Aggies Kick-Off Individual NCAA Tournament Campaigns

ORLANDO, Fla. – Three Aggies will participate in the NCAA Women’s Tennis Tournaments individual championships starting Monday, May 22, at the USTA National Campus. Mary Stoiana and Salma Ewing will participate in the singles championships, while Ewing/Jayci Goldsmith will compete in the doubles tournament starting on Tuesday.

“I’m looking forward to seeing Mary [Stoiana], Salma [Ewing] and Jayci [Goldsmith] all compete in the individual championships,” head coach Mark Weaver said. “They’ve all had excellent seasons individually and it is an honor for them to be selected to compete for an individual title.”

A&M’s successful season led to a trio qualifying for the NCAA Tournament’s individual rounds. Stoiana will participate in the singles championships for the first time in her career and enters the event as the No. 2 overall seed, the highest in program history. The sophomore boasts a record of 38-5 in singles matches this year, that includes 21 ranked wins and seven versus top-10 ranked opponents. She is slated to begin her championships at 2:30 p.m. CT versus Duke’s No. 62 Georgia Drummy in the first round.

“I’m so excited to start the singles tournament on Monday,” Stoiana said. “I’m really proud of myself for earning the No. 2 seed, it just shows that all my hard work last year and this year has paid off. Now I want to enter the tournament and play freely while continuing to play at a high level.”

No. 58 Ewing joins Stoiana in the singles championships as an at-large selection. This will be Ewing’s first time competing at the singles tournament as an Aggie and her fourth overall appearance, with the previous three coming from her time with USC. The graduate claimed 16 wins this spring, with four of those being ranked wins, highlighted by a victory over the tournament’s No. 4 overall seed Dasha Vidmanova. Ewing will open her singles campaign at 8 a.m. CT versus Michigan’s No. 22 Jaedan Brown in the round of 64.

“It’s so exciting to be competing in my fourth singles tournament,” Ewing said. “It’s surreal that it is my final college tournament and being able to represent Texas A&M is something I’m proud of. This year it’s great as we have a big group still here competing so we can all support each other, and I feel more prepared this year than I ever have before.”

Ewing will also join Goldsmith in the doubles tournament, as the No. 22 ranked pair in the nation received an at-large bid. The duo has played on court one for the majority of the season, leading the team in doubles wins with 23. The pair have also captured six ranked doubles wins, including a win over the then-No. 1 ranked team in the nation from North Carolina Carson Tanguilig/Fiona Crawley. The duo open their doubles tournament campaign versus NC State’s No. 9 Nell Miller/Amelia Rajecki in the first round.

“It’s bittersweet that this is going to be my final college tennis tournament ever,” Goldsmith said. “I’ve been realizing every day that I don’t have much time left, but I’m so excited to be playing my last matches with my best friend [Salma Ewing]. I have just tried to give it my best and enjoy every single second of it.”

STREAMING & STATS

Fans can watch the action through Cracked Racquets Cross Court Coverage, or keep track of match results through the tournaments website.

MARY STOIANA

Stoiana currently holds the fourth-most wins (38) in a single season in program history.
She boasts a singles winning percentage of .923 in dual matches this season.
The sophomore was named SEC Player of the Year, the first player to win the award in program history.
Stoiana earned All-SEC First Team honors for her performance in conference play.
She was awarded SEC Player of the Week honors seven times this season: Feb. 1, March 1, March 8, March 29, April 5, April 12 and April 18.

SALMA EWING

Ewing has claimed 16 singles wins since joining the Aggies ahead of the dual match season.
She holds a seven-match win streak entering the tournament.
The graduate was awarded All-SEC Second Team honors.
Ewing has a plethora of NCAA Singles Tournament experience, qualifying four times, and reaching the Round of 16 last season.

JAYCI GOLDSMITH/SALMA EWING

Goldsmith/Ewing lead the Maroon & White with 23 dual match doubles wins.
The pair held a five-match win streak earlier in the season and defeated two ranked teams during that run.
The duo answered the call when moving up to play court 1 doubles, winning 14 matches when headlining A&M in doubles.
Jayci Goldsmith broke the program record for career doubles wins with 116 now in her career.
The duo earned SEC All-Tournament Team Honors.

FOLLOW THE AGGIES

Visit 12thman.com for more information on Texas A&M women’s tennis. Fans can keep up to date with the A&M women’s tennis team on Facebook, Instagram, and on Twitter by following @AggieWTEN.