COLLEGE STATION, Texas — No. 7 Texas A&M women’s tennis prepares for its final homestand as the Aggies welcome the SEC-rival Vanderbilt Commodores to the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center for an NCAA Tournament Super Regional matchup. First serve is slated for 2 p.m. (CT) Saturday afternoon.
The winner of the match between A&M and Vanderbilt will punch its ticket to the NCAA Team Championships and will face either No. 2 Oklahoma or No. 15 Stanford in the national quarterfinals. Play is set to begin on Friday, May 20 at the Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex on the University of Illinois campus.
HEAD COACH MARK WEAVER SAID…
“We are extremely excited to play our last home match of the season in front of the 12th Man. We have a very tough and battle-tested Vanderbilt team visiting for the Sweet 16. We are going to have to be at the top of our game to succeed and I’m very pleased with how our team has looked in practice this week. I encourage everyone to come out on Saturday and pack the stands at the Mitchell Tennis Center to cheer on this incredible group of young women.”
FIRST SERVE
The Aggies are set to compete in their third consecutive and eighth overall NCAA Round of 16 match, most recently advancing to this stage in the tournament in 2021 following wins over Drake and Northwestern on the road. The Aggies dropped a 4-2 decision to Florida State in the Round of 16 last year. A&M has advanced past the Super Regionals on one prior occasion, sweeping past then-No. 14 Virginia in a 5-0 contest in 2013. The Maroon & White are a combined 31-26 in the NCAA Tournament all-time.
For the first time since the Mitchell Tennis Center opened before the 1999 dual match season, the facility will host an NCAA Tournament Super Regional match. A&M earned the right to host following a pair of dominant victories in the opening rounds against A&M-Corpus Christi and Baylor. The Aggies took the doubles point in both contests and never looked back, locking in singles points on courts two, three and six. The Maroon & White dropped only one point across both contests.
IN THE RANKINGS
In the most recent ITA Division I Women’s Team Rankings, released on May 4, Texas A&M earned the No. 7 position. The Aggies are the highest-ranked team in the SEC, with Georgia (No. 13), Auburn (No. 14), Florida (No. 16) and Tennessee (No. 22) completing the league’s showing in the top-25. In the Tennis Channel/USTA College Tennis Top-25, A&M maintained its historic No. 1 ranking for the second consecutive week. The most recent individual rankings saw A&M’s headline doubles team of Goldsmith and Makarova appear at No. 6, while Branstine and Stoiana came in at No. 47. Branstine became A&M’s highest-ranked singles athlete in eight seasons after earning the No. 8 ranking, with Makarova holding the No. 24 spot and Stoiana coming in at No. 74.
#LOCKEDIN ON VANDERBILT
Vanderbilt arrives in the Super Regionals following a thrilling 4-2 upset over No. 10 Ohio State on the road. The Commodores are the only non-seeded team remaining in the NCAA Tournament field. Vanderbilt is led by second-year skipper Aleke Tsoubanos and is paced toward the bottom of the lineup by Dasha Kourkina, who has amassed a 20-2 dual match singles record. The Aggies and Commodores meet for the third time this season, with the Aggies taking each of the last two contests by a combined score of 10-3. The Maroon & White took the doubles point against their Vanderbilt opponents by a dominant margin in both prior meetings this season, also going undefeated at each of the top four singles slots. Vanderbilt leads the all-time series 12-7, but has lost four of the last five matches.
TICKETS & PARKING
Click the link here to be redirected to the ticket purchasing page for the NCAA Super Regional in Aggieland. General admission tickets are available now online and at the gate beginning one hour before the match. Tickets for individual adults are available for $5, while individual youth tickets are available for $3. All Texas A&M students will be granted free admission to both sessions with a valid Texas A&M student ID, courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics. Children under the age of 2 will be admitted for free. During doubles play, seating will be limited to one side of the facility and standing room will be utilized if needed. For more information on tickets, call 1-888-99-AGGIE. Due to anticipated high temperatures in the 90’s Saturday afternoon, fans are reminded that the Mitchell Tennis Center allows patrons one clear, unopened plastic water bottle up to a gallon in size.
Parking in Lot 100D immediately adjacent to the Mitchell Tennis Center is available to all fans for free on Saturday afternoon. Please alert the parking attendant that you plan to attend the tennis match. Fans are encouraged to enter Lot 100D by turning onto Penberthy Boulevard from George Bush Drive to avoid traffic caused by Texas A&M baseball and commencement ceremonies. Disabled parking is also available in Lot 100D near the entrance of the facility. All fans are encouraged to arrive early since heavy traffic flow is expected Saturday afternoon on West Campus.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
The NCAA and Turner Sports have named TennisOne as the official app and exclusive live streaming partner of the 2022 NCAA Women’s Tennis Championships. Click here to download the app and access free live streaming of this weekend’s match in the Brazos Valley. A link to access live stats is provided here.
For any additional questions and more information on the amenities available at the Mitchell Tennis Center, click the link here to be redirected to the Tennis Gameday Central page. Click here to access the NCAA Tournament Central page.
