Aggies send Quinnipiac packing with tournament-opening sweep, 4-0

Sometimes, history repeats itself.

In last year's pursuit of a national championship, No. 2 overall seed Texas A&M handled Quinnipiac in the first round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament at the Mitchell Tennis Center.

In 2025, Mark Weaver's No. 2 squad did the same.

The Aggies glided through the first round of postseason with a 4-0 sweep of the Bobcats on Friday morning.

"Overall, I am pleased with the day," Weaver said. "In the NCAA Tournament, regardless of who you are playing, there are those first-round jitters. We worked through all that well.

"I was very pleased with the business-like performance."

A&M jumped in front early as All-SEC selections Nicole Khirin/Lucciana Perez and Mary Stoiana/Mia Kupres secured the doubles point and got the ball rolling heading into singles play.

"Mary and Mia are a great team. They have played together for years," Weaver said. "I felt like their opponents played quite well today. We turned a 2-1 game around."

The Maroon & White continued to roll from there.

All six Aggies won their first set with ease. Kupres earned A&M’s second point with a straight-sets victory over Anagha Shankar (6-0, 6-1).

"I felt really good. I feel like everyone is feeling really excited," Kupres said. "It's the most fun part of the year coming up, and it was a great atmosphere."

Daria Smetannikov and Stoiana quickly followed suit. Almost simultaneously, the veterans took care of business.

Smetannikov's 6-0, 6-1 win finished just a minute before 12-time SEC Player of the Week Stoiana claimed the match by adding to her tally as the Aggies’ career leader in singles wins.

With the second first-round win over Quinnipac in as many years, A&M extended its home court win streak to a ridiculous 69 matches.

"It definitely feels a little bit like déjà vu from last season,” Weaver said. "I actually feel like they improved from last season. Here we are again, and we are looking forward to playing tomorrow."

The Aggies will continue their run through the postseason by hosting UC Santa Barbara in the second round on Saturday at 4 p.m. CT.