No. 21 Texas A&M Upsets No. 14 South Carolina to Open SEC Slate, 6-1

Friday, March 1

Bryan-College Station

5:00 PM

Texas A&M

South Carolina

Photo by: Sydney Morriss/Texas A&M Athletics

Mar 01, 2024 | Women's Tennis

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Mallory Maxwell, Athletics Communications

BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION – The No. 21 Texas A&M women's tennis team upset No. 14 South Carolina , 6-1, to begin SEC play at the Mitchell Tennis Center Friday evening. The Aggies extended their home win streak to 48 matches.

The Aggies (9-5, 1-0 SEC) were quick to the jump, taking the first doubles court of the night. Sydney Fitch/Nicole Khirin downed South Carolina's (8-2) Olympe Lancelot/Shahar Biran with a speedy 6-0 victory on court 3. Securing the point for the Maroon & White, Jeanette Mireles/Lucciana Perez defeated Elise Mills/Misa Malkin (6-4) on court 2 to hand the Aggies the early lead. On court 1, No. 4 Mia Kupres/Mary Stoiana were seconds away from earning their second ranked win of the season over No. 45 Sarah Hamner/Ayana Akli (5-3) but did not finish their match as A&M took the early advantage.

Riding the wave into singles action, the Aggies took five of the first sets to set the tone. On court 3, No. 29 Kupres picked up her fifth ranked win of the season against No. 119 Biran (6-3, 6-1) while doubling the lead.

Mireles tacked on her second win of the night and her 10th victory of the season over Lancelot (6-1, 6-2) on court 6. In doing so, Mireles extended her winning-streak to four-straight and increased the Aggie lead to 3-0.

Clinching the first league match of the year was Perez who sealed the deal over Malkin (6-0, 6-4) on court 4, moving to a 7-4 overall record in dual matches.

Playing out the remaining courts, No. 19 Khirin kept her winning streak alive and picked up her sixth straight with a huge upset over No. 6 Hamner (6-4, 7-5) to push the Aggies to 5-0 over the Gamecocks. Following suit, No. 1 Stoiana battled back from a first set fall and stayed undefeated on her home court downing No. 7 Akli (2-6, 6-4, 1-0(7)) on court 1.

COACH'S QUOTES
Head coach Mark Weaver on today's match …
"I was very impressed with our group, possibly the best match we have played all season and what a great time for it. Nothing like opening SEC play with a dominating win over one of the best teams in the conference. That was the best doubles point we have played this year, and they have two of the best players in the nation that we defeated on courts one and two. We have a quick turnaround and need to be ready for another good team on Sunday."

Up Next
The Aggies remain at home to host the No. 19 Florida Gators, Sunday at noon at the Mitchell Tennis Center.

Match Results
Singles Results
(TAMU) No. 1 Mary Stoiana Def. (SCAR) No. 7 Ayana Akli (2-6, 6-4, 1-0(7))
(TAMU) No. 19 Nicole Khirin Def. (SCAR) No. 6 Sarah Hamner (6-4, 7-5)
(TAMU) No. 29 Mia Kupres Def. (SCAR) No. 119 Shahar Biran (6-3, 6-2)
(TAMU) Lucciana Perez Def. (SCAR) Misa Malkin (6-0, 6-4)
(SCAR) Elise Mills Def. (TAMU) Daria Smetannikov (2-6, 7-6(8), 1-0(11))
(TAMU) Jeanette Mireles Def. (SCAR) Olympe Lancelot (6-1, 6-2)

Doubles Results
(TAMU) No. 4 Mia Kupres/Mary Stoiana Def. (USC) No. 45 Sarah Hamner/Ayana Akli (5-3) UNF
(TAMU) Lucciana Perez/Jeanette Mireles Def. (SCAR) Elise Mills/Misa Malkin (6-4)
(TAMU) Nicole Khirin/Sydney Fitch Def. (SCAR) Olympe Lancelot/Shahar Biran (6-0)

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