No. 12 Women’s Tennis Falls in SEC Championship to No. 2 Georgia

Friday, April 23

Tuscaloosa, Ala.

9:00 AM

Texas A&M

Georgia

Makarova & Goldsmith - 042221_WTE_2021 SEC Women's Tennis Championship_AMB00409

Photo by: Crimson Tide Photos

Apr 23, 2021 | Women's Tennis

Box Score

By: Nick Whitley, Texas A&M Athletics Communications

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The No. 12-ranked and No. 3-seeded Texas A&M women's tennis team fell to the No. 2-ranked and No. 1 seed Georgia Bulldogs in the SEC Women's Tennis Championship Final on Friday at the Alabama Tennis Stadium.

Texas A&M completes its run in the 2021 SEC Women's Tennis Championships with a 2-1 performance and now holds a 19-7 overall record this year. The Maroon & White finished the SEC regular season with a 9-4 record against conference opponents and placed as the No. 3 team in the league table. Georgia wins its eighth tournament championship and its first since the 2014 season. The Bulldogs are now 20-1 overall this year and have won 19-consecutive matches.

The tournament championship began in the doubles competition, with Georgia's Morgan Coppoc and Elena Christofi winning a 6-3 match on court two against Renee McBryde and Dorthea Faa-Hviding. The Aggies battled back on court one, as No. 27 Tatiana Makarova and Jayci Goldsmith earned an impressive 7-5 top-10 ranked win over No. 6 Katarina Jokic and Ariana Arsenault. With one match remaining on the courts, Georgia sealed the doubles point and took a 1-0 lead on court three with Meg Kowalski and Lea Ma defeating Riley McQuaid and Katya Townsend in a 7-6(4) outing.

In singles, Georgia took five of the six available first sets and never looked back, winning on courts six, three and four to seal their eighth SEC tournament championship. The Maroon & White battled on all six courts, with No. 18 Makarova challenging No. 3 Jokic in a 6-7(3), 2-1 bout that went unfinished at the conclusion of the match. The Wollongong, Australia, native McBryde led 7-5, 1-3 but also saw her match remain incomplete. Finally, Goldsmith pushed No. 60 Ma to a third set, but the match remained unfinished as Georgia sealed the 4-0 win.

At the conclusion of the match, the Southeastern Conference announced that seniors Makarova and McQuaid were featured as members of the SEC All-Tournament Team following their performances this week. McQuaid was the clinch victor in each of A&M's two wins against No. 6 seed Auburn and No. 7 seed South Carolina to reach the Championship Final, while Makarova played at a high level in doubles alongside Goldsmith. As a team, the Aggies made their first appearance in the SEC Women's Tennis Championship Final since the University joined the league in 2012-13.

UP NEXT
No. 12 Texas A&M women's tennis awaits the 2021 NCAA Tournament Selection process to determine the Aggies' draw. Stay tuned to Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter @AggieWTEN for the most up-to-date tournament information.

POSTMATCH QUOTES
TEXAS A&M QUOTES
Head Coach Mark Weaver
On the team's successes in this year's SEC Championships…
"It was a great run for our girls here in Tuscaloosa. It was truly a blast making it all the way to the finals. We really came here on a mission and we can all leave here proud, knowing that we gave all we had. We fought to the bitter end today. It was a big step forward for our program making it to the SEC Championship match."

TENNIS MATCH RESULTS
No. 2 Georgia 4, No. 12 Texas A&M 0
SEC Women's Tennis Championships – Finals
Alabama Tennis Stadium – Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Singles Competition
1. #18 Tatiana Makarova (TAMU) vs. #3 Katarina Jokic (UGA) 6-7(3), 2-1, unfinished
2. Jayci Goldsmith (TAMU) vs. #60 Lea Ma (UGA) 0-6, 6-4, 2-3, unfinished
3. #16 Meg Kowalski (UGA) def. Katya Townsend (TAMU) 6-1, 7-5
4. #55 Morgan Coppoc (UGA) def. Dorthea Faa-Hviding (TAMU) 6-2, 6-2
5. Renee McBryde (TAMU) vs. #51 Marta Gonzalez (UGA) 7-5, 1-3, unfinished
6. Elena Christofi (UGA) def. Riley McQuaid (TAMU) 6-1, 6-1

Doubles Competition
1. #27 Tatiana Makarova / Jayci Goldsmith (TAMU) def. #6 Katarina Jokic / Ariana Arsenault (UGA) 7-5
2. Morgan Coppoc / Elena Christofi (UGA) def. Renee McBryde / Dorthea Faa-Hviding (TAMU) 6-3
3. Meg Kowalski / Lea Ma (UGA) def. Riley McQuaid / Katya Townsend (TAMU) 7-6(4)

Order of Finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (6,3,4)

POSTMATCH NOTES

Texas A&M falls to 19-7 overall this season and concludes its stay in Tuscaloosa with a 2-1 performance in the SEC Championship. A&M was the No. 3 seed in this year's conference tournament and placed at No. 12 in the latest Oracle ITA Women's Team Rankings.
Georgia climbs to 20-1 this year with a 3-0 finish in the SEC Women's Tennis Championships. The Bulldogs earned the No. 1 seed in this year's tournament following a 13-0 conference regular season and ranked as the No. 2 team in the nation last week according to the ITA.
The order of finish in Friday's match was as follows: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (6,3,4)

FOLLOW THE AGGIES
Visit 12thman.com for more information on Texas A&M women's tennis. Fans can keep up to date with the A&M women's tennis team on Facebook, Instagram, and on Twitter by following @AggieWTEN.