Spring Preview: Women's Tennis
Mallory Maxwell, Athletics Communications
On the heels of their first-ever SEC Tournament title and second SEC regular season championship, Texas A&M women’s tennis heads into the spring season looking to cement its status as national power.
No. 5 Texas A&M looks to build upon a historic season for the program behind 2022 SEC Coach of the Year Mark Weaver and 2022 Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Assistant Coach of the Year Jordan Szabo. The Aggies defend their league crowns as the favorite, picked to finish first in the SEC Preseason Coaches Poll.
‘21-’22 In Review
The Maroon & White started the 2021-22 campaign ranked No. 14 in the ITA preseason rankings and was picked to finish second in the SEC by the league’s coaches. The Aggies registered a program best overall record of 33-2, going 27-1 in the regular season and 13-0 in SEC play.
Texas A&M continued to be unbeaten against league foes when it claimed hard-fought SEC Tournament contests against Vanderbilt (4-2) and Florida (4-3) to earn a spot in the championship match.
Mimicking the 2021 finals, the Aggies faced the defending champs, No.3 Georgia. To open the match, doubles pair Jayce Goldsmith and Tatiana Makarova beat Morgan Coppoc and Ania Hertel, 6-4, and Carson Branstine with partner Mary Stoiana defeated Mell Reasco and Meg Kowalski, 6-3. Locking up the tournament title for the Aggies were Makarova, Goldsmith and Stoiana who defeated their opponents in singles to secure the first SEC Tournament championship in program history.
After going untouched in SEC play and winning the SEC Tournament, the Aggies headed into the NCAA Championships as the No. 7 seed. The Maroon & White topped Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 4-0, and Baylor, 4-1, at Mitchell Tennis Center to start NCAA play. Staying at home for the Super Regional, the Aggies faced an SEC rival for a spot in the Elite Eight. A&M defeated Vanderbilt for the third time on the season, putting on another dominant performance against the Commodores with a 4-0 sweep.
The Aggies’ magical run came to an end in Urbana, Illinois, with a loss to No. 2 Oklahoma in NCAA Championship quarterfinal action. A&M fought back after dropping the early doubles points with Stoiana, Goldsmith and Gianna Pielet giving A&M a chance, but ultimately the Aggies came up short, falling 4-3, concluding their historic 2021-22 campaign.
The trio of Branstine, Goldsmith and Makarova garnered ITA All-American recognition. Branstine finished with a 17-9 overall singles record, including a 14-7 mark against nationally ranked opponents. Goldsmith and Makarova earned their second All-America honor as a tandem, finishing the 2021-22 campaign with a 35-7 mark, including a 15-5 in ranked action.
‘22-’23 Fall Highlights
The Aggies opened the fall with half of the squad playing at the ITA Texas Regional in Fort Worth. Lizanne Boyer, Kayal Gownder and Daria Smetannikov all reached the round of 64 in singles action. Boyer and Smetannikov reached the round of 32 in doubles play.
The other half of the squad made a strong showing at the Fall Ranked Spotlight in Cary, North Carolina. Stoiana and Goldsmith won three doubles matches, including victories against the No. 60 and No. 36 ranked doubles teams. Pielet and Jeanette Mireles finished the tournament 2-1 in doubles play. In the singles, Stoiana won the A-1 consolation bracket, defeating four ranked players including the No. 2 ranked Sarah Hamner of South Carolina. In the A-2 singles draw, Pielet reached the round of 16 while Mireles advanced to the semifinals.
Texas A&M had a solid performance at the ITA All-American Championship in Cary, North Carolina. Stoiana recorded two wins over ranked opponents, including an upset of No. 10 Cantos Siemers of Ohio State, en route to an appearance in the quarterfinal. Goldsmith knocked off three ranked opponents, including No. 6 Cameron Morra of Duke. On the doubles side, Goldsmith and Branstine reached the quarterfinals after defeating ranked opponents in the previous two rounds.
The Aggies hosted their own invitational the end of October, featuring SMU, Rice, Arkansas and Utah. In singles play, Stoiana, Goldsmith, Mireles and Smetannikov all finished 3-0. In doubles action, Pielet and Mireles posted a 3-0 mark while Smetannikov and Boyer went 2-0.
Autumn wrapped up with Stoiana advancing to the quarterfinals of the ITA Fall Championship, dropping a hard-fought match to No. 1 Fiona Crawley of North Carolina.
