Hogs Head to Lone Star State for Pair of SEC Contests

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Arkansas women’s tennis team (3-5, 0-1) heads out on an SEC road trip to face No. 5 Texas A&M (10-1, 1-0) on Friday, Feb. 28 at 5 p.m. before a match on Sunday, March 2 against No. 11 Texas (6-4, 0-1) at 12 p.m.

The Razorbacks dropped their first SEC match of the season, narrowly falling to No. 12 Oklahoma 4-3. The Hogs took the doubles point from the Sooners with wins from Olga Bienzobas/Carolina Gomez and No. 78 Anet Koskel/Grace O’Donnell. Oklahoma came roaring back with two singles wins before Arkansas’ No. 93 C. Gomez defeated No. 12 Julia Garcia Ruiz in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3. The Sooners finished the match off with wins on courts six and three, with court five being played out. Katarina Pavlechova earned the first ranked win of her career and defeated No. 105 Ava Catanzarite, 6-2, 6-3.

At Tulsa on Monday, Pavlechova continued her hot start to the season in singles play and collected a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Saniya Singh, which was the only point for the Hogs in the match.

The No. 5 Aggies have started the year 10-1 and opened SEC play with a 4-3 win over No. 11 Texas. A&M is led by No. 3 Mary Stoiana and No. 15 Nicole Khirin, who have played on courts one and two this season. No. 55 Lucciana Perez and No. 90 Mia Kupres also highlight the Aggies singles lineup, with Kupres leading the team in dual wins with nine. The duo of No. 30 Stoiana and Perez have posted three doubles wins this year and hold a 3-2 record overall at the No. 1 position.

The Longhorns will face No. 12 Oklahoma on Friday ahead of their matchup with Arkansas on Sunday. Texas’ singles lineup features five ranked players in No. 25 Carmen Herea, No. 87 Sabina Zeynalova, No. 104 Ashton Bowers, No. 107 Vivian Ovrootsky and No. 124 Eszter Meri. In doubles, the tandem of No. 63 Bowers and Ariana Pursoo head the lineup with a 4-1 record, including a 3-1 mark at the No. 1 position. The pairing of Salma Drgdova and Herea is 5-4 in dual matches this season.

Live coverage of the Texas match will be provided by Cracked Racquets as part of the SEC CrossCourt whip-around broadcast streamed on SEC Network+. Live stats & video links for all matches are available on the women’s tennis schedule page.

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