University of Georgia Athletics
University of Georgia
Texas A&M
Georgia Knock Off Texas A&M, 4-3, in Thriller at Magill
March 16, 2024 | Women's Tennis
ATHENS, Ga. —  After nearly five hours of back-and-forth action, No. 29 Dasha Vidmanova's comeback victory over the ITA singles No. 1 Mary Stoiana was the decider as the No. 10 Georgia women's tennis team earned a hard-fought 4-3 victory over No. 14 Texas A&M at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex on Friday.
"It was special," said head coach Drake Bernstein. "Athens is a special place to play tennis, and we're glad that we get to be a part of the community, and the community comes out to be a part of this. Sticking around obviously, that's a four-and-a-half-hour college tennis match with a battle from start to finish. Just to have a couple hundred people still there at the end of the match is something special."
The Bulldogs (10-3, 5-0 SEC) have won eight consecutive matches and remain undefeated in Southeastern Conference play. Georgia now leads the all-time series against Texas A&M (12-6, 4-1 SEC) 19-4, going 2-0 against the Aggies this season.
Opening the day with doubles action, the Bulldogs fell just short and dropped a tightly contested doubles point.
After Georgia fell 6-4 on court three, No. 34 Mai Nirundorn and Guillermina Grant leveled the doubles score at 1-1 with a 7-6(2) win over Lucciana Perez and Jeanette Mireles (Texas A&M) on court two. Despite a late comeback on court one, the Bulldogs fell 7-6(4), clinching the doubles point for the Aggies.
Moving on the singles, the back end of the order was crucial in Georgia's comeback bid.
On court five, Guillermina Grant was dominant from start to finish as she cruised past Daria Smetannikov (Texas A&M) 6-1, 6-0 to level the score at 1-1. No. 98 Anastasiia Lopata followed up shortly after with a convincing 6-3, 6-3 win over Perez (Texas A&M) to hand the Bulldogs their first lead of the night at 2-1.
Texas A&M bounced back to level the match at 2-2 with a victory on court two, but it was not long until No. 78 Nirundorn came up big on court six with a 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 comeback victory over Mireles (Texas A&M) to give Georgia a 3-2 lead.Â
A tough third set tiebreaker loss on court three gave life to the Aggies at 3-3, shifting all eyes on court one.
No. 29 Vidmanova struck first with a 6-4 first set win before falling late in an extended 6(10)-7 second set, leaving the match down to the third set. Trailing 5-1 in the third set and dealing with cramps late against No. 1 Stoiana, Vidmanova sparked momentum and strung together four-straight games to level the set at 5-5.
After splitting the next two games to force a tiebreaker, Vidmanova battled back once again from 3-1 down to clinch the match with a 6-4, 6(10)-7, 7-6(5) victory over Stoiana (Texas A&M).
The win marks Vidmanova's highest-ranked win as a Bulldog, earning her four wins in her last six matches against ranked opponents.
"I'm super proud of everybody," Bernstein said. "All six courts, a very competitive effort. Dasha battling, having a match point in the second set and cramps early in the third, just the will to keep going. Super proud of her. Total team effort tonight."
Georgia will return to action at home when it faces off against No. 41 LSU on Sunday, March 17 at 1 p.m. ET at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. The Bulldogs lead the all-time series against LSU 49-4, as they will look to pick up their 50th win against the Tigers. After opening the all-time series 6-4, Georgia has won each of the last 43 matchups against the Tigers.
No. 10 GEORGIA vs No. 41 LSU
Date: Sunday, March 17
Time: 1 p.m. ET
Location: Athens, Ga.
Venue: Dan Magill Tennis Complex
Live Video/Scoring: https://gado.gs/9y9Â
Singles Results
No. 29 Dasha Vidmanova (UGA) def. No. 1 Mary Stoiana (TAMU) 6-4, 6-7 (10-12), 7-6 (7-5)
No. 17 Nicole Khirin (TAMU) def. No. 25 Alexandra Vecic (UGA) 6-2, 7-6 (7-4)
No. 30 Mia Kupres (TAMU) def. No. 68 Mell Reasco (UGA) 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5)
No. 98 Anastasiia Lopata (UGA) def. Lucciana Perez (TAMU) 6-3, 6-3
Guillermina Grant (UGA) def. Daria Smetannikov (TAMU) 6-1, 6-0
No. 78 Mai Nirundorn (UGA) def. Jeanette Mireles (TAMU) 5-7, 6-3, 6-3
Doubles Results
No. 6 Mary Stoiana/Mia Kupres (TAMU) def. No. 8 Aysegul Mert/Dasha Vidmanova (UGA) 7-6 (7-4)
No. 34 Guillermina Grant/Mai Nirundorn (UGA) def. Lucciana Perez/Jeanette Mireles (TAMU) 7-6 (7-2)
Sydney Fitch/Nicole Khirin (TAMU) def. Alexandra Vecic/Mell Reasco (UGA) 6-4
Match Notes:
No. 14 Texas A&M 12-6 (4-1 SEC)
No. 10 Georgia 10-3 (5-0 SEC)
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (5,4,2,6,3,1)
Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Bulldogs by following UGA Women's Tennis on X @UGAWomensTennis, on Instagram @UGAWomensTennis, and on Facebook @GeorgiaWomensTennis or check out information online at GeorgiaDogs.com. Â
Players Mentioned
