Friday, March 3
College Station
4:00 PM
Texas A&M
vs
South Carolina
No. 20 Texas A&M Hosts No. 19 South Carolina in SEC Opener
Mar 02, 2017 | Women's Tennis
No. 20 Texas A&M Aggies (8-3) vs. No. 19 South Carolina Gamecocks (8-2)
Friday, March 3, 4 p.m.
George P. Mitchell Tennis Center
College Station, Texas
Tickets: http://www.12thmanfoundation.com/ticket-center.aspx
Live Video/Scoring: http://12thman.com/livetennis
Be Clear: Texas A&M's "clear bag" policy will be in effect. For a full description of the policy, go to http://www.12thman.com/sports/2016/6/6/clear-bag-policy.aspx
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The 20th-ranked Texas A&M women's tennis team opens its challenging Southeastern Conference slate Friday as the Aggies play host to No. 19 South Carolina at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center. First serve is at 4 p.m., and all fans with a valid Texas A&M student ID will be admitted free.
"The SEC opener with South Carolina will no doubt bring a different feel as we enter Friday's match," said Mark Weaver, who is in his second season as head coach at Texas A&M. "They are a team that plays with very high energy and always comes ready to play. We are a team that is off to a very good start and the good news is that I feel that we still have the ability to get better and better."
The Aggies improved to 8-3 overall—including 3-2 against top 25 teams—after defeating 22nd-ranked TCU, 4-3, on Tuesday. It marked Texas A&M's fourth top-25 matchup in the last five matches, and the schedule doesn't get any easier for the Aggies as each of their remaining 14 regular season matches are against teams currently ranked 41 or higher in the ITA national rankings, including a showdown against No. 1 Florida on Sunday at the Mitchell Tennis Center.
South Carolina enters SEC play 8-2 after defeating both No. 39 William & Mary and Charlotte in a doubleheader on Feb. 26. Both of their losses were to ranked opponents: No. 21 Arizona State on Jan. 28 and No. 3 North Carolina on Feb. 25.
Individually, No. 45 Rachel Pierson is the Aggies' highest ranked singles player. The senior is a team-leading 17-6 in all matches, and she has played every dual match at the No. 1 line where she is 7-3, tying teammates Rutuja Bhosale and Macarena Olivares for most wins in dual matches only.
Bhosale, 13-6 overall, is No. 75 in the national singles rankings. Meanwhile, sophomore Domenica Gonzalez is riding a team-high six-match win streak.
In doubles, senior Stefania Hristov is only one victory from breaking into the Texas A&M all-time top 10 for career victories with 85. Another win will tie her for 10th with Gaye Lynne Gensler, who recorded 86 victories from 1984-88.
Bhosale, who is No. 14 with Pierson in the national doubles rankings with a 17-5 overall record, including a 6-3 ledger at the No. 1 line, has 82 career doubles victories and is only four wins shy of moving into a tie for the 10th most career doubles victories in program history.
The Gamecocks have four ranked singles players: Ingrid Gamarra Martins (29), Mia Horvit (100), Paige Cline (110) and Silvia Chinellato.
Hadley Berg, riding a team-high nine match winning streak in singles, is ranked 27th in doubles with cline.
South Carolina owns a 7-5 lead in the all-time series which began in 1988, but the Aggies, entering their fifth season in the SEC, are 4-0 against the Gamecocks since joining the league. Last year, A&M upset then-No. 8 South Carolina, 6-1, in Columbia. The doubles point came down to a thrilling tiebreaker at the No. 1 line, where the Aggies clinched the point. The Gamecocks gained the momentum early in singles by winning four of six first sets before inclement weather forced the match to move to a four-court indoor facility. Once play resumed, the match quickly turned to the Aggies' favor, and Texas A&M went on to win its fourth consecutive match against the Gamecocks, whose most recent victory against the Aggies was in 1995.
Texas A&M, which went 7-6 in conference matches and tied Mississippi State for sixth place in the SEC standings last year, has been picked to finish seventh according to a preseason poll of the league's coaches. South Carolina is picked to finish fifth. The Gamecocks went 9-4 and finished fifth in 2016.
