Aggie Women’s Tennis Falls to No. 10 Bulldogs

COLLEGE STATION – The Texas A&M women's tennis team fell 4-2 to No. 10 Georgia Saturday evening at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center in College Station. The Aggies (10-2, 1-1) pushed the Bulldogs (7-2, 2-0) to the brink of defeat, but fell just short of their second ranked win of the weekend.
 
Georgia opened play capturing the always important doubles point, winning matches on courts two and three to secure the point. No. 8 Mariana Gould and Katarina Jokic edged Tatiana Makaravo and Macarena Olivares, 6-4, on court two followed by a 6-4 win by Kennedy Shaffer and Annette Goulak over Riley McQuaid and Dorthea Faa-Hviding on court three to clinch the point.
 
The Aggies battled back in singles action, capturing first sets on four of six courts. No. 96 Gould was able to put the second point on the board for the visitors, defeating Makarova 6-2, 6-3 on court four. The Maroon & White captured the next two points to even the team score at two-all. Faa-Hviding picked up a 6-2, 6-3 win over Goulak on court six followed by Olivares besting No. 53 Shaffer 6-2, 6-4 on court two.
 
Georgia reestablished the advantage with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 win by Vivian Wolff on court five over McQuaid. The final two matches headed to a third set and both No. 97 Domenica Gonzalez and Eva Paalma pushed their opponents to the limit. Ultimately, Georgia was able to claim the final point of the night as Elena Christofi topped Paalma 2-6, 6-2, 7-6(4) on court three.
 
The Aggies return to action next weekend at No. 13 South Carolina on Friday followed by a Sunday noon tilt with Florida.
 
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 by following @AggieWTEN on Twitter and Instagram, as well as on Facebook at facebook.com/AggieWTEN.
 
 
Post Match Quotes
Mark Weaver, Texas A&M Women's Tennis Head Coach
Thoughts on Saturday's match…
"That was a great college tennis match, Georgia is one of the best teams in the nation and we knew that going into the match. I am really proud of the team's fight today, we played well enough to win today and it took everything they had to come away with the win. I couldn't be happier with the fight and grit that the team showed today against one of the most talented rosters in all of college tennis. I don't know that we played the best doubles point of the season today, but there were a lot of key points that could have swung the point into our favor. If that had happened it could have made a huge difference in the match there at the end of the night. We really started out great in the singles matches, I believe we had a shot to win any of the singles matches tonight and if we had taken the doubles point that would have put a lot of pressure on them. Overall it was an amazing effort from our team and that was a very hard fought match. We are playing some great tennis this early in the season and we have to keep our heads held high moving forward."
 
On next week's road trip…
"We need a bounce back against South Carolina and Florida next week and that will not be easy. Both of them are top-20 type teams. Florida is coming off a really nice win against Ole Miss this weekend, we know in this league it does not get any easier after playing two top-20 teams this weekend we go on the road to play another couple really good teams. Road matches are always tough and we have a couple good experiences to draw on moving forward after beating Tennessee last night and winning a last match standing at a really good TCU team last week. We have a lot of positive things to build on, today we played some good tennis but I know we can play even better moving forward and that is very encouraging for us."
 
 
 
Tennis Match Results
Georgia vs Texas A&M
Mar 03, 2018 at College Station, TX
(George P Mitchell Tennis Center)
 
#10 Georgia 4, Texas A&M 2
 
Singles competition
1. #97 Domenica Gonzalez (A&M) vs. #6 Katarina Jokic (UGA) 6-2, 3-6, 4-5, unfinished
2. Macarena Olivares (A&M) def. #53 Kennedy Shaffer (UGA) 6-2, 6-4
3. Elena Christofi (UGA) def. Eva Paalma (A&M) 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4)
4. #96 Mariana Gould (UGA) def. Tatiana Makarova (A&M) 6-2, 6-3
5. Vivian Wolff (UGA) def. Riley McQuaid (A&M) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
6. Dorthea Faa-Hviding (A&M) def. Annette Goulak (UGA) 6-2, 6-3
 
Doubles competition
1. Domenica Gonzalez/Eva Paalma (A&M) vs. #11 Elena Christofi/Morgan Coppoc (UGA) 5-4, unfinished
2. #8 Mariana Gould/Katarina Jokic (UGA) def. Tatiana Makarova/Macarena Olivares (A&M) 6-4
3. Kennedy Shaffer/Annette Goulak (UGA) def. Riley McQuaid/Dorthea Faa-Hviding (A&M) 6-4
 
Match Notes:
Georgia 7-2, 2-0; National ranking #10
Texas A&M 10-2, 1-1
Order of finish: Doubles (2, 3); Singles (4, 6, 2, 5, 3)