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NCAA Individual Championships
Photo by: Sam Craft/Texas A&M Athletics
Texas A&M’s Bhosale, Pierson Set to Compete in NCAA Individual Championships
May 23, 2017 | Women's Tennis
COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Texas A&M seniors Rutuja Bhosale and Rachel Pierson begin competition in the 2017 NCAA Women's Tennis Individual Championships on Wednesday at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Georgia.
Bhosale opens play in the 64-player NCAA Singles Championship at 8 a.m. (9 a.m. ET) against No. 4 seed and ITA Rookie of the Year Ena Shibahara of UCLA, and Pierson, a No. 9-16 seed, opens against Petra Melounova of Hawaii at 1:30 p.m. (2:30 p.m. ET).
Bhosale and Pierson also will represent Texas A&M in the 32-team NCAA Doubles Championship. Having received a No. 5-8 national seed, they become the Aggies' first All-Americans in doubles in program history. They face Astrid Gehre and Anna Wichert of Texas-Arlington on Wednesday at a time to be determined.
Bhosale, a three-time second-team All-SEC selection from Pune, India, is making her first appearance in an NCAA individual championship, having narrowly missed the singles field as the sixth alternate in 2015. The at-large entrant is currently No. 54 in singles with a 20-13 overall record, having gone 14-9 at the No. 2 line in dual matches only.
Bhosale, who graduated on May 11, recorded the highest ranked win of her career in the SEC regular season finale at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex, defeating 11th-ranked Elena Christofi of Georgia to cap the Aggies' first-ever victory over the Bulldogs.
Most recently, Bhosale and the Aggies competed against No. 1 seed Florida in the NCAA Championship round of 16 in Athens. Bhosale was the only Texas A&M player to win a first set after winning a tiebreaker, 7-3, against 23rd-ranked Josie Kuhlman. The second set was on serve with Bhosale up, 2-1, when the Gators clinched the 4-0 victory to advance.
Pierson, Texas A&M's first-ever All-American in both doubles and singles after receiving a No. 9-16 seed in this year's NCAA Singles Championship, is making her second appearance in the singles tournament. In her first year at Texas A&M, the then-sophomore transfer fell to 17th ranked Viktoriya Lushkova of Oklahoma State, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, in the first round.
Pierson is competing in the NCAA Doubles Championship for the third time in her collegiate career and the second time as an Aggie. As a sophomore, she and then-freshman Eva Paalma fell in the first round, 6-2, 6-3, to Desirae Krawczyk and Stephanie Vlad of Arizona State. As a freshman at Virginia, Pierson earned All-America honors in doubles as she and partner Julia Elbaba were a No. 5-8 seed in the NCAA Doubles Championship, but they were upset in the first round.
Pierson, an All-SEC first team selection for the second time in her A&M career, played every dual match at the No. 1 line in both singles and doubles this season. The Princeton, New Jersey, native leads the Aggies with a 26-15 overall singles record after going a team-best 16-12 in dual matches only. Pierson, 11-13 against ranked opponents, is coming off a 6-0, 6-4 loss to sixth-ranked Belinda Woolcock of top-seeded Florida in the round of 16 of the NCAA team championship.
Pierson and Bhosale are 25-11 overall in doubles and are currently ranked No. 7 in the Oracle/ITA Division I Women's Collegiate Tennis Rankings. They went 14-9 in dual matches only, and they are 8-9 against ranked opponents.
On April 11, the pair received an all-time school record-high No. 4 doubles ranking, breaking the previous No. 5 record, set by Pierson and then-sophomore Eva Paalma in the Sept. 15, 2015, ITA fall preseason rankings.
This is the eighth consecutive year and 16th time overall A&M is represented in the singles championships. A&M players are a combined 16-20 in singles matches since Kim Labuschagne became the first Aggie to compete in the postseason event in 1987. Labuschagne and Cristina Sanchez-Quintanar are tied for the best finish in school history, reaching the quarterfinals in 1987 and 2012, respectively.
A&M is represented in the doubles tournament for the 16th time overall, and the Aggies are a combined 2-15 since Labuschagne and partner Karen Marshall along with the A&M duo of Vanne Akagi and Gaye Lynne Gensler first represented the Maroon and White at the 1986 NCAA Doubles Championship. Only Jessica Roland and Helga Vieira (2004) and Tiffany Clifford and Sarah Foster (2006) have reached the round of 16.
Last year, then-junior Saska Gavrilovska was A&M's lone representative in singles and reached the round of 32. The Aggies were without a doubles team for the first time since 2011.
All matches in the individual championships will be the best-of-three sets. No-ad scoring and a seven-point tiebreaker (first to seven points, must win by two points) at six-games-all will be used for all matches. In doubles, a 10-point match tiebreaker will be played in lieu of a third set.
Live scoring of the matches will be available at http://www.georgiadogs.com/sports/m-tennis/spec-rel/vid-stream-ncaa.html
The tournaments conclude Monday, May 29 with the national championship matches. Danielle Collins of Virginia capped her collegiate career with her second NCAA singles title in 2016. Brooke Austin and Kourtney Keegan are the defending doubles champions.
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
NCAA Singles Championship (all times are CT)
First Round
No. 53 Rutuja Bhosale (Texas A&M) vs. No. 5 Ena Shibahara (UCLA), 8 a.m.
No. 16 Rachel Pierson (Texas A&M) vs. Petra Melounova), 1:30 p.m.