Live scoring and video of all Texas A&M home matches is available at http://12thman.com/livetennis.
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 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
Friday, March 3, 4 p.m.
George P. Mitchell Tennis Center
College Station, Texas
Tickets: http://www.12thmanfoundation.com/ticket-center.aspx
Live Video/Scoring: http://12thman.com/livetennis
Be Clear: Texas A&M's "clear bag" policy will be in effect. For a full description of the policy, go to http://www.12thman.com/sports/2016/6/6/clear-bag-policy.aspx
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The 20th-ranked Texas A&M women's tennis team opens its challenging Southeastern Conference slate Friday as the Aggies play host to No. 19 South Carolina at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center. First serve is at 4 p.m., and all fans with a valid Texas A&M student ID will be admitted free.
"The SEC opener with South Carolina will no doubt bring a different feel as we enter Friday's match," said Mark Weaver, who is in his second season as head coach at Texas A&M. "They are a team that plays with very high energy and always comes ready to play. We are a team that is off to a very good start and the good news is that I feel that we still have the ability to get better and better."
The Aggies improved to 8-3 overall—including 3-2 against top 25 teams—after defeating 22nd-ranked TCU, 4-3, on Tuesday. It marked Texas A&M's fourth top-25 matchup in the last five matches, and the schedule doesn't get any easier for the Aggies as each of their remaining 14 regular season matches are against teams currently ranked 41 or higher in the ITA national rankings, including a showdown against No. 1 Florida on Sunday at the Mitchell Tennis Center.
South Carolina enters SEC play 8-2 after defeating both No. 39 William & Mary and Charlotte in a doubleheader on Feb. 26. Both of their losses were to ranked opponents: No. 21 Arizona State on Jan. 28 and No. 3 North Carolina on Feb. 25.
Individually, No. 45 Rachel Pierson is the Aggies' highest ranked singles player. The senior is a team-leading 17-6 in all matches, and she has played every dual match at the No. 1 line where she is 7-3, tying teammates Rutuja Bhosale and Macarena Olivares for most wins in dual matches only.
Bhosale, 13-6 overall, is No. 75 in the national singles rankings. Meanwhile, sophomore Domenica Gonzalez is riding a team-high six-match win streak.
In doubles, senior Stefania Hristov is only one victory from breaking into the Texas A&M all-time top 10 for career victories with 85. Another win will tie her for 10th with Gaye Lynne Gensler, who recorded 86 victories from 1984-88.
Bhosale, who is No. 14 with Pierson in the national doubles rankings with a 17-5 overall record, including a 6-3 ledger at the No. 1 line, has 82 career doubles victories and is only four wins shy of moving into a tie for the 10th most career doubles victories in program history.
The Gamecocks have four ranked singles players: Ingrid Gamarra Martins (29), Mia Horvit (100), Paige Cline (110) and Silvia Chinellato.
Hadley Berg, riding a team-high nine match winning streak in singles, is ranked 27th in doubles with cline.
South Carolina owns a 7-5 lead in the all-time series which began in 1988, but the Aggies, entering their fifth season in the SEC, are 4-0 against the Gamecocks since joining the league. Last year, A&M upset then-No. 8 South Carolina, 6-1, in Columbia. The doubles point came down to a thrilling tiebreaker at the No. 1 line, where the Aggies clinched the point. The Gamecocks gained the momentum early in singles by winning four of six first sets before inclement weather forced the match to move to a four-court indoor facility. Once play resumed, the match quickly turned to the Aggies' favor, and Texas A&M went on to win its fourth consecutive match against the Gamecocks, whose most recent victory against the Aggies was in 1995.
Texas A&M, which went 7-6 in conference matches and tied Mississippi State for sixth place in the SEC standings last year, has been picked to finish seventh according to a preseason poll of the league's coaches. South Carolina is picked to finish fifth. The Gamecocks went 9-4 and finished fifth in 2016.
Live scoring and video of all Texas A&M home matches is available at http://12thman.com/livetennis.
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 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
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ 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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