Women’s Tennis Shuts Out Prairie View A&M, 7-0 & 4-0

Sunday, April 9

4:00 PM

Texas A&M

Prairie View A&M

Photo by: Sam Craft/Texas A&M Athletics

Apr 09, 2017 | Women's Tennis

By: Texas A&M Media Relations

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – After getting a crucial 4-2 victory over No. 11 Kentucky earlier in the day, 22^nd-ranked Texas A&M returned to the courts at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center to play two matches against Prairie View A&M.

The Aggies defeated the Panthers, 7-0 and 4-0, to close out their regular-season home schedule and improve to 14-11. Prairie View A&M falls to 6-25.

"Prairie View came out and played some really good doubles at lines one and two today, but we did a good job in both rounds of singles and took care of business today just like we needed to," Texas A&M head coach Mark Weaver said. "It was a long day for our team, and they did a great job of finishing out the difficult task that was set before them. We are looking forward to a little rest and then getting right back to practice for the Tennessee-Georgia trip."

In the first match against the Panthers, Texas A&M's Saska Gavrilovska and Stefania Hristov raced to a 6-0 victory over Timara Maxwell and Trinity Randolph at the No. 3 line. The Aggies finally clinched the doubles point to take a 1-0 lead after sixth-ranked Rachel Pierson and Rutuja Bhosale broke away from a 4-4 tie, winning two consecutive games against Neharika Rama and Stacy Lackey to win, 6-4, at the No. 1 line.

Texas A&M's Dominica Gonzalez and Eva Paalma also were in a dogfight at No. 2, where they held a narrow 6-5 lead over Sydney Thomas and Tatiana Ruhl when the doubles point was secured and the match was abandoned.

Texas A&M won all six singles matches in straight sets. Paalma was first off and put the Aggies up, 2-0, with a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Maxwell at No. 5. Pierson opened her match at the No. 1 line by winning nine consecutive games before Rama got on the scoreboard. Pierson, No. 38 in the national singles rankings, then won the next three games to complete a 6-0, 6-1 victory and give the Aggies a 3-0 lead.

Stefania Hristov put the Aggies up 4-0, clinching the team win with a 6-0, 6-3 victory over Ruhl at No. 6.

The teams would play out the remaining matches. Macarena Olivares put Texas A&M ahead, 5-0, with a 6-1, 6-1 triumph over Randolph at No. 4, and Tina Bokhua followed with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Thomas at No. 3 to put the Aggies up, 6-0. Gonzalez completed the shutout with a 6-4, 6-2 win against Lackey at No. 2.

After a short break, the teams returned to the court and started out with singles. Hristov and Paalma quickly gave the Aggies a 2-0 lead, not dropping a game while racing to 6-0, 6-0 victories at the No. 6 and 5 lines, respectively. Pierson then won her fifth consecutive match and gave the Aggies a 3-0 lead with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Lackey at No. 1.

Olivares clinched the victory for the Aggies, defeating Thomas, 6-2, 6-0 at No. 4.

Gavrilovska held a 6-3, 1-0 lead over Rama at No. 2 and Bokhua was up, 6-0, 5-0 against Randolph at No. 3 when Olivares clinched, and the matches were stopped.

The Aggies close out their regular season schedule next weekend, taking on No. 24 Tennessee on Friday in Knoxville and No. 2 Georgia on Sunday in Athens. The SEC Tournament is April 19-23 in Nashville.

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

Prairie View A&M vs Texas A&M
4/9/2017 at College Station, Texas
(George P. Mitchell Tennis Center)

#22 Texas A&M 7, Prairie View A&M 0

Singles competition
1. #38 Rachel Pierson (A&M) def. Neharika Rama (PVAM) 6-0, 6-1
2. Domenica Gonzalez (A&M) def. Stacy Lackey (PVAM) 6-4, 6-2
3. Tina Bokhua (A&M) def. Sydney Thomas (PVAM) 6-1, 6-2
4. Macarena Olivares (A&M) def. Trinity Randolph (PVAM) 6-1, 6-1
5. Eva Paalma (A&M) def. Timara Maxwell (PVAM) 6-0, 6-0
6. Stefania Hristov (A&M) def. Tatiana Ruhl (PVAM) 6-0, 6-3

Doubles competition
1. #6 Rutuja Bhosale/Rachel Pierson (A&M) def. Neharika Rama/Stacy Lackey (PVAM) 6-4
2. Domenica Gonzalez/Eva Paalma (A&M) vs. Sydney Thomas/Tatiana Ruhl (PVAM) 6-5, unfinished
3. Saska Gavrilovska/Stefania Hristov (A&M) def. Timara Maxwell/Trinity Randolph (PVAM) 6-0

Match Notes:
Prairie View A&M 6-24
Texas A&M 13-11; National ranking #22
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1); Singles (5,1,6,4,3,2)
A-221

Prairie View A&M vs Texas A&M
4/9/2017 at College Station, Texas
(George P. Mitchell Tennis Center)

#22 Texas A&M 4, Prairie View A&M 0

Singles competition
1. #38 Rachel Pierson (A&M) def. Stacy Lackey (PVAM) 6-2, 6-0
2. Saska Gavrilovska (A&M) vs. Neharika Rama (PVAM) 6-3, 1-0, unfinished
3. Tina Bokhua (A&M) vs. Trinity Randolph (PVAM) 6-0, 5-0, unfinished
4. Macarena Olivares (A&M) def. Sydney Thomas (PVAM) 6-2, 6-0
5. Eva Paalma (A&M) def. Maria Lackey (PVAM) 6-0, 6-0
6. Stefania Hristov (A&M) def. Timara Maxwell (PVAM) 6-0, 6-0

Doubles competition
None

Match Notes:
Prairie View A&M 6-25
Texas A&M 14-11; National ranking #22
Order of finish: Doubles (); Singles (6,5,1,4)
Second match of doubleheader
A-221

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