COLLEGE STATION, Texas — No. 20 Texas A&M women’s tennis squares up with the No. 16 Tennessee Lady Volunteers in a 10 a.m. first serve Wednesday from the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center. The match was originally scheduled for March 12th, but was postponed in compliance with the Southeastern Conference COVID-19 management requirements.
“We are looking forward to another battle with Tennessee as usual,” head coach Mark Weaver said. “This should be a very high level and competitive match between two top 20 teams that are both in the upper part of the conference standings. We have been practicing and competing at a very high level over pretty much the entire season and I expect us to perform at a high level once again on Wednesday.”
The Maroon & White (15-5, 7-3 SEC) remain ranked in the top-20 nationally with an additional pair of victories coming last weekend against Missouri and Arkansas at the Mitchell Tennis Center. Wollongong, Australia, native Renee McBryde clinched both matches for the Aggies last week and is responsible for clinching the decisive fourth point in over half of A&M’s matches and all seven wins in Southeastern Conference play. Senior Tatiana Makarova continues to lead the team with a 13-match unbeaten streak and 11-match win streak dating back to her three-set thriller against Baylor on Feb. 7.
In A&M’s most recent match, the Aggies celebrated Senior Day with a 4-1 win over the Arkansas Razorbacks in Aggieland. In doubles play, the Aggies clinched the first point of the afternoon with McBryde and Dorthea Faa-Hviding teaming up for a win on court two, followed by a 6-4 clincher on court three by Katya Townsend and Riley McQuaid. Arkansas evened the match at 1-1, but the Aggies stormed back to win three consecutive singles points and log a decisive 4-1 team win. After the match, Texas A&M held a ceremony for McQuaid and Faa-Hviding in recognition of their four years of dedication to the Aggie women’s tennis team.
Tennessee arrives in Aggieland for its final match of the 2021 regular season boasting a 14-6 overall record with an 8-4 mark in SEC play. The Lady Volunteers are led by fifth-year head coach Alison Ojeda, a graduate of the University of Tennessee that served as an assistant coach at Texas A&M from 2002-04. On the courts, UT is led by Daria Kuczer, Tenika McGiffin and Rebeka Mertena, who have each compiled 10 or more dual-match singles victories this season.
This will be the 17th all-time meeting between Texas A&M and Tennessee in women’s tennis, with the Aggies holding a slim 9-7 advantage in the series. The most recent matchup between the two teams came in the 2018-19 campaign, in which A&M bested the Lady Volunteers by a 4-2 score at the Mitchell Tennis Center.
