Friday, April 7
College Station
4:00 PM
Texas A&M
2
vs
4
Vanderbilt
Photo by: Sam Craft/Texas A&M Athletics
Aggies Fall to No. 7 Vanderbilt, 4-2, on Senior Day
Apr 07, 2017 | Women's Tennis
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Texas A&M senior Rachel Pierson posted the highest ranked singles win of her collegiate career by defeating fourth-ranked Astra Sharma, 6-3, 6-2 on Senior Day, but it wasn't enough as No. 7 Vanderbilt pulled away for a 4-2 victory over the No. 22 Aggies today at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center.
Texas A&M moves to 11-11 overall, including 3-7 in Southeastern Conference matches. Vanderbilt wins its fifth consecutive match and remains in at least a tie for the SEC lead with a 9-1 conference record.
"It was a special day for us although Senior Day didn't shake out quite the way we wanted it to," Texas A&M head coach Mark Weaver said. "I knew it would be a very close match, I knew it would be a difficult match and I knew it would come down to the key points. Most of the matches could have gone either way, so overall I'm as pleased as I can be for a team that didn't win. Vanderbilt is a heck of a team, a national championship-caliber team—a lot of those same players were on the team that won NCAAs a couple years back—but it is never fun when you don't get the victory, especially when you don't get it on Senior Day, but overall I'm proud of the girls and their effort and their fight."
The Aggies won two of three doubles matches to take a 1-0 lead. Sophomore Domenica Gonzalez and junior Eva Paalma quickly gave Texas A&M the early edge as they pulled away for a 6-1 victory over Sydney Campbell and Emma Kurtz at the No. 2 line.
In a battle of top-10 ranked tandems, Vanderbilt evened the race for the doubles point with a win at the No. 1 line, where 10th-ranked Astra Sharma and Emily Smith went up a break, 6-5, against A&M's sixth-ranked senior duo of Rutuja Bhosale and Pierson. The Vanderbilt pair then held serve to close out the 7-5 victory.
The point came down to a tiebreaker at No. 3. Vandy's Fernanda Contreras and Christina Rosca had jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the tiebreaker against A&M's senior duo of Saska Gavrilovska and Stefania Hristov. The Aggies then raced back, snapping the Commodores' five-match winning streak and clinching the doubles point for A&M by reeling off six consecutive points for a come-from-behind 7-6 (7-4) win.
"We pulled out an excellent doubles point," Weaver said. "It was a team of seniors that hadn't played much this year, and the seniors came through in the clutch."
Vanderbilt knotted the team score at 1-1 once singles began as Georgina Sellyn defeated Tina Bokhua, 6-3, 6-0 at No. 5.
Pierson, who was presented her Aggie Ring following the match, put A&M ahead 2-1 as she came through with the highest ranked win of her career. Ranked 38th in singles, Pierson posted a decisive 6-3, 6-2 victory over fourth-ranked Sharma at the No. 1 line. The New Jersey native's previous highest ranked win came in 2015 against then-No. 7 Campbell as Pierson won a third-set tiebreaker in the last match standing to clinch the Aggies' 4-3 upset over then eighth-ranked and eventual NCAA Champion Vanderbilt the last time the Commodores visited College Station.
It would be the final point for the Maroon and White. Contreras, ranked 96th, held on to top Paalma, 6-2, 7-6 (4) at the No. 6 line to tie the team score at 2-2. No. 72 Rosca then gave the Commodores the lead for good as she pulled off a 6-2, 7-6 (5) victory over Gonzalez at No. 3.
Campbell, currently ranked 15th, clinched the 4-2 win for the Commodores, taking three sets to down 107th-ranked Bhosale, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, at No. 2.
Gavrilovska and Kurtz had split sets and were one game into the third set when the match was clinched and play was stopped.
"Five of the six singles matches probably could have gone just about either way," Weaver said. "Rachel played great at No. 1. That is the first time we have beaten Sharma. She has been one of the best players in the nation the last few years, and it was a very decisive win for Rachel, and it was her best collegiate win. Rutuja was playing another excellent player at No. 2 against Campbell, who is top 15 in the nation, and it went down to the wire.