NCAA Doubles Championship
First Round
No. 7 Bhosale/Pierson (Texas A&M) vs. Gehre/Wichert (UTA), TBD
Bhosale opens play in the 64-player NCAA Singles Championship at 8 a.m. (9 a.m. ET) against No. 4 seed and ITA Rookie of the Year Ena Shibahara of UCLA, and Pierson, a No. 9-16 seed, opens against Petra Melounova of Hawaii at 1:30 p.m. (2:30 p.m. ET).
Bhosale and Pierson also will represent Texas A&M in the 32-team NCAA Doubles Championship. Having received a No. 5-8 national seed, they become the Aggies' first All-Americans in doubles in program history. They face Astrid Gehre and Anna Wichert of Texas-Arlington on Wednesday at a time to be determined.
Bhosale, a three-time second-team All-SEC selection from Pune, India, is making her first appearance in an NCAA individual championship, having narrowly missed the singles field as the sixth alternate in 2015. The at-large entrant is currently No. 54 in singles with a 20-13 overall record, having gone 14-9 at the No. 2 line in dual matches only.
Bhosale, who graduated on May 11, recorded the highest ranked win of her career in the SEC regular season finale at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex, defeating 11th-ranked Elena Christofi of Georgia to cap the Aggies' first-ever victory over the Bulldogs.
Most recently, Bhosale and the Aggies competed against No. 1 seed Florida in the NCAA Championship round of 16 in Athens. Bhosale was the only Texas A&M player to win a first set after winning a tiebreaker, 7-3, against 23rd-ranked Josie Kuhlman. The second set was on serve with Bhosale up, 2-1, when the Gators clinched the 4-0 victory to advance.
Pierson, Texas A&M's first-ever All-American in both doubles and singles after receiving a No. 9-16 seed in this year's NCAA Singles Championship, is making her second appearance in the singles tournament. In her first year at Texas A&M, the then-sophomore transfer fell to 17th ranked Viktoriya Lushkova of Oklahoma State, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, in the first round.
Pierson is competing in the NCAA Doubles Championship for the third time in her collegiate career and the second time as an Aggie. As a sophomore, she and then-freshman Eva Paalma fell in the first round, 6-2, 6-3, to Desirae Krawczyk and Stephanie Vlad of Arizona State. As a freshman at Virginia, Pierson earned All-America honors in doubles as she and partner Julia Elbaba were a No. 5-8 seed in the NCAA Doubles Championship, but they were upset in the first round.
Pierson, an All-SEC first team selection for the second time in her A&M career, played every dual match at the No. 1 line in both singles and doubles this season. The Princeton, New Jersey, native leads the Aggies with a 26-15 overall singles record after going a team-best 16-12 in dual matches only. Pierson, 11-13 against ranked opponents, is coming off a 6-0, 6-4 loss to sixth-ranked Belinda Woolcock of top-seeded Florida in the round of 16 of the NCAA team championship.
Pierson and Bhosale are 25-11 overall in doubles and are currently ranked No. 7 in the Oracle/ITA Division I Women's Collegiate Tennis Rankings. They went 14-9 in dual matches only, and they are 8-9 against ranked opponents.
On April 11, the pair received an all-time school record-high No. 4 doubles ranking, breaking the previous No. 5 record, set by Pierson and then-sophomore Eva Paalma in the Sept. 15, 2015, ITA fall preseason rankings.
This is the eighth consecutive year and 16th time overall A&M is represented in the singles championships. A&M players are a combined 16-20 in singles matches since Kim Labuschagne became the first Aggie to compete in the postseason event in 1987. Labuschagne and Cristina Sanchez-Quintanar are tied for the best finish in school history, reaching the quarterfinals in 1987 and 2012, respectively.
A&M is represented in the doubles tournament for the 16th time overall, and the Aggies are a combined 2-15 since Labuschagne and partner Karen Marshall along with the A&M duo of Vanne Akagi and Gaye Lynne Gensler first represented the Maroon and White at the 1986 NCAA Doubles Championship. Only Jessica Roland and Helga Vieira (2004) and Tiffany Clifford and Sarah Foster (2006) have reached the round of 16.
Last year, then-junior Saska Gavrilovska was A&M's lone representative in singles and reached the round of 32. The Aggies were without a doubles team for the first time since 2011.
All matches in the individual championships will be the best-of-three sets. No-ad scoring and a seven-point tiebreaker (first to seven points, must win by two points) at six-games-all will be used for all matches. In doubles, a 10-point match tiebreaker will be played in lieu of a third set.
Live scoring of the matches will be available at http://www.georgiadogs.com/sports/m-tennis/spec-rel/vid-stream-ncaa.html
The tournaments conclude Monday, May 29 with the national championship matches. Danielle Collins of Virginia capped her collegiate career with her second NCAA singles title in 2016. Brooke Austin and Kourtney Keegan are the defending doubles champions.
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
NCAA Singles Championship (all times are CT)
First Round
No. 53 Rutuja Bhosale (Texas A&M) vs. No. 5 Ena Shibahara (UCLA), 8 a.m.
No. 16 Rachel Pierson (Texas A&M) vs. Petra Melounova), 1:30 p.m.
NCAA Doubles Championship
First Round
No. 7 Bhosale/Pierson (Texas A&M) vs. Gehre/Wichert (UTA), TBD
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
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