FLUSHING, N.Y. – Texas A&M had come-from-behind victories in the consolation brackets in both doubles and singles today at USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
In doubles, A&M’s Stefania Hristov and Cristina Stancu came back to win, 9-8 (7) against Armstrong Atlantic State’s Barbora Krtickova and Aleksandra Filipovski, the only non-Division I players in the field after earning a wild card entry by capturing the ITA Small College National Championships titles in October. The Aggie duo dropped the first three sets and was trailing 6-3 when the two began to claw their way back.
Hristov and Stancu, playing only their second tournament together, later tied the score at 7-7. They managed to fight off four match points during the contest and eventually tied the score at 8-8 to send the match into a tiebreaker. In a tightly contested tiebreaker, A&M went on to win, 9-7, with Stancu giving the Aggies the momentum and an 8-7 lead following a spectacular get that put A&M at match point.
“After a slow start, we started to play high-quality tennis,” A&M assistant coach Mark Weaver said. “Stancu had one of the best gets you’ll ever see for such a big point. That was basically the match.”
The Aggies will play in the doubles consolation final tomorrow. The opponent and time are to be announced.
In singles, fourth-ranked Cristina Sanchez-Quintanar also had to come from behind to defeat Amanda Muliawan of Princeton, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the first round of consolation play.
“Cristina definitely hasn’t played her best tennis at this tournament, and she’ll admit that,” Weaver said. “She had some things that didn’t go her way today, but she dug deep, fought hard and overcame tough situations. Cristina played with a lot of heart against a player who had nothing to lose, was playing with no pressure and played some incredible tennis. Cristina just found a way to win.”
Sanchez-Quintanar will play in the second round of consolations tomorrow, with time and opponent to be announced.
Live scoring of the tournament will be available at itatennis.com.
Texas A&M Results:
Friday, November 9, 2012
Doubles – Consolation
Stefania Hristov/Cristina Stancu (Texas A&M) def. Barbora Krtickova/Aleksandra Filipovski (Armstrong Atlantic State), 9-8 (7)
Singles - Consolation
#4 Cristina Sanchez-Quintanar (Texas A&M) def. Amanda Muliawan (Princeton), 4-6, 6-4, 6-4
Thursday, November 8
Doubles – First Round
#7 Lorraine Guillermo/Khunpak Issara (Pepperdine) def. Stefania Hristov/Cristina Stancu (Texas A&M), 8-3
Singles – First Round
#11 Danielle Lao (USC) def. #4 Cristina Sanchez-Quintanar (Texas A&M), 6-1, 6-2