"Overall, I'm encouraged by today. Obviously we would have preferred the win, but we'll get a good rest and a light hit in tomorrow, and hopefully we'll be ready to go against another very good team in Kentucky on Sunday."
The Aggies close out their home schedule on Sunday with a doubleheader against No. 11 Kentucky and Prairie View A&M. The match time against the Wildcats has been changed to 11 a.m., and first serve of the Prairie View A&M match has been changed to a 4 p.m.
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
Tennis Match Results
Vanderbilt vs Texas A&M
4/7/2017 at College Station, Texas
(George P. Mitchell Tennis Center)
#7 Vanderbilt 4, #22 Texas A&M 2
Singles competition
1. #38 Rachel Pierson (A&M) def. #4 Astra Sharma (VANDY) 6-3, 6-2
2. #15 Sydney Campbell (VANDY) def. #107 Rutuja Bhosale (A&M) 6-2, 3-6, 6-4
3. #72 Christina Rosca (VANDY) def. Domenica Gonzalez (A&M) 6-2, 7-6 (7-5)
4. Saska Gavrilovska (A&M) vs. Emma Kurtz (VANDY) 6-4, 4-6, 0-1, unfinished
5. Georgina Sellyn (VANDY) def. Tina Bokhua (A&M) 6-3, 6-0
6. #96 Fernanda Contreras (VANDY) def. Eva Paalma (A&M) 6-2, 7-6 (7-4)
Doubles competition
1. #10 Emily Smith/Astra Sharma (VANDY) def. #6 Rutuja Bhosale/Rachel Pierson (A&M) 7-5
2. Domenica Gonzalez/Eva Paalma (A&M) def. Emma Kurtz/Sydney Campbell (VANDY) 6-1
3. Saska Gavrilovska/Stefania Hristov (A&M) def. Fernanda Contreras/Christina Rosca (VANDY) 7-6 (7-4)
Match Notes:
Vanderbilt 14-5, 9-1 SEC; National ranking #7
Texas A&M 11-11, 3-7 SEC; National ranking #22
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (5,1,6,3,2)
T-2:58 A-246
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
Texas A&M moves to 11-11 overall, including 3-7 in Southeastern Conference matches. Vanderbilt wins its fifth consecutive match and remains in at least a tie for the SEC lead with a 9-1 conference record.
"It was a special day for us although Senior Day didn't shake out quite the way we wanted it to," Texas A&M head coach Mark Weaver said. "I knew it would be a very close match, I knew it would be a difficult match and I knew it would come down to the key points. Most of the matches could have gone either way, so overall I'm as pleased as I can be for a team that didn't win. Vanderbilt is a heck of a team, a national championship-caliber team—a lot of those same players were on the team that won NCAAs a couple years back—but it is never fun when you don't get the victory, especially when you don't get it on Senior Day, but overall I'm proud of the girls and their effort and their fight."
The Aggies won two of three doubles matches to take a 1-0 lead. Sophomore Domenica Gonzalez and junior Eva Paalma quickly gave Texas A&M the early edge as they pulled away for a 6-1 victory over Sydney Campbell and Emma Kurtz at the No. 2 line.
In a battle of top-10 ranked tandems, Vanderbilt evened the race for the doubles point with a win at the No. 1 line, where 10th-ranked Astra Sharma and Emily Smith went up a break, 6-5, against A&M's sixth-ranked senior duo of Rutuja Bhosale and Pierson. The Vanderbilt pair then held serve to close out the 7-5 victory.
The point came down to a tiebreaker at No. 3. Vandy's Fernanda Contreras and Christina Rosca had jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the tiebreaker against A&M's senior duo of Saska Gavrilovska and Stefania Hristov. The Aggies then raced back, snapping the Commodores' five-match winning streak and clinching the doubles point for A&M by reeling off six consecutive points for a come-from-behind 7-6 (7-4) win.
