ANN ARBOR – Two Aggies will represent Texas A&M women's tennis in the ITA Sectional Championship at Michigan's Varsity Tennis Center Thursday to Sunday for a chance to qualify for the NCAA Championships.
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The ITA Sectional Championship features a 32-player singles draw and a 16-team doubles draw. Six singles players and three doubles teams from each section will qualify for the NCAA Championships.
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The teams competing in the Central Sectional Championships include Texas A&M, Michigan, Baylor, Kansas State, Texas Tech, Illinois, Northwestern, Iowa, TCU, Memphis, Ohio State, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Notre Dame, Tulsa, Iowa State, Houston and Texas, .
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Representing the aggies are Daria Smetannikov and No. 9 Nicole Khirin. Smetannikov was one match away from earning a spot in the NCAA Singles Championships after battling all the way to the ITA Texas Regional Semifinals. The Junior won the H-E-B invitational blue draw singles title and has a 10-3 singles record to start the year.
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Khirin claimed 28 singles victories and 20 doubles victories in her sophomore season, including 16 ranked singles wins. She garnered All-SEC First Team as well as NCAA All-Tournament Team honors in both singles and doubles. Khirin was also named as the Texas Region ITA Player to Watch this season.
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Matches begin on Thursday with singles starting at 10 a.m., followed by doubles at 2:30 p.m. In the singles round of 32, Khirin takes on Michigan's Emily Sartz-Lunde and Smetannikov battles Iowa's Daianne Hayashida. The two will then pair in doubles to face TCU's No. 47 Tomi Main and Yu-Chin Tsai.
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The ITA Sectional Championship features a 32-player singles draw and a 16-team doubles draw. Six singles players and three doubles teams from each section will qualify for the NCAA Championships.
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The teams competing in the Central Sectional Championships include Texas A&M, Michigan, Baylor, Kansas State, Texas Tech, Illinois, Northwestern, Iowa, TCU, Memphis, Ohio State, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Notre Dame, Tulsa, Iowa State, Houston and Texas, .
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Representing the aggies are Daria Smetannikov and No. 9 Nicole Khirin. Smetannikov was one match away from earning a spot in the NCAA Singles Championships after battling all the way to the ITA Texas Regional Semifinals. The Junior won the H-E-B invitational blue draw singles title and has a 10-3 singles record to start the year.
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Khirin claimed 28 singles victories and 20 doubles victories in her sophomore season, including 16 ranked singles wins. She garnered All-SEC First Team as well as NCAA All-Tournament Team honors in both singles and doubles. Khirin was also named as the Texas Region ITA Player to Watch this season.
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Matches begin on Thursday with singles starting at 10 a.m., followed by doubles at 2:30 p.m. In the singles round of 32, Khirin takes on Michigan's Emily Sartz-Lunde and Smetannikov battles Iowa's Daianne Hayashida. The two will then pair in doubles to face TCU's No. 47 Tomi Main and Yu-Chin Tsai.