Meet the Aggies
Lizanne Boyer – Freshman – Dallas, Texas / Highland Park
- 3-0 in doubles play Texas A&M Invitational
Avery Esquivel – Freshman – Austin, Texas / Vandegrift
- 1-1 at ITA Texas Regional
Mia Kupres – Freshman – Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
- Ranked No. 9 in ITA Newcomer/Freshman
- Kupres holds a career-high No. 95 ITF World Junior Ranking
Daria Smetannikov – Freshman – Marlboro, New Jersey / Red Bank Catholic
- 3-0 in singles and doubles play at Texas A&M Invitational
Kayal Gownder – Sophomore – Cypress, Texas / Cy-Fair
- SEC Academic Honor Roll (2022)
- 2-1 at Texas A&M Invitational and 2-1 in doubles play (Robbins/Smetannikov)
- Finished her first season 6-5 in overall singles matches with a 2-1 dual match singles record (2021-22)
Jeanette Mireles – Sophomore – Houston, Texas / Connections Academy
- Current ITA singles ranking No. 105
- Current ITA doubles ranking No. 43 (Pielet)
- 3-1 in singles action at Fall Ranked Spotlight
- 3-0 in singles and doubles at Texas A&M Invitational
- Totaled an 18-9 overall singles record in her inaugural season, highlighted by a 12-5 finish in dual match play (2021-22)
Gianna Pielet – Sophomore – El Paso, Texas / Connections Academy
- Current ITA singles ranking No. 79
- Current ITA doubles ranking No. 43 (Mireles)
- 2-1 in singles and 3-0 in doubles at Texas A&M Invitational
- Logged a 23-12 overall singles record highlighted by a 19-8 run through the dual match season (2021-22)
Mary Stoiana – Sophomore – Southbury, Connecticut / K12 Private Academy
- Current ITA singles ranking No. 9
- Current ITA doubles ranking No. 23 (Goldsmith)
- Finished in the quarterfinals of the ITA All-American Championship
- All-SEC Second Team (2022)
- SEC All-Freshman Team (2022)
- 4 x SEC Freshman of the Week
- Finished her freshman season as the winningest singles athlete on the A&M roster, boasting a 34-4 mark overall (2021-22)
Elise Robbins – Junior - Austin, Texas / Regents School of Austin
- SEC Academic Honor Roll (2022)
- Finished her sophomore season with a 4-3 overall singles record and 7-4 overall doubles record (2021-22)
Carson Branstine – Senior – Orange, California / Virginia
- ITA All-American Singles (2022)
- ITA Texas Region Rookie of the Year (2022)
- All-SEC First Team (2022)
- 2 x SEC Player of the Week
- Posted a 17-9 record in singles coupled 21-3 mark in doubles (2021-22)
Jayci Goldsmith – Graduate – Dripping Springs, Texas / Dripping Springs
- Current ITA singles ranking No. 51
- Current ITA doubles ranking No. 23 (Stoiana) and No. 42 (Branstine)
- 3-0 in doubles play at Fall Ranked Spotlight
- 3-0 in singles at Texas A&M Invitational and 2-1 in doubles play (Stoiana)
- All-SEC First Team (2022)
- SEC Community Service Team (2022)
- SEC Academic Honor Roll (2022)
- ITA All-American Doubles (with Tatiana Makarova 2021-22)
- Compiled a 29-3 overall singles record and 26-2 ledger in dual match play (2021-22)
Salma Ewing – Graduate – Lakewood, California / USC
- Salma Ewing’s senior campaign included All-American honors, a trip to the NCAA Singles Sweet 16, and All-PAC-12 First Team honors
- 21-14 overall in singles and 11-8 in dual matches (USC 2021-22)
Previewing the Schedule
The Aggies serve up the start of spring season at Mitchell Tennis Center on Tuesday, Jan. 17 against Houston at 12 p.m. and Prairie View A&M at 4:30 p.m.
The Maroon & White host another doubleheader on Saturday, Jan. 20 facing Tulane at 12 p.m., followed by Sam Houston at 4:30 p.m.
Texas A&M hosts the ITA Kickoff Weekend, playing Florida Atlantic on Saturday, Jan. 28. The following day, A&M plays either Arizona or Florida, results dependent.
February 10-13, if the Aggies qualify, they travel to Seattle, Washington, to compete in the ITA Indoor Championships at the Nordstrom Tennis Center.
The Maroon & White has an opportunity to familiarize itself with the site of the NCAA Championship when it travels to the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida, for matches against Florida International, Ohio State and Northwestern from Feb. 24-27.
SEC Play
SEC home play starts with a weekend of matches against Arkansas (March 10) and Missouri (March 12).
St. Patrick’s Day features the Aggies in action versus LSU (March 17) on a weekend that also includes A&M’s final non-conference match of the season against Miami (Fla.) on March 19.
The Aggies play four consecutive home matches on back-to-back weekends at Mitchell Tennis Center. They host Tennessee (March 31) and Georgia (April 2), as the match against the Bulldogs features the teams that battled for each of the last two SEC Tournament titles. Ole Miss (April 7) and Mississippi State (April 9) close out the home slate.
SEC Tournament
The SEC Tournament is April 19-23 in Fayetteville, Arkansas at the Billingsley Tennis Center.
NCAA Tournament
The first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament start on May 5-6, and the Super Regional is slated for May 12-13. The first three rounds are held at campus sites. The NCAA Championship is May 17-27 in Orlando, Florida at the USTA National Campus.
