COLUMBIA, South Carolina – After a week-long break, Texas A&M women’s tennis heads to Palmetto State, while the Aggies (8-2) visit South Carolina’s Gamecocks (4-5, 1-1 SEC) at 8:00 am (CT) for the first time serving the Carolina Tennis Center.
“Our group is excited and excited to open the SEC game this weekend,” explained coach Mark Weaver. “South Carolina is a powerful program and we will have to bring it from start to finish in this match. They had a slightly slow start to the season, but this team is very talented and has been very successful with each of its current players. We had some of the best practices of the season last week and we put ourselves in a good position to succeed this weekend ”.
The latest version of the Oracle ITA women’s team ranking saw Aggies reach 22nd position after the week off. The Aggies were one of seven Southeast Conference teams that received recognition this week, and three additional SEC teams, including South Carolina, received votes. North Carolina won the unanimous selection in first place, followed by Texas and Georgia, rival of the SEC, in second and third places, respectively.
Dealing with the winter weather was the main task of the Texas A&M team in their last two matches, when the Aggies fought the Utah Utes in Aggieland on February 12 before traveling to Houston to face the McNeese Cowgirls at home on the Day Valentine’s Day. Each match resulted in a 7-0 victory for the Aggies, despite the cold temperatures, and provided eight of nine student athletes with at least one individual victory. Three members of the A&M squad have already crossed the mark of 10 victories in singles this season, with ITA No. 64 classified, Tatiana Makarova, being accompanied by Katya Townsend and Riley McQuaid. A&M’s top doubles team, Makarova and Jayci Goldsmith, will headline the doubles competition this weekend.
In his ninth season at the helm in South Carolina, Kevin Epley’s team retained the vast majority of their talent from the 2020 shortened campaign, which ended in 8-4. The Gamecocks had an unusually slow start this season, with a game below 0.500 with a 4-5 record. The graduate Mia Horvit and the senior Megan Davies must win the start in the singles lines nº 1 and nº 2 and must join in the doubles position nº 1. Horvit, Silvia Chinellato and Emma Shelton are tied with six wins each.
Since Maroon & White joined the Southeast Conference in 2012-13, the series between Aggies and Gamecocks is tied at 4-4. The series is also split equally in Columbia during that period, with each team winning two games each at the Carolina Tennis Center.