The Texas A&M Aggies women’s tennis team advanced to the NCAA Women’s Tennis Championship Super Regional after a 4-1 victory over the Baylor Bears at the Mitchell Tennis Center, according to a May 3 announcement. With this win, Texas A&M will host No. 13 Southern California in Friday’s Super Regional contest.
This marks the seventh consecutive season that Texas A&M has reached the Super Regional round. The match against USC is scheduled for Friday at 2 p.m. at the Mitchell Tennis Center.
Baylor took an early lead by winning two of three doubles matches, but Texas A&M responded strongly in singles play. Daria Smetannikov secured a win on court six, followed by Mia Kupres and Lucciana Perez who both won their matches to give the Aggies an advantage. Ilinca Amariei clinched the overall victory for Texas A&M with her singles win on court three.
Head Coach Mark Weaver said, “Seven Sweet 16s in a row is not easy to do. I think a lot of people may take that for granted. I am very pleased with the consistency of our program and a lot of the work we put in the season. Being able to host these first three rounds are very important. I’m just pleased that we’ve had such an excellent season.” Senior Mia Kupres reflected on her performance: “I was trying to be aggressive and move her around while being patient and building the points. I was able to be more consistent than her and served well and that is what helped me get the points started off on the right foot.” Kupres also commented on her team’s resilience: “They got momentum early in the doubles but then we snapped out of it and we all know that when it comes down to tennis, we are more than capable of winning every match in singles so we got to work and did not waste any time.”
The Aggies will next face USC as they continue their postseason run.
