No. 13 Aggies Advance to ITA Kickoff Weekend Final with Win Over Princeton

Saturday, January 29

Bryan-College Station

11:00 AM

Texas A&M

Princeton

Photo by: Sydney Morriss/Texas A&M Athletics

Jan 29, 2022 | Women's Tennis

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Nick Whitley, Texas A&M Athletics Communications

BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – A dominant performance in doubles play and a clutch finish by freshman Mary Stoiana on court three lifted the No. 13 Texas A&M women's tennis team to a 4-1 victory over the Princeton Tigers on Saturday at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center.

Stoiana squared off against the No. 60-ranked singles player in women's college tennis, Brianna Shvets, and utilized a dominant 6-0 performance in the first set to seize the early momentum. Following a brief break, Stoiana and Shvets returned to the court and began a hard-fought battle through the early portions of the second frame. Through 12 games, the second frame was even at 6-6, forcing a seven-point tiebreaker. Both players exchanged blows, but Stoiana pulled out the 7-5 finish to complete her 6-0, 7-6(5) victory and guide the Maroon & White to the Regional Championship match.

The Aggies and Tigers opened Saturday's action in doubles play, with a top-ten matchup headlining the morning session at court one. The Aggies' No. 5-ranked doubles tandem of Jayci Goldsmith and Tatiana Makarova defeated Princeton's No. 7 duo of Daria Frayman and Grace Joyce in a 6-2 effort. At the No. 2 doubles position, Stoiana and Carson Branstine submitted a 6-3 result to give A&M an early 1-0 advantage. Jeanette Mireles and Gianna Pielet were on serve and leading Victoria Hu and Neha Velaga 4-3, but the match remained unfinished after the doubles point was clinched.

In singles play, Mireles published a steady 6-2, 6-2 effort, defeating Leena Bennetto and putting the Aggies up 2-0. Goldsmith was next to finish, logging a 6-3, 6-4 victory on court four over Velaga. Princeton snagged a point on court one, but Stoiana's marathon second set finalized A&M's seventh consecutive victory. No. 122 Makarova held an early 1-0 lead in the third set of her match with No. 23 Hu, and Pielet was one game away from splitting sets with Velaga on court five, but both matches remained unfinished.

With her doubles victory on Sunday, Makarova moves into the No. 10 spot on Texas A&M's career doubles win chart. She ties Aggie great Morgan Frank with 89 doubles victories in her time representing the Maroon & White. Stoiana, a native of Southbury, Connecticut, extends the longest active singles win streak on the roster to eight-consecutive victories. The freshman is 12-2 in her collegiate career and now holds a 5-1 record against nationally-ranked opposition.

Since Mark Weaver was hired as Texas A&M's head coach prior to the 2015-16 season, his teams have never lost in the opening round of ITA Kickoff Weekend. The Aggies have advanced to the ITA National Women's Team Indoor Championships twice in Weaver's tenure, last during the 2016-17 season. Weaver is now 117-55 in his coaching career, the second winningest record by an Aggie skipper.

UP NEXT
No. 13 Texas A&M women's tennis returns to action tomorrow, Sunday, Jan. 30, squaring off against the Texas Tech Red Raiders in an 11 a.m. first serve at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center. The winner of Sunday's match will advance to the ITA National Women's Team Indoor Championships in Madison, Wisconsin, with matches beginning on Friday, Feb. 11 and running thru Monday, Feb. 14.

Live streaming for Sunday's match between the Aggies and Red Raiders is available by clicking here. Live stats for both the Regional Championship and Consolation Match are available here.

POSTMATCH QUOTES
TEXAS A&M QUOTES
Head Coach Mark Weaver
On the step up in competition Princeton provided…
"It was a really exciting college match and it played out exactly as I expected. Princeton is a very strong team; they really are a top-20 caliber program. I know it might be hard for the average tennis fan to understand given their 0-5 start, but if you look at the Universal Tennis Ratings of both sides, it truly was a dead even match on paper. They have three nationally-ranked players in their singles lineup, and they have several players ranked higher than our entire group."

On the team's performance Saturday afternoon…
"I feel like we raised our game to another level in the doubles competition, and we got off to a really solid start in singles. For four out of our six starters today, it was really their first taste of high-level college tennis. We won decisively, and we haven't even started firing on all cylinders yet. We have all the potential in the world, and we're looking forward to getting back to work tomorrow. It was an exciting performance today, and tomorrow offers us an opportunity to play even better. I feel great about where we are as a team right now."

Freshman Mary Stoiana
On her performance in the second singles set…
"I knew that if I just kept fighting, I would be able to give myself a shot to get a point on the board for our team. Whether I'm playing my best tennis in the second set or not, I am able to control the amount of effort that I put in. Also, seeing Carson [Branstine] and Gianna [Pielet] fighting on their courts next to me really motivated me and encouraged me to keep digging in as best I could."

On her dominant doubles effort with Carson Branstine…
"Both of us were playing very aggressive at the start of the match, and we were both putting a lot of pressure on our opponent by playing strong at the net. I could tell that we caught them off guard, so we were able to get a lead fairly quickly. Playing with Carson is pretty grounding because she has so much experience, and she's really good at keeping both of us calm. She understands the plays, so it just all seems to make sense when I'm playing with Carson."

TENNIS MATCH RESULTS
#13 Texas A&M 4, RV Princeton 1
ITA Kickoff Weekend – Opening Round
George P. Mitchell Tennis Center – Bryan-College Station, Texas
SINGLES
1. #4 Daria Frayman (PRIN) def. Carson Branstine (TAMU) 6-0, 7-5
2. #122 Tatiana Makarova (TAMU) vs. #23 Victoria Hu (PRIN) 6-1, 3-6, 1-0, unfinished
3. Mary Stoiana (TAMU) def. #60 Brianna Shvets (PRIN) 6-0, 7-6(5)
4. Jayci Goldsmith (TAMU) def. Zoe Howard (PRIN) 6-3, 6-4
5. Gianna Pielet (TAMU) vs. Neha Velaga (PRIN) 5-7, 5-3, unfinished
6. Jeanette Mireles (TAMU) def. Leena Bennetto (PRIN) 6-2, 6-2

DOUBLES
1. #5 Jayci Goldsmith / Tatiana Makarova (TAMU) def. #7 Daria Frayman / Grace Joyce (PRIN) 6-2
2. Carson Branstine / Mary Stoiana (TAMU) def. Nathalie Rodilosso / Brianna Shvets (PRIN) 6-3
3. Jeanette Mireles / Gianna Pielet (TAMU) vs. Victoria Hu / Neha Velaga (PRIN) 4-3, unfinished

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

POSTMATCH NOTES

Texas A&M climbs to 7-0 on the season and is off to a 1-0 start in ITA Kickoff Weekend play. The Aggies have never lost in the first round of ITA Kickoff Weekend in the Mark Weaver era.
Princeton falls to 0-5 overall, with all five losses coming against nationally ranked opposition.
The Aggies improve to 2-0 overall in the all-time series with Princeton.
Tatiana Makarova moves into a tie for the No. 10 spot on A&M's all-time doubles win list. The Moscow, Russia native is even with A&M alum Morgan Frank at 89 doubles victories apiece.
Mary Stoiana holds the longest active singles win streak on the team at eight-consecutive matches and is now 5-1 against nationally-ranked singles opposition.
Texas A&M head coach Mark Weaver improves to 117-55 in his career. The Aggie skipper has never lost a match in the opening round of ITA Kickoff Weekend dating back to 2015-16.

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.