Gauchos wrap up terrific women’s tennis season with NCAA Tournament 2nd round loss at #2 Texas A&M
Mike Klan
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas.- No. 32 UC Santa Barbara Women’s Tennis team (17-9) battled in their NCAA Tournament second round matchup against reigning national champion No. 2 Texas A&M (27-3) on Saturday, which ultimately ended as a 4-1 Aggies win. After dropping the doubles point, the Gauchos had an admirable showing in singles but could not pull off the upset. They end the year with 17 wins, including a Big West Championship and NCAA Tournament win, one of the most successful seasons in recent program history.
THE MATCHFinal: No. 2 Texas A&M 4, No. 32 UC Santa Barbara 1Records: UC Santa Barbara (17-9), Texas A&M (27-3)
HOW IT HAPPENEDThe hosts won the doubles point in quick fashion. After a 6-0 victory on court three, another 6-2 win on court two gave the Aggies a 1-0 advantage into singles.
Almost simultaneously, Raphaelle Leroux earned a singles point on court four—6-1, 6-3—as Texas A&M won 6-3, 6-1 on court five. Shortly after, the Aggies would claim their third point with a 6-2, 6-4 victory on court two. Dropping the first sets on court one and three via tiebreak, and on court six 6-3, the Gauchos’ backs were against the wall.
They stayed confident and resilient in the remaining matches, though, despite the toughness of their opponents. Katarina Vayser won court six’s second set 7-5, and Tyra Richardson dominated to a 6-1 second set victory on court three. No. 16 Amelia Honer came back from down 5-2 against the Aggies’ No. 1 Mary Stoiana, winning four in a row to flip the score 6-5 in her favor. Unfortunately for the Gauchos, Texas A&M would take the third set on court six to clinch the match, 4-1.
RESULTSDoubles
Mary Stoiana/Mia Kupres (A&M) vs. Amelia Honer/Ali Benedetto (UCSB) 5-2 unfinished
Lexington Reed/Daria Smetannikov (A&M) def. Lucy Lu/Lily Pradkin (UCSB) 6-2
Nicole Khirin/Lucciana Perez (A&M) def. Marie Weissheim/Raphaelle Leroux (UCSB) 6-0
Order of finish: 3, 2
Singles
#1 Mary Stoiana (A&M) vs. #16 Amelia Honer (UCSB) 7-6 (7-1), 5-6 unfinished
#13 Nicole Khirin (A&M) def. Marie Weissheim (UCSB) 6-2, 6-4
Tyra Richardson (UCSB) vs. #67 Mia Kupres (A&M) 6-7 (11-9), 6-1, 3-0 unfinished
Raphaelle Leroux (UCSB) def. #51 Lucciana Perez (A&M) 6-1, 6-3
#109 Daria Smetannikov (A&M) def. Emma Tutoveanu (UCSB) 6-3, 6-1
Lexington Reed (A&M) def. Katarina Vayser (UCSB) 6-3, 5-7, 6-1
Order of finish: 5, 4, 2, 6
IN CONCLUSION…In 2025, UC Santa Barbara Women’s Tennis went undefeated (11-0) against conference opponents on the way to their third Big West Championship of the past five years and fifth of the past nine years. With their win over No. 39 Rice on Friday, the Gauchos reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the third time, also doing so in 2022 and 2016.
Amelia Honer soon will graduate as one of the most, if not the most, decorated Gauchos in program history. With five underclassmen in Santa Barbara’s lineups today, the program looks to be in good hands for the years to come.
(Article courtesy of UCSB Athletics).