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Texas A&M Edges Miami & Cal Rolls To Close Out The Kick-Off Weekend

by | Jan 31, 2017 | Blog

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The 2017 ITA Kick-Off Weekend is officially in the books after the conclusion of the last two region finals in Miami and Berkeley. Miami (FL) was looking to advance to the National Team Indoors for a 13th consecutive while Texas A&M was looking to make a second straight trip. The match was originally scheduled for Sunday but rain pushed it back until today and then today’s start was pushed back an additional 90 minutes due to a morning shower.

Texas A&M took the early 1-0 lead after winning at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles and then the teams split opening sets in singles. Miami’s Estela Perez-Somarriba picked up a quick win at No. 4 when her opponent retired with an injury after dropping the opening set 6-0 but Texas A&M retook the lead when Rutuja Bhosale won in straight sets at No. 2. Miami’s Sinead Lohan won in straight sets at No. 1 to tie the match at 2-2 but Texas A&M went back in front after Tina Bokhua won in two close sets at No. 3. Both of the remaining courts went to a third set and ultimately Texas A&M would win 4-2 after Macarena Olivares closed out her opponent 6-3 in the third at No. 5. Texas A&M did a good job with their recap so check it out for all the pertinent details. 

Post-Match Quotes from Texas A&M’s recap
“It was an incredible effort today by the Aggies today,” A&M second-year head coach Mark Weaver said. “Miami had been to the National Indoors for 12 years in a row, so to come here on their home courts and with the difficult conditions, the humidity, and we were battling some cramps there at the end but showed incredible toughness. That was one of the challenges I gave them in the pre-match speech is to show how tough we can be today. I told them we were going to be faced with some adversity, difficult matches, difficult conditions, and I don’t think there could have been a tougher, grittier effort from the group.
 
“Truly I couldn’t me more proud of the girls. There were a ton of big points, and I felt like we rose to the occasion definitely in the majority of those points. Overall, especially this early in the year, to have the team prepared and playing this well early on definitely shows that we are a team to contend with this year.”
 
Post-Match Quotes from Miami’s recap
“Our focus is always the same, which is that we have to play every point, which turns into games, which turns into sets, which turns into matches,” Miami head coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews said. “We simply didn’t show up at two positions today, I didn’t think, physically or mentally. To beat a team like this, you have to show up at every position and even when you do, it’s going to be anybody’s match. They’ve got some older kids on their team. The better team won today, that’s the bottom line.”
 
“I’m not disappointed with the play at five and six. Those girls were battling, they were fighting hard and they came up a little bit short, but that’s what happens,” Yaroshuk-Tews said of Fuentes and Madcur. “If everybody shows up and everybody plays a disciplined match, you’ll usually sneak it out. If everybody doesn’t, the other team will usually sneak it out. At this level, it’s close. Texas A&M, I’ve got to give them credit—good team . . . They were just kind of playing a little bit more aggressively on the bigger points and we’ve got to change that moving forward.”

 

#22 Texas A&M 4, #12 Miami 2
Coral Gables, Florida (Neil Schiff Tennis Center)
Singles Results
1. #6 Sinead Lohan (UM 11.77) def. #85 Rachel Pierson (A&M 11.51), 6-4, 6-1
2. Rutuja Bhosale (A&M 10.92) def. #69 Maci Epstein (UM 11.18), 7-5, 6-2
3. #57 Tina Bokhua (A&M 10.54) def. Dominika Paterova (UM 10.19), 6-4, 7-5
4. Estela Perez-Somarriba (UM 11.65) def. Saska Gavrilovska (A&M 10.71), 6-0 retired
5. Macarena Olivares (A&M 11.08) def. Ana Madcur (UM 10.56), 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
6. Stefania Hristov (A&M 9.68) vs. Silvia Fuentes (UM 10.57), 5-7, 7-5, 2-3 unfinished
Doubles Results
1. (#17) Bhosale/Pierson (A&M) def. Epstein/Paterova (UM), 6-3
2. Domenica Gonzalez/Eva Paalma (A&M) def. Lohan/Madcur (UM), 6-2
3. Fuentes/Perez-Somarriba (UM) def. Bokhua/Hristov (A&M), 6-2
Match Notes:
Miami 1-1; National ranking #12
Texas A&M 4-0; National ranking #22
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles(4,2,1,3,5)
ITA Kick-Off Weekend, Championship Match

 

Wilson Tennis Camps 

Cal wrapped up the final spot on the women’s side with a 4-0 shutout over Missouri. Cal took the doubles point after winning at No. 1 and No. 3 and then Maegan Manasse, Maria Smith, and Maya Jansen won in straight sets with Jansen clinching at No. 5. 

13 of the 15 teams that hosted the regional advanced to the National Team Indoors with the exceptions being Texas A&M and Ole Miss. According to the Ole Miss recap, the Rebels became the first No. 4 seed to ever win a KOW regional since the format began nine years ago. The Southeastern Conference led the way with six teams qualifying while another four made it to the finals before falling. 

The match of the weekend had to be the Duke/Northwestern match in Durham. Northwestern led 3-2 and it’s No. 2 player junior Maddie Lipp led 5-2 in the third but Duke freshman Meible Chi came back to force a tiebreak and then after falling behind 5-2 in the tiebreak she came back to win it 8-6. Interestingly enough the teams are scheduled to play again this coming Sunday in Durham.

The school recap from the winning team is hyperlinked so give it a click if you are looking for more information on the regional final matches. 

Women’s Regional Finals (host in bold):
#1 Florida def. Florida International 4-0
#2 North Carolina def. #17 Texas 4-0
#3 Pepperdine def. NC State 4-0
#5 Oklahoma State def. TCU 4-0
#6 Georgia def. Illinois 4-0
#7 Ohio State def. Alabama 4-0
#8 California def. Missouri 4-0
#9 Vanderbilt def. Kansas 4-0
#10 Duke def. #25 Northwestern 4-3
#11 Georgia Tech def. #24 UCLA 4-2
#22 Texas A&M def. #12 Miami 4-2
#13 Texas Tech def. #21 Arizona State 4-3
#14 Michigan def. #23 Mississippi State 4-0
#15 Auburn def. #18 USC 4-1
Ole Miss def. #19 LSU 4-2 (Virginia Regional)
  

 

Women’s National Indoor Qualifiers
Team Conference
#1 Florida SEC
#2 North Carolina ACC
#3 Pepperdine West Coast
#5 Oklahoma State Big 12
#6 Georgia SEC
#7 Ohio State Big Ten
#8 California Pac-12
#9 Vanderbilt SEC
#10 Duke ACC
#11 Georgia Tech ACC
#13 Texas Tech Big 12
#14 Michigan Big Ten
#15 Auburn SEC
#22 Texas A&M SEC
Ole Miss SEC
Yale (automatic) Ivy League
   
Conference Breadown
6 – SEC
3 – ACC
2 – Big Ten, Big 12
1 – Ivy League, Pac-12, West Coast