"We pulled out an excellent doubles point," Weaver said. "It was a team of seniors that hadn't played much this year, and the seniors came through in the clutch."
Vanderbilt knotted the team score at 1-1 once singles began as Georgina Sellyn defeated Tina Bokhua, 6-3, 6-0 at No. 5.
Pierson, who was presented her Aggie Ring following the match, put A&M ahead 2-1 as she came through with the highest ranked win of her career. Ranked 38th in singles, Pierson posted a decisive 6-3, 6-2 victory over fourth-ranked Sharma at the No. 1 line. The New Jersey native's previous highest ranked win came in 2015 against then-No. 7 Campbell as Pierson won a third-set tiebreaker in the last match standing to clinch the Aggies' 4-3 upset over then eighth-ranked and eventual NCAA Champion Vanderbilt the last time the Commodores visited College Station.
It would be the final point for the Maroon and White. Contreras, ranked 96th, held on to top Paalma, 6-2, 7-6 (4) at the No. 6 line to tie the team score at 2-2. No. 72 Rosca then gave the Commodores the lead for good as she pulled off a 6-2, 7-6 (5) victory over Gonzalez at No. 3.
Campbell, currently ranked 15th, clinched the 4-2 win for the Commodores, taking three sets to down 107th-ranked Bhosale, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, at No. 2.
Gavrilovska and Kurtz had split sets and were one game into the third set when the match was clinched and play was stopped.
"Five of the six singles matches probably could have gone just about either way," Weaver said. "Rachel played great at No. 1. That is the first time we have beaten Sharma. She has been one of the best players in the nation the last few years, and it was a very decisive win for Rachel, and it was her best collegiate win. Rutuja was playing another excellent player at No. 2 against Campbell, who is top 15 in the nation, and it went down to the wire.
"Overall, I'm encouraged by today. Obviously we would have preferred the win, but we'll get a good rest and a light hit in tomorrow, and hopefully we'll be ready to go against another very good team in Kentucky on Sunday."
The Aggies close out their home schedule on Sunday with a doubleheader against No. 11 Kentucky and Prairie View A&M. The match time against the Wildcats has been changed to 11 a.m., and first serve of the Prairie View A&M match has been changed to a 4 p.m.
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
Tennis Match Results
Vanderbilt vs Texas A&M
4/7/2017 at College Station, Texas
(George P. Mitchell Tennis Center)
#7 Vanderbilt 4, #22 Texas A&M 2
Singles competition
1. #38 Rachel Pierson (A&M) def. #4 Astra Sharma (VANDY) 6-3, 6-2
2. #15 Sydney Campbell (VANDY) def. #107 Rutuja Bhosale (A&M) 6-2, 3-6, 6-4
3. #72 Christina Rosca (VANDY) def. Domenica Gonzalez (A&M) 6-2, 7-6 (7-5)
4. Saska Gavrilovska (A&M) vs. Emma Kurtz (VANDY) 6-4, 4-6, 0-1, unfinished
5. Georgina Sellyn (VANDY) def. Tina Bokhua (A&M) 6-3, 6-0
6. #96 Fernanda Contreras (VANDY) def. Eva Paalma (A&M) 6-2, 7-6 (7-4)
Doubles competition
1. #10 Emily Smith/Astra Sharma (VANDY) def. #6 Rutuja Bhosale/Rachel Pierson (A&M) 7-5
2. Domenica Gonzalez/Eva Paalma (A&M) def. Emma Kurtz/Sydney Campbell (VANDY) 6-1
3. Saska Gavrilovska/Stefania Hristov (A&M) def. Fernanda Contreras/Christina Rosca (VANDY) 7-6 (7-4)
Match Notes:
Vanderbilt 14-5, 9-1 SEC; National ranking #7
Texas A&M 11-11, 3-7 SEC; National ranking #22
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (5,1,6,3,2)
T-2:58 A-246
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
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