
Photo by: Sam Craft/Texas A&M Athletics
Women's Tennis Wins Last Match Standing to Defeat TCU, 4-3
Feb 18, 2018 | Women's Tennis
FORT WORTH – Texas A&M freshman Dorthea Faa-Hviding completed the Aggies' come-from-behind 4-3 victory over TCU, winning the last match standing in three sets to clinch the victory today at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center indoor courts.
A&M improves to 9-1 to equal the program record for best start after 10 matches. TCU, which is receiving votes in the ITA top 25 poll, falls to 6-5.
The match was a back-and-forth affair at the five-court facility with the Aggies getting on the scoreboard first by winning the first two doubles matches to be competed. A&M freshmen Riley McQuaid and Faa-Hviding were first off after jumping out to a 5-1 lead over Aleska Cveticanin and Meredith Roberts en route to a 6-3 victory at the No. 3 line.
Freshman Tatiana Makarova, who until today had been ineligible due to NCAA rules, also was victorious in her A&M career debut as she teamed with Macarena Olivares and clinched the doubles point with a 6-3 win over Aleksandra Zenovka and Meredith Roberts at No. 2.
A&M's senior tandem of Domenica Gonzalez and Eva Paalma held a 5-2 lead over Alexis Pereira and Donika Bashota at the No. 1 line when the doubles point was secured and their match was stopped.
TCU tied the score at 1-1 at the start of singles as 117th-ranked Marie Norris defeated Makarova, 6-2, 6-3 at the No. 4 line.
McQuaid then put the Aggies up, 2-1, and improved to 10-0 in dual matches with a 7-5, 6-1 win over Roberts at No. 5.
The lead was short lived, however, as Bashota held off Paalma, 6-3, 7-6 (4) at No. 3 and Olivares had her team-leading 12-match winning streak snapped with a 6-4, 6-3 setback to 90th-ranked Zenovka at No. 2, putting the Horned Frogs up 3-2.
Cveticanin, ranked 85th in the nation in singles, appeared to have the Horned Frogs in good position to pull away for the win as she won her first set, 6-4, and had a 3-1 lead in the second set against 87th-ranked Gonzalez, who entered the match 9-0. Gonzalez then won the next three games to put the set back on serve. The set remained on serve until Gonzalez broke to win 6-4 and force a third set.
Cveticanin won the first two games of a back-and-fourth third set, but Gonzalez retook the lead and put the set on serve at 3-2. Cveticanin later got a service break to go up, 4-3, but Gonzalez broke back and then held serve to pull ahead, 5-4. The set remained on serve until Gonzalez broke Cveticanin to close out the set, 7-5, and win the match to even the overall team score at 3-3.
Faa-Hviding had won her first set, 6-4, over Stevie Kennedy at No. 6, but the lefty from Norway found herself trailing the second set 2-1 when Gonzalez completed her comeback. Faa-Hviding took her first lead of the second set at 4-3, but Kennedy won the next two games to go up, 5-4. Faa-Hviding won the next game after Kennedy double faulted, but Kennedy won the next two games to win, 7-5, and force a third set.
Faa-Hviding was up, 4-3, in the final frame, but Kennedy won two games to go up, 5-4, and was serving for the match. Faa-Hviding was undeterred and came back to win the next three games to clinch the victory.
The Aggies return home on Sunday, Feb. 25 to play host to UCF. First serve against the Knights is at noon at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center. The match is the Aggies' final tune-up before beginning Southeastern Conference play, which begins Friday, March 2, when the Tennessee Volunteers come to College Station. The match against the Knights also marks the return of A&M's most heralded player in program history, two-time All-American Cristina Sanchez-Quintanar, who is in her second season as assistant coach of the Knights.
