Texas A&M Defeats Baylor, 4-3, to Advance to NCAA Sweet 16

Sunday, May 14

Waco, Texas

1:00 PM

Texas A&M

Baylor

Photo by: Erin Boyette

May 14, 2017 | Women's Tennis

By: Texas A&M Media Relations

WACO, Texas — Texas A&M junior Macarena Olivares won the last match standing to clinch the 20^th-ranked Aggies' 4-3 victory over No. 16 Baylor in the second round of the NCAA Championship today at the Hurd Tennis Center.

The Aggies (18-12), who fell at Baylor, 4-0, earlier this season and entered today's match 0-2 all-time in NCAA matches against the Bears in Waco, advance to the NCAA round of 16 for the fourth time in the last five years and the fifth time overall. They will face No. 1 seed and Southeastern Conference-foe Florida on Friday at 6 p.m. (CT) at the final championship site, the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Georgia.

No. 16 seed Baylor, which entered the match 16-0 in home matches, is the only seeded team in the NCAA Championship field of 64 to get eliminated before the round of 16 and ends its season 22-7.

Doubles began with A&M's Domenica Gonzalez and Eva Paalma winning a lopsided 6-0 match at the No. 2 line. The remaining two matches, however, were much more suspenseful as both contests were still up for grabs, tied 5-5. Texas A&M's Stefania Hristov and Saska Gavrilovska would clinch the crucial point for the Aggies at the No. 3 line, breaking Baylor's Theresa Van Zyl and Rhiann Newborn to go up, 6-5, and then holding serve to win 7-5.

Meanwhile, in a battle of ranked duos at the No. 1 line. A&M's seventh-ranked Rutuja Bhosale and Rachel Pierson had overcome a 4-1 deficit against 35^th-ranked Blair Shankle and Karina Traxler to put the match back on serve at 5-5. The Aggies then held serve to go up, 6-5, with Baylor building a 30-0 lead in the ensuing game when the doubles point was decided and play was stopped.

Both teams would open singles play by winning three first sets. Everyone who won a first set would go on to win their match. Gavrilovska was first to finish her match as she gave the Aggies a 2-0 lead with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Van Zyl at the No. 4 line. Newborn put the Bears within 2-1 with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Gonzalez at No. 3.

Bhosale, ranked 53^rd, quickly found herself down two service breaks to start her match against Elizabeth Profit at No. 2, but the Aggie reeled off four consecutive games to put the first set back on serve, 4-3. The set stayed on serve until Bhosale broke to complete a 7-5 win. Bhosale then won the first three games of the second set and went on to win, 6-2, to give the Aggies a 3-1 lead.

Baylor won the next two matches to be completed to tie the score at 3-3. Paalma saw her team-leading six-match winning streak come to an end as she fell to Angelina Shakhraichuk, 6-3, 6-3 at No. 5. Minutes later, third-ranked Blair Shankle held off 16^th-ranked Pierson at the No. 1 line. Shankle had won three consecutive games to close out a 6-2 first-set win and would overcome a 5-2 second-set deficit to force a tiebreaker. With the tiebreaker tied at 5-5, Shankle won back-to-back points to close out the 7-5 tiebreaker and complete the 6-2, 7-6 straight-set victory.

All eyes then turned to Court 6. Olivares appeared to be in good position to run away with the first set as she had jumped out to a 5-1 lead over Hinojosa, but Hinojosa then reeled off four consecutive games to tie the set. Neither player could hold serve to close out the frame, and the set would be determined by a tiebreaker. Olivares won the first three points and led the entire tiebreaker, although Hinojosa got within a point at 5-4 and 6-5 before Olivares secured the 7-5 win.

The second set was on serve at 5-5 before Hinojosa broke to take a 6-5 lead. Hinojosa then held serve to win the set, 7-5, and force the only three-set match on the day.

With the other five matches already completed, Hinojosa got the first break to go up, 4-3, but Olivares countered by breaking back to knot the score at 4-4. Olivares then held to go up 5-4 and then pulled away in the next game to win, 6-4, and set off a celebration by the Aggies.

Texas A&M, making its 18^th consecutive and 23^rd overall appearance in the NCAA tournament, will be meeting Florida for the first time in an NCAA Championship match. The Maroon and White fell to the Gators, 4-0, during the regular season on March 6 in College Station.

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 head coach Mark Weaver quotes:
"Overall, just an amazing team effort. This is a place that is probably one of the hardest to come in and get a win. We couldn't have prepared better for this match. We were ready to go ever since we found out we were coming here. We had the right mindset and practices to prepare well here, and what an amazing testament to our girls. What an amazing accomplishment today, and we get to move on to the elite group of Sweet 16"

"It comes down to Maca (Olivares) there on 6, kind of like Deja vu last year when it came down to the last match and last set at Stanford, and it definitely went through my head a little bit there. Maca has made great improvements this year. We all have our own flaws and kryptonite of what gets us down. Maca early in season had some matches she should have won, put away and sometimes the discouragement sets in, and she did nothing but overcome that and that is a process we have been working on in recent weeks, so it's nice when you see improvements like that come through at the most important time of the season."

"I'm very, very proud and happy for our girls. All the hard work paid off today. (We are) excited to go to Georgia and play Florida. They are the No. 1 seed, but we are excited we get a good shot at them. We have improved a lot throughout the season. We know if we play at a high level, we have a chance to get a win there."

Tennis Match Results
Texas A&M vs Baylor
May 14, 2017 at Waco, Texas
(Hurd Tennis Center)

#20 Texas A&M 4, #16 Baylor 3

Singles competition
1. #3 Blair Shankle (BU) def. #16 Rachel Pierson (A&M) 6-2, 7-6 (7-5)
2. #53 Rutuja Bhosale (A&M) def. Elizabeth Profit (BU) 7-5, 6-2
3. Rhiann Newborn (BU) def. Domenica Gonzalez (A&M) 6-4, 6-2
4. Saska Gavrilovska (A&M) def. Theresa Van Zyl (BU) 6-1, 6-1
5. Angie Shakhraichuk (BU) def. Eva Paalma (A&M) 6-3, 6-3
6. Macarena Olivares (A&M) def. Jessica Hinojosa (BU) 7-6 (7-5), 5-7, 6-4

Doubles competition
1. #35 Blair Shankle/Karina Traxler (BU) vs. #7 Rachel Pierson/Rutuja Bhosale (A&M) 5-6, unfinished
2. Eva Paalma/Domenica Gonzalez (A&M) def. Angie Shakhraichuk/Jessica Hinojosa (BU) 6-0
3. Stefania Hristov/Saska Gavrilovska (A&M) def. Theresa Van Zyl/Rhiann Newborn (BU) 7-5

Match Notes:
Texas A&M 18-12; National ranking #20
Baylor 22-7; National ranking #16
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3); Singles (4,3,2,5,1,6)
NCAA Championship Second Round
Texas A&M advances to Sweet 16

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