Saturday, February 10
Bryan, Texas
2:45 p.m.
Texas A&M
6
vs
0
Louisiana
Photo by: Sam Craft/Texas A&M Athletics
Women’s Tennis Equals Best Start with Win Over Louisiana
Feb 10, 2018 | Women's Tennis
BRYAN, Texas – The Texas A&M women's tennis team won its seventh consecutive match and equaled its best start in program history with a 6-0 victory over the University of Louisiana today at the Bryan Tennis Center three-court indoor facility.
The match, originally scheduled to be played at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center, was moved to the indoor courts due to weather. The two head coaches agreed to start with singles and play out all six matches, and doubles would be contested only if necessary. The match began with singles Nos. 1-3 taking the courts.
A&M senior Domenica Gonzalez, No. 87 in the national singles rankings, improved to 7-0 in dual matches and gave the Aggies a 1-0 lead with a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Kelly Drew at the No. 1 line. Senior Eva Paalma also improved to 7-0 as she disposed of Dana Radovanovic, 6-0, 6-4 at No. 3 to put A&M ahead, 2-0.
Riley McQuaid also was one of four Aggies to remain undefeated in dual match play as she improved to 7-0. The freshman won her first nine games against Elena Sava at No. 4 and went on to win, 6-0, 6-1, to give the Aggies a 3-0 lead.
A battle of unbeatens was ongoing at the No. 2 line as A&M's Macarena Olivares and Louisiana's Floriane Picaut both entered the match 6-0 in dual matches. Olivares, who was riding a team-leading nine-match winning streak including tournament matches, won the first four games in the opening set and held on to win, 6-4. Picaut never trailed in the second set and won two consecutive games to close out a 7-5 win to even the match and force a third set. Picaut held serve to open the final set, but Olivares won the next five games to take a 5-1 lead. Picaut held serve to get within 5-2 before Olivares closed out the match, 6-2, to win her 10th consecutive match and clinch the victory for the Aggies.
The remaining matches were played out, and the Aggies made quick work out of the Ragin' Cajuns. Freshman Iulia Ivascu defeated Marina Rodrigues Garcia, 6-1, 6-1, at the No. 5 line to put the Aggies up, 5-0, and freshman Dorthea Faa-Hviding completed the shutout with a 6-0, 6-3 victory over Abby Johnson at No. 6.
The only other time A&M team opened a season 7-0 was 1998 when the Aggies won their first seven matches before suffering a 5-4 loss at Baylor.
The Aggies look to break the record Wednesday as they begin a three-match road swing against Rice Owls starting at 2 p.m. at the George R. Brown Tennis Center in Houston. Next weekend, A&M faces SMU on Saturday at noon in Dallas and TCU at 1 p.m. in Fort Worth.
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.
Postmatch Quotes
Texas A&M Head Coach Mark Weaver
On his general thoughts on the match…
"It was a great job by the girls today, very good attitudes. There definitely was some adversity today, just very difficult conditions, having to wait around and not sure what to do and then having to come inside, it is just very chilly in here. We talked about that before the match. This will be a good test for us, because we will have some similar conditions down the road in some SEC matches, maybe not with the cold but with the indoor courts. So I thought we handled that quite well, especially for all the freshmen getting a flavor for being able to make adjustments. Overall I am very pleased. We had great attitudes and played some pretty good tennis as well."
On the team's 7-0 start…
"The Aggies are off to a great start. I can't complain about 7-0. We know we have some very stiff competition right around the corner, and we feel like these matches have prepared us moving forward, so I am very, very pleased with the team."
Complete Results
Louisiana vs Texas A&M
2/10/2018 at Bryan, Texas
(Bryan Tennis Center (Indoor))
Texas A&M 6, Louisiana 0
Singles
1. #87 Domenica Gonzalez (A&M) def. Kelly Drew (LA) 6-3, 6-0
2. Macarena Olivares (A&M) def. Floriane Picaut (LA) 6-4, 5-7, 6-2
3. Eva Paalma (A&M) def. Dana Radovanovic (LA) 6-0, 6-4
4. Riley McQuaid (A&M) def. Elena Sava (LA) 6-0, 6-1
5. Iulia Ivascu (A&M) def. Marina Rod Garcia (LA) 6-1, 6-1
6. Dorthea Faa-Hviding (A&M) def. Abby Johnson (LA) 6-0, 6-3
Doubles
Not contested
Match Notes:
Louisiana 6-2
Texas A&M 7-0
Order of finish: Doubles (); Singles (1,3,4,2,5,6)
Pronunciations
Dorthea Faa-Hviding door-TAY ah fay-hiding
Domenica Gonzalez doe-MEN-eh-ka
Iulia Ivascu YOU-lee-ah e-VAS-coo
Eva Paalma A-va palma
The match, originally scheduled to be played at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center, was moved to the indoor courts due to weather. The two head coaches agreed to start with singles and play out all six matches, and doubles would be contested only if necessary. The match began with singles Nos. 1-3 taking the courts.
A&M senior Domenica Gonzalez, No. 87 in the national singles rankings, improved to 7-0 in dual matches and gave the Aggies a 1-0 lead with a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Kelly Drew at the No. 1 line. Senior Eva Paalma also improved to 7-0 as she disposed of Dana Radovanovic, 6-0, 6-4 at No. 3 to put A&M ahead, 2-0.
Riley McQuaid also was one of four Aggies to remain undefeated in dual match play as she improved to 7-0. The freshman won her first nine games against Elena Sava at No. 4 and went on to win, 6-0, 6-1, to give the Aggies a 3-0 lead.
A battle of unbeatens was ongoing at the No. 2 line as A&M's Macarena Olivares and Louisiana's Floriane Picaut both entered the match 6-0 in dual matches. Olivares, who was riding a team-leading nine-match winning streak including tournament matches, won the first four games in the opening set and held on to win, 6-4. Picaut never trailed in the second set and won two consecutive games to close out a 7-5 win to even the match and force a third set. Picaut held serve to open the final set, but Olivares won the next five games to take a 5-1 lead. Picaut held serve to get within 5-2 before Olivares closed out the match, 6-2, to win her 10th consecutive match and clinch the victory for the Aggies.
The remaining matches were played out, and the Aggies made quick work out of the Ragin' Cajuns. Freshman Iulia Ivascu defeated Marina Rodrigues Garcia, 6-1, 6-1, at the No. 5 line to put the Aggies up, 5-0, and freshman Dorthea Faa-Hviding completed the shutout with a 6-0, 6-3 victory over Abby Johnson at No. 6.
The only other time A&M team opened a season 7-0 was 1998 when the Aggies won their first seven matches before suffering a 5-4 loss at Baylor.
The Aggies look to break the record Wednesday as they begin a three-match road swing against Rice Owls starting at 2 p.m. at the George R. Brown Tennis Center in Houston. Next weekend, A&M faces SMU on Saturday at noon in Dallas and TCU at 1 p.m. in Fort Worth.
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.
Postmatch Quotes
Texas A&M Head Coach Mark Weaver
On his general thoughts on the match…
"It was a great job by the girls today, very good attitudes. There definitely was some adversity today, just very difficult conditions, having to wait around and not sure what to do and then having to come inside, it is just very chilly in here. We talked about that before the match. This will be a good test for us, because we will have some similar conditions down the road in some SEC matches, maybe not with the cold but with the indoor courts. So I thought we handled that quite well, especially for all the freshmen getting a flavor for being able to make adjustments. Overall I am very pleased. We had great attitudes and played some pretty good tennis as well."
On the team's 7-0 start…
"The Aggies are off to a great start. I can't complain about 7-0. We know we have some very stiff competition right around the corner, and we feel like these matches have prepared us moving forward, so I am very, very pleased with the team."
Complete Results
Louisiana vs Texas A&M
2/10/2018 at Bryan, Texas
(Bryan Tennis Center (Indoor))
Texas A&M 6, Louisiana 0
Singles
1. #87 Domenica Gonzalez (A&M) def. Kelly Drew (LA) 6-3, 6-0
2. Macarena Olivares (A&M) def. Floriane Picaut (LA) 6-4, 5-7, 6-2
3. Eva Paalma (A&M) def. Dana Radovanovic (LA) 6-0, 6-4
4. Riley McQuaid (A&M) def. Elena Sava (LA) 6-0, 6-1
5. Iulia Ivascu (A&M) def. Marina Rod Garcia (LA) 6-1, 6-1
6. Dorthea Faa-Hviding (A&M) def. Abby Johnson (LA) 6-0, 6-3
Doubles
Not contested
Match Notes:
Louisiana 6-2
Texas A&M 7-0
Order of finish: Doubles (); Singles (1,3,4,2,5,6)
Pronunciations
Dorthea Faa-Hviding door-TAY ah fay-hiding
Domenica Gonzalez doe-MEN-eh-ka
Iulia Ivascu YOU-lee-ah e-VAS-coo
Eva Paalma A-va palma
Team Stats
#1 Singles Match
12
Kelly Drew / 0 [LA]
30
66
#2 Singles Match
123
Floriane Picaut / 0 [LA]
472
656
#3 Singles Match
12
Dana Radovanovic / 0 [LA]
04
66
#4 Singles Match
12
Elena Sava / 0 [LA]
01
66
#5 Singles Match
12
Marina Rod Garcia / 0 [LA]
11
66
#6 Singles Match
12
Abby Johnson / 0 [LA]
03
66
Order of Finish:
1,3,4,2,5,6
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
Georgia Postgame: Mark Weaver, Mary Stoiana, Mia Kupres
Sunday, May 18
Michigan Postgame: Mark Weaver, Nicole Khirin, Lexington Reed
Saturday, May 17
NCAA Team Championship Preview: Daria Smetannikov
Monday, May 12
NCAA Team Championship Preview: Mia Kupres
Monday, May 12