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
"It was a very big win today for the Aggies. TCU has a very fine team. I think they are a top-20, top-25 level team and to come in and beat them again on another indoor facility on the road, it was an impressive effort by the girls. We played incredible doubles, some of the most dominating doubles I've seen in a while. And to do that again on the home court, indoors on the road is not easy to do. We really took it to them and sent them a message early on. Things definitely got pretty tight in the singles, a lot of battles out there and lots of heroes. For sure nothing less than a team effort and a team win. Dorthea gets the heroic accolades for winning the last match on. It was pretty impressive for a freshman, the composure there at the end of the match. This is just a great message for the team. The hard work is the only reason we came out with a victory today. We've really been working hard in the practices and really coming along as a team."
Complete Results
Texas A&M vs TCU
Feb 18, 2018 at Fort Worth, TX
(Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center)
Texas A&M 4, TCU 3
Singles
1. #87 Domenica Gonzalez (A&M) def. #85 Aleksa Cveticanin (TCU) 4-6, 6-4, 7-5
2. #90 Aleksandra Zenovka (TCU) def. Macarena Olivares (A&M) 6-4, 6-3
3. Donika Bashota (TCU) def. Eva Paalma (A&M) 6-3, 7-6 (7-4)
4. #117 Marie Norris (TCU) def. Tatiana Makarova (A&M) 6-2, 6-3
5. Riley McQuaid (A&M) def. Meredith Roberts (TCU) 7-5, 6-1
6. Dorthea Faa-Hviding (A&M) def. Stevie Kennedy (TCU) 6-4, 5-7, 7-5
Doubles
1. Donika Bashota/Alexis Pereira (TCU) vs. Eva Paalma/Domenica Gonzalez (A&M) 2-5, unfinished
2. Macarena Olivares/Tatiana Makarova (A&M) def. Aleksandra Zenovka/Meredith Roberts (TCU) 6-3
3. Riley McQuaid/Dorthea Faa-Hviding (A&M) def. Aleksa Cveticanin/Elizabeth Tedford (TCU) 6-3
Match Notes:
Texas A&M 9-1
TCU 6-5
Order of finish:
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
A&M improves to 9-1 to equal the program record for best start after 10 matches. TCU, which is receiving votes in the ITA top 25 poll, falls to 6-5.
The match was a back-and-forth affair at the five-court facility with the Aggies getting on the scoreboard first by winning the first two doubles matches to be competed. A&M freshmen Riley McQuaid and Faa-Hviding were first off after jumping out to a 5-1 lead over Aleska Cveticanin and Meredith Roberts en route to a 6-3 victory at the No. 3 line.
Freshman Tatiana Makarova, who until today had been ineligible due to NCAA rules, also was victorious in her A&M career debut as she teamed with Macarena Olivares and clinched the doubles point with a 6-3 win over Aleksandra Zenovka and Meredith Roberts at No. 2.
A&M's senior tandem of Domenica Gonzalez and Eva Paalma held a 5-2 lead over Alexis Pereira and Donika Bashota at the No. 1 line when the doubles point was secured and their match was stopped.
TCU tied the score at 1-1 at the start of singles as 117th-ranked Marie Norris defeated Makarova, 6-2, 6-3 at the No. 4 line.
McQuaid then put the Aggies up, 2-1, and improved to 10-0 in dual matches with a 7-5, 6-1 win over Roberts at No. 5.
The lead was short lived, however, as Bashota held off Paalma, 6-3, 7-6 (4) at No. 3 and Olivares had her team-leading 12-match winning streak snapped with a 6-4, 6-3 setback to 90th-ranked Zenovka at No. 2, putting the Horned Frogs up 3-2.
Cveticanin, ranked 85th in the nation in singles, appeared to have the Horned Frogs in good position to pull away for the win as she won her first set, 6-4, and had a 3-1 lead in the second set against 87th-ranked Gonzalez, who entered the match 9-0. Gonzalez then won the next three games to put the set back on serve. The set remained on serve until Gonzalez broke to win 6-4 and force a third set.
