No. 30 Arizona Falls to No. 13 Texas A&M

After starting the season with three-consecutive wins, No. 30 Arizona women's tennis (3-1) suffered its first loss against No. 13 Texas A&M (2-0), 4-0

Lacey Smyth

Jan. 27, 2013

COLLEGE STATION, Texas -

After starting the season with three-consecutive wins, No. 30 Arizona women’s tennis (3-1) suffered its first loss against No. 13 Texas A&M (2-0), 4-0, in the championship match of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend.

UA Juniors Susan Mc Rann (Dublin, Ireland) and Akilah James (Brooklyn, N.Y.) won their fourth-straight doubles match at the No. 3 spot. Mc Rann and James’ win gave the Wildcats a chance to earn the doubles point, but dropped the deciding match

“Texas A&M is a good team,” Arizona Head Coach Vicky Maes said. “We knew we were going to have our hands full.”

Heading into today’s match, Texas A&M featured three players ranked in the individual top-125 rankings.

Arizona juniors Lacey Smyth (Oceanside, Calif.) and Kim Stubbe (Mol, Belgium) recorded their first singles loss of the season. Smyth played against No.3 Cristina Sanchez-Quintanar at the No. 1 spot and Stubbe faced No. 45 Cristina Stancu at the No. 2 spot.

“We got a bit deflated,” coach Maes said. “We stopped competing as hard as we have shown.”

In Saturday’s win over No. 41 Minnesota, the Wildcats grinded out six tiebreakers and saw five singles matches conclude in three sets.

On Sunday, every match in singles play was decided in two sets.

“This was certainly a good weekend for the Cats,” coach Maes said. “We learned a lot and we are committed to make the necessary adjustments going into the next weekend.”

The Wildcats return home and host Sacramento State at the Robson Tennis Center on Friday, Feb. 1 at 1:30 p.m. (MST).

For immediate results and continued coverage of Arizona Women’s Tennis, visit ArizonaWildcats.com, or follow @ArizonaWTennis on Twitter.

-- ArizonaWildcats.com --

Double

1.(#7) Hristov/Stancu (TAMU) def. Inge Hendrikx/Stubbe (UA), 8-4

2. Sanchez-Quintanar/I. Deheza (TAMU) def. Austin/Smyth (UA), 8-1

3. James/McRann (UA) def. Sun/Urbina (TAMU), 8-3

Order of finish: 2, 3, 1

Singles

No. 1 (#3) Cristina Sanchez-Quintanar (TAMU) def. Lacey Smyth (UA), 6-2, 6-1

No. 2 (#45) Cristina Stancu (TAMU) def. Kim Stubbe (UA), 6-4, 6-0

No. 3 Nazari Urbina (TAMU) vs. Laura Oldham (UA) 6-2, 3-1 unfinished