Texas A&M knocks off defending champs to head to NCAA final
ATHENS, G.A. — In a day full of epic comebacks, this one may have been the best.
In front of the home Georgia crowd, down 1-3 with all the momentum on the side of the No. 1 Bulldogs (22-6), No. 4 Texas A&M (27-5) looked dead in the water. But by the end of the night, the cheers that define matches at Dan Magill Tennis Complex turned to murmurs. The Aggies forged a monumental comeback, spearheaded by the most bizarre match on Court 1 as No. 1 ranked Lucciana Perez clinched the win despite being hobbled.
At one point, Perez was cramping so bad, she was bouncing around on one foot, trying to get to the service line. After looking dominant in the first set at 6-1, she had become a lame duck, ready to be poached. When she dropped the second-set tie-break, the air was out of the A&M sails.
Meanwhile, on Courts 5 and 6, Violeta Martinez and No. 98 Daria Smetannikov were battling to keep the Aggies in the match. All three would need to win after Georgia took the doubles point and straight-set victories on Courts 3 and 4. Both players came through in massively big moments as Martinez downed No. 81 Sofia Rojas 1-6, 7-5, 6-3. Smetannikov took care of Patricija Paukstyte 6-3, 2-6, 7-5, and it all was rested in the No. 1 ranked player's hands.
Luckily for Perez, her opponent No. 19 Anastasiia Lopata had also lost her level. Lopata's tank was about as empty as Perez's, but both played very calculated but conservative rallies. With multiple 30+ shot rallies, the two were daring each other to make a mistake. In the end, Lopata just made a few too many. But they weren't mistakes going for winners. They were moonballs hit long, or slices into the net.
With the win, Perez moved to 28-0 in spring matches.
The Aggies will face No. 2 Auburn tomorrow at 7 p.m. with the national championship on the line.
