the Tigers ahead, 3-1.

Pierson put A&M within 3-2 after finishing off Lashway, 7-5, 5-7, 6-2 at the top of the lineup, and Gonzalez knotted the score, 3-3, posting her team-leading seventh consecutive victory by defeating Ismail, 6-1, 4-6, 6-1 at the No. 5 line.

All eyes then went to the No. 6 line where Paalma had won her first set, 6-4, against Mackenzy Middlebrook. Middlebrook then jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the second set before Paalma rallied and managed to tie the set at 5-5 and 6-6 to force a tiebreaker. Middlebrook pulled away to take the tiebreaker to force a third set. The final and deciding set was tied at 3-3 before Middlebrook won the next three games to close out the set and complete the Tigers' first victory over the Aggies since 2003.

Texas A&M continues its road swing Sunday with a top-20 showdown at No. 18 Arkansas. First serve is at 1 p.m. at the Billingsley Tennis Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

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

Texas A&M vs Missouri
Mar 10, 2017 at Columbia, Mo.
(Mizzou Tennis Complex)

Missouri 4, #17 Texas A&M 3

Singles competition
1. #44 Rachel Pierson (A&M) def. Brianna Lashway (MIZ) 7-5, 5-7, 6-2
2. Bea Machado Santos (MIZ) def. #85 Rutuja Bhosale (A&M) 6-3, 5-7, 6-1
3. Cassidy Spearman (MIZ) def. Saska Gavrilovska (A&M) 6-4, 6-2
4. Tate Schroeder (MIZ) def. Macarena Olivares (A&M) 6-7 (3-0), 6-4, 6-1
5. Domenica Gonzalez (A&M) def. Amina Ismail (MIZ) 6-1, 4-6, 6-1
6. Mackenzy Middlebrook (MIZ) def. Eva Paalma (A&M) 4-6, 7-6 (0-6), 6-3

Doubles competition
1. #19 Rachel Pierson/Rutuja Bhosale (A&M) def. Bea Machado Santos/Amina Ismail (MIZ) 6-2
2. Domenica Gonzalez/Eva Paalma (A&M) def. Brianna Lashway/Clare Raley (MIZ) 6-2
3. Macarena Olivares/Stefania Hristov (A&M) def. Cassidy Spearman/Tate Schroeder (MIZ) 5-2

Match Notes:
Texas A&M 8-5, 0-3 SEC; National ranking #17
Mizzou 9-3, 1-1 SEC
Order of finish: Doubles (2, 1); Singles (3, 4, 2, 1, 5, 6)

Pronunciations
Rutuja Bhosale                       rue-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