Texas A&M Women Claim Final Four Spot with Third Set Tiebreaker Win Early Saturday Morning, Face Host Georgia in Semifinals; Auburn and Ohio State Complete Final Four

©Colette Lewis--
Athens GA--

When the digital scoreboard at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex went from 11:59 p.m. to midnight, the fourth semifinalist of the NCAA Division I women's team championships had yet to be decided. 

North Carolina's Anna Frey and Texas A&M's Violeta Martinez were still four games away afrom the tiebreaker that would ultimately determine who would meet defending champion Georgia less than 18 hours later, and with both players receiving medical attention on changeovers for cramping, the tension rose with every point. Martinez, who had already had and lost a team match point an hour earlier in the second set, put that disappointment aside, emerging witha 7-5, 5-7, 7-6(5) victory exactly four hours after the match began.

Head coach Mark Weaver, who has led the Aggie program since 2015, earning its first NCAA title in 2024, was effusive in his praise of the effort from both teams.

"What an exciting match, the level of play was so high from both teams; unfortunately there had to be a winner and there had to be a loser," said Weaver, who has been on the coaching staff at A&M since 1999. "Truly one of the most exciting matches I've ever been a part of; it might be the most exciting match I've ever been a part of. You couldn't ask for more drama out there, high level tennis, girls battling like warriors out there, both struggling with cramps....it truly was one for the ages."

No. 5 seed North Carolina took the doubles point in a tiebreaker, with Reese Brantmeier and Alanis Hamilton beating Lucciana Perez and Mia Kupres 7-6(1) at line 1 after Texas A&M had taken line 2 and North Carolina had won at line 3.

The Tar Heels made it 2-0 with a 6-2, 6-2 win by Ange Oby Kajuru over Mia Kupres at line 2, but Texas A&M countered with the next two points. Lucciana Perez continued her undefeated dual match season, running her record to 27-0 with a 6-3, 6-1 win over 2025 NCAA singles champion Brantmeier at line 1. Ilinca Amariei tied the score with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Tatum Evans, and 15 minutes later, as the scores of fans bundled up against the evening chill, the Aggies' Lexington Reed made it 3-2 with a 6-4, 7-5 win over Maddy Zampardo at line 4.

Texas A&M's Daria Smetannikov had forced a third set in her match with Thea Rabman at line 6, but when Martinez couldn't serve out the match at 7-5, 5-3 and failed to convert her match point on a deciding point with Frey serving in the next game, the Tar Heels still had life.

Martinez refused to let the disappointment of losing that one point alter her mental state.

"It was definitely difficult when I lost that match point, but I couldn't let it affect the next point, the next games," said the senior, who transferred after three years at Illinois prior to the season. "If I held on to that match point I don't think I would have made it out of the match winning. I wanted to stay in the present every single point, try my absolute hardest, and it paid off."

Up 5-3 and serving in the tiebreaker, Martinez made a rare unforced error and Frey tied the score at 5 with a good first serve that Martinez could not return. But it was Frey's turn to make an unforced error to give Martinez her second match point, and when Frey's forehand sailed long, the Aggies were back in the Final Four.

"It's past all of our bedtimes, at least it's past mine, but we'll have to try to get some sleep," Weaver said. "But if you can't get fired up to play the Georgia Bulldogs here in Athens, you might have something wrong with you. It's going to be a great crowd, great electricity, what a fun college environment it is here. We've been in the finals against them in each of the last two years, so why not just do it in the semifinals this year."

Texas A&M[4] 4 North Carolina[5] 3

Doubles:

1. Reese Brantmeier and Alanis Hamilton(UNC) d. Lucciana Perez and Mia Kupres(TAMU) 7-6(1)

2. Violeta Martinez and Ilinca Amariei(TAMU) d. Maddy Zampardo and Susanna Maltby(UNC) 6-4

3. Tatum Evans and Ange Oby Kajuru(UNC) d. Daria Smetannikov and Lexington Reed(TAMU) 6-2

Order of finish: 3, 2, 1

Singles:

