The undefeated Texas A&M women’s tennis team closes out its season-opening seven-match homestand Saturday as the Aggies play host to the University of Louisiana at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center. First serve against the Ragin’ Cajuns is at noon.
General admission seating is free. Stadium Club season tickets, valid for all men’s and women’s regular-season home matches, are available for purchase athttps://aggi.es/2D87J8f.
“Louisiana has had a good start to the season with a similar record to us, and we are looking forward to competing against them on Saturday," said Mark Weaver, who is in his third season as head coach of the Aggies. “Despite the weather, we have had some very good preparation going into this match, and I expect the Aggies to come out playing at a high level against the Ragin’ Cajuns.”
The Aggies are 6-0 and off to their best start since 2001 after defeating Liberty, 4-1, and Stephen F. Austin, 6-0, in a doubleheader on Sunday at the Mitchell Tennis Center. A win against Louisiana would equal the best start in program history, set in 1998 when the Aggies went 7-0 before suffering a 5-4 loss at Baylor.
Louisiana recently ended a seven-match homestand to open the season, starting out 6-0 before dropping a 4-3 decision to Louisiana Tech on Sunday. The Ragin’ Cajuns play at Incarnate Word in San Antonio today before making the trek to College Station.
The Aggies are a combined 32-3 in singles in the six dual matches, with seniors Domenica Gonzalez, Macarena Olivares and Eva Paalma all posting 6-0 records at the Nos. 1-3 lines, respectively. Freshman Riley McQuaid also boasts an unblemished 6-0 record, having seen action at both the Nos. 4 and 5 positions.
Overall, Olivares is a team-leading 16-5 in singles and is riding a team-best nine-match winning streak including tournament matches. Gonzalez, ranked a career-high 87th in the ITA singles rankings released Wednesday, and Paalma are both riding eight-match winning streaks.
A&M has contested doubles matches in only three of the six dual matches overall, with the Aggies posting a perfect 7-0 combined record in those matches. Gonzalez and Paalma are 3-0 at the No. 1 line, Olivares and freshman Iulia Ivascu are 2-0 at No. 2. McQuaid and freshman partner Dorthea Faa-Hviding are 1-0 at No. 3.
Louisiana is led by freshman Floriane Picaut, who is 6-0 in singles and 3-0 in doubles with freshman partner Dana Radovanovic.
A&M is 2-0 all-time against Louisiana, formerly known as University of Southwestern Louisiana. The teams first met in 1983 in College Station, with A&M winning 8-1. The teams most recently met in 1992 in Lafayette, Louisiana, where the Aggies defeated the host Ragin’ Cajuns, 6-2.
