COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Texas A&M sophomore Ines Deheza dropped her first set in singles but came back win the next two to defeat Victoria Kisialeva in the last match standing and give the 10th-ranked Aggies a 4-3 victory against No. 15 Baylor at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center.
It was the third top-20 victory for the Aggies, who overcame the blustery conditions to improve to 6-2 heading into Southeastern Conference play.
The Aggie duo of Rutuja Bhosale and Anna Mamalat began doubles by winning the first five games against Baylor’s Ema Burgic and Kiah Generette at the No. 3 line. The Aggie duo then held a comfortable 7-1 lead when the Bears hit long to end the match 8-1.
Deheza and Saska Gavrilovska clinched the doubles point, giving the Aggies a 1-0 lead. With their match tied at 4-4, the A&M tandem won the next four games to win 8-4 against Baylor’s Jordaan Stanford and Alex Leatu, who struggled with the wind and double faulted on each of the last two points of the match.
Kisialeva and Blaire Shankle had fought off one match point to get within 7-4 against 22nd-ranked Stefania Hristov and Cristina Stancu at the No. 1 court, but the contest was halted once the doubles point was decided.
Bhosale would have the quickest match of the night and gave the Aggies a 2-0 lead as she disposed of Megan Horter 6-2, 6-1 at the No. 6 line.
Burgic put the Bears within 2-1, handing 47th-ranked Gavrilovska a 6-3, 6-1 setback at No. 2. Sanford then knotted the team score at 2-2, defeating Hristo, 6-3, 6-2, at No. 4 singles.
In a match-up of ranked players at No. 1 singles, No. 19 Stancu appeared in control after winning her first set 6-2 and building a 5-0 second-set lead against 59th-ranked Generette. Generette, however, fought off a total of four match points to get within 5-4 before Stancu completed the 6-2, 6-4 straight-set victory to put A&M ahead 3-2.
The final two matches were decided in three sets. Shankle tied the team score at 3-3 after coming back to defeat 103rd-ranked Mamalat 3-6, 6-3, 6-0 at the No. 5 line, leaving it up to Deheza and Kisialeva to determine the overall winner.
Kisialeva had reeled off five consecutive games to win the first set 6-3, but Deheza didn’t drop a game to win the second set 6-0 and force a decisive third set. Deheza never trailed in the final frame and built a 5-1 lead en route to a 6-2 victory.
It was A&M’s fourth consecutive victory against Baylor, which falls to 8-3. The teams will face a rematch in Waco on March 19.
No. 3 Stanford 5, No. 38 Saint Mary's (Calif.) 2
STANFORD, Calif. -- Last February, Saint Mary’s (Calif.) notched a rare road upset of Stanford, winning 4-3 to become only the third school to defeat the Cardinal on its home court since 1999.
Stanford (6-0) made sure there would be no repeat, registering a 5-2 victory against No. 38 Saint Mary’s (3-3) on Thursday afternoon at Taube Family Tennis Stadium.
It would have been easy to overlook the Gaels this time around, especially given Sunday’s highly anticipated matchup against No. 5 Florida.
Instead, the Cardinal looked sharp throughout while knocking off its fifth ranked opponent of the year.
Stanford captured the doubles point to take a 1-0 lead before Caroline Doyle was first off the court in singles with a 6-1, 6-1 victory at the No. 6 spot.
Carol Zhao increased the Cardinal’s lead to 3-0 following a 6-4, 6-3 victory at the No. 3 position.
Krista Hardebeck came through with the clincher, picking up a 6-3, 7-6 (3) triumph on court No. 2.
No. 8 Northwestern 7, No. 36 Indiana 0
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Northwestern opened Big Ten play with a bang on Thursday, taking down Indiana 7-0. The Wildcats continued their recent dominant play against the Hoosiers. In the past five regular-season meetings NU has outscored IU 33-2.
The `Cats were strong throughout the match, winning the first set in all six singles matches before eventually claiming victory on each court.
At No. 1 singles, Veronica Corning snapped a four-match skid, besting No. 65 Katie Klyczek 6-1, 4-6, 6-3. Corning, the No. 30-ranked player in the nation, Corning has defeated ranked opponents for all five of her wins this season.
Belinda Niu remained undefeated by beating Carolyn Chupa, ranked No. 93, in straight sets 6-1, 6-4. Niu, ranked No. 58, is out to a 6-0 start to the campaign.
Playing at No. 3, Alicia Barnett also snapped a losing streak, this one of five matches, by knocking off No. 81 Sophie Garre. Barnett won the first set 7-5, dropped the second 6-4, and led in the third 3-0 when Garre retired from the match.
Jillian Rooney, Nida Hamilton and Manon Peri all posted wins for Northwestern as well. Rooney and Peri both needed three sets to set down their respective opponents, while Hamilton claimed victory in straight sets.
In doubles play, the 25th-ranked duo of Veronica Corning and Alicia Barnett cruised past Carolyn Chupa and Katie Klyczek by an 8-3 score at No. 1 doubles. The NU tandem of Maddie Lipp and Nida Hamilton knocked off a ranked opponent in Kayla Fujimoto and Sophie Garre 8-4. Fujimoto and Garre were ranked No. 44.