Cveticanin won the first two games of a back-and-fourth third set, but Gonzalez retook the lead and put the set on serve at 3-2. Cveticanin later got a service break to go up, 4-3, but Gonzalez broke back and then held serve to pull ahead, 5-4. The set remained on serve until Gonzalez broke Cveticanin to close out the set, 7-5, and win the match to even the overall team score at 3-3.
Faa-Hviding had won her first set, 6-4, over Stevie Kennedy at No. 6, but the lefty from Norway found herself trailing the second set 2-1 when Gonzalez completed her comeback. Faa-Hviding took her first lead of the second set at 4-3, but Kennedy won the next two games to go up, 5-4. Faa-Hviding won the next game after Kennedy double faulted, but Kennedy won the next two games to win, 7-5, and force a third set.
Faa-Hviding was up, 4-3, in the final frame, but Kennedy won two games to go up, 5-4, and was serving for the match. Faa-Hviding was undeterred and came back to win the next three games to clinch the victory.
The Aggies return home on Sunday, Feb. 25 to play host to UCF. First serve against the Knights is at noon at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center. The match is the Aggies' final tune-up before beginning Southeastern Conference play, which begins Friday, March 2, when the Tennessee Volunteers come to College Station. The match against the Knights also marks the return of A&M's most heralded player in program history, two-time All-American Cristina Sanchez-Quintanar, who is in her second season as assistant coach of the Knights.
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
Coach Weaver's post-match comments following the win at TCU:#12thMan pic.twitter.com/rjzjfSnU5t
— Aggie Women's Tennis (@AggieWTEN) February 19, 2018
"I'm so happy and so proud of all the girls. We fought really hard against a really good team."@Dortheahviding after her clinching victory:#12thMan pic.twitter.com/n9VbHMVCZf
— Aggie Women's Tennis (@AggieWTEN) February 19, 2018
Texas A&M Head Coach Mark Weaver
"It was a very big win today for the Aggies. TCU has a very fine team. I think they are a top-20, top-25 level team and to come in and beat them again on another indoor facility on the road, it was an impressive effort by the girls. We played incredible doubles, some of the most dominating doubles I've seen in a while. And to do that again on the home court, indoors on the road is not easy to do. We really took it to them and sent them a message early on. Things definitely got pretty tight in the singles, a lot of battles out there and lots of heroes. For sure nothing less than a team effort and a team win. Dorthea gets the heroic accolades for winning the last match on. It was pretty impressive for a freshman, the composure there at the end of the match. This is just a great message for the team. The hard work is the only reason we came out with a victory today. We've really been working hard in the practices and really coming along as a team."
Complete Results
Texas A&M vs TCU
Feb 18, 2018 at Fort Worth, TX
(Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center)
Texas A&M 4, TCU 3
Singles
1. #87 Domenica Gonzalez (A&M) def. #85 Aleksa Cveticanin (TCU) 4-6, 6-4, 7-5
2. #90 Aleksandra Zenovka (TCU) def. Macarena Olivares (A&M) 6-4, 6-3
3. Donika Bashota (TCU) def. Eva Paalma (A&M) 6-3, 7-6 (7-4)
4. #117 Marie Norris (TCU) def. Tatiana Makarova (A&M) 6-2, 6-3
5. Riley McQuaid (A&M) def. Meredith Roberts (TCU) 7-5, 6-1
6. Dorthea Faa-Hviding (A&M) def. Stevie Kennedy (TCU) 6-4, 5-7, 7-5
Doubles
1. Donika Bashota/Alexis Pereira (TCU) vs. Eva Paalma/Domenica Gonzalez (A&M) 2-5, unfinished
2. Macarena Olivares/Tatiana Makarova (A&M) def. Aleksandra Zenovka/Meredith Roberts (TCU) 6-3
3. Riley McQuaid/Dorthea Faa-Hviding (A&M) def. Aleksa Cveticanin/Elizabeth Tedford (TCU) 6-3
Match Notes:
Texas A&M 9-1
TCU 6-5
Order of finish:
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 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
3,2
Order of Finish:
4,5,3,2,1,6
Players Mentioned
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