COLLEGE STATION, Texas — No. 20 Texas A&M women’s tennis will celebrate members of the Fightin’ Texas Aggie Class of 2021 and welcome family and friends from around the nation as a part of Family Weekend on Saturday, as the Aggies (14-5, 6-3 SEC) host the No. 24 Arkansas Razorbacks (10-8, 4-8 SEC) in a 12 p.m. first serve from the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center.
“Arkansas has had a very good season, and they’ve been in the top-25 all pretty much all season,” head coach Mark Weaver explained. “We always have battles with them and getting a home match victory on Thursday against Missouri will hopefully give us some momentum going into this match. I’m looking forward to yet another tough SEC battle.”
Texas A&M’s match against Arkansas will serve as the program’s senior day celebration, as the team will honor Riley McQuaid and Dorthea Faa-Hviding following their four-year careers in the Maroon & White. The Stavanger, Norway, native Faa-Hviding has compiled a 69-33 overall singles record in Aggieland, which places her in second on the team, while McQuaid boasts a team-leading record of 77-33 in her collegiate career. Faa-Hviding will graduate in May and take on an internship with PricewaterhouseCoopers in her native Norway, while McQuaid is set to graduate in August and become an associate at SailPoint Technologies in Austin.
“We are looking forward to celebrating Riley McQuaid and Dorthea Faa-Hviding’s excellent careers here in Aggieland,” Weaver stated. “We want to honor them and give them some special treatment. It’s unbelievable how fast the time has flown by. It seems like yesterday that I was recruiting them to join us here, and it’s incredible how things have changed since then. It’s been so great to see how they have both grown up, and it’s really exciting to see how they’ve set themselves up for careers after Aggieland.”
On the courts, the Aggies recently submitted a 4-1 result against the Missouri Tigers, with four players rattling off singles points following an early deficit after doubles play. Jayci Goldsmith got the scoring started for A&M with a straight-set win on court two, and the squad’s pair of seniors in Faa-Hviding and McQuaid each logged victories on their respective courts. The clinch victory once again fell on the shoulders of junior Renee McBryde, who logged a 6-4, 6-3 win on court five to seal the victory. The Wollongong, Australia, native has booked the decisive fourth point in all six of the Aggies wins in SEC play and seven times overall this season.
Arkansas arrives in Aggieland riding an eight-match losing streak against Southeastern Conference opponents which began on March 7th against Kentucky. Since Weaver joined the Aggies as head coach in the 2015-16 season, A&M maintains a 3-2 advantage and has won each of the last three dual matches against Arkansas. The most recent meeting saw the Maroon & White post a 4-0 result at the Mitchell Tennis Center.