1. Lucciana Perez(TAMU) d. Reese Brantmeier(UNC) 6-3, 6-1

2. Ange Oby Kajuru(UNC) d. Mia Kupres(TAMU) 6-2, 6-2

3. Ilinca Amariei(TAMU) d. Tatum Evans(UNC) 6-3, 6-2

4. Lexington Reed(TAMU) d. Maddy Zampardo(UNC) 6-4, 7-5

5. Violeta Martinez(TAMU) d. Anna Frey(UNC) 7-5, 5-7, 7-6(5)

6. Thea Rabman(UNC) d. Daria Smetannikov(TAMU) 6-3, 4-6, 6-3

Order of finish: 2, 1, 3, 4, 6, 5

In the other women's quarterfinals Friday, the scores may imply otherwise, but all were close. And none of the women's Division I matches this weekend at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex are likely to have a score as misleading as No. 2 seed Auburn's 4-1 win over No. 10 seed LSU in the first match of the day.

Auburn came from a break down at line 2 doubles to clinch the doubles point, with LSU winning at line 1 and Auburn at line 3.

But if LSU was disappointed, there was no sign of it, as they came out for singles competing on every court, and by the time all first sets were completed, the Tigers had five of them, leaving Auburn with just one. 

Auburn head coach Jordan Szabo admitted he was wasn't sure his team could rebound from that uninspired start.

"You probably don't want to know what was going through my mind," Szabo told Cracked Racquets' Alex Gruskin. "I was thinking are we going home today or tomorrow. No, we have a tremendous group and we've been talking all year long, it's not about playing your best tennis, it's just finding a way to hang in there and respond. I knew if we could just get a couple second sets on the board, we'd be really tough down the stretch."

Auburn responded by getting splits at courts 3, 4, 5 and 6, and getting the second point, with Ekaterina Khayrutdinova closing out the only match that Auburn could win in straight sets. 

Angella Okutoyi made it 3-0 Auburn with a 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 win over Ella McDonald at line 3, just before Cadence Brace earned LSU's lone point with a hard-earned 6-3, 7-5 win over DJ Bennett at 1. Bennett had trailed 4-0 in the second set before winning the next five games, but she couldn't force a third set.

All attention then turned to courts 4, 5, and 6, called the pit at Georgia, with all three matches in third sets. 

Szabo had chosen to pull Merna Refaat at line 4 for strategic reasons, moving Ashton Bowers and Ava Esposito up a spot to avoid the same matchups they'd had in Auburns 4-3 win over LSU in the SEC conference tournament final. But that left the same matchup at line 6, with freshman Eva Ionescu facing Kinaa Graham.

Ionescu was up a break in the third set, but was unable to serve it out at 5-4, with Graham breaking at love. Ionescu broke Graham at love in the next game, giving herself a second chance to end it, but at 0-30, a third straight break seemed imminent. That's when Ionescu channeled her performance in the third set tiebreaker she won from Graham at the SEC tournament, winning four straight points to send Auburn into its first Final Four.

Ionescu admitted that the stress today was a bit different from that SEC final, where her match was the lone three-setter with the score 3-3 and a full set yet to play.

"For sure it wasn't as much pressure as the SEC final, because Ashton and Ava were still playing, still in the match," said the 18-year-old from Romania, who joined Auburn in January. "I saw that Angie won the match (for the third point), and I said, we need to win this now and prepare for tomorrow, and I did it."

Szabo said that Auburn's depth is a luxury he can't be afraid to utilize.

"Merna's been battling her back since February, but all of our players and I'm sure every player here has got some things, but it was definitely a strategic thing," Szabo said. "I anticipate she'll be back in tomorrow. We lost those matches at 4 and 5 last time...and this made sense to me so I'm just trying to trust my gut, learn as we go. When you've got so many good players, you have to put faith that your players. Everyone is ready to go all the time and whoever we put out there, we expect they will find a way to win."

Auburn[[2] 4 LSU[1] 1

Doubles:

1. Cadence Brace and Kayla Cross(LSU) d. Ava Esposito and DJ Bennett(AUB) 6-4

2. Angella Okutoyi and Merna Refaat(AUB) d. Kenna Erickson and Ella McDonald(LSU) 6-4

3. Ekaterina Khayrutdinova and Ashton Bowers(AUB) d. Carolina Kuhl and Addison Lanton(LSU) 6-3

Order of finish: 3, 1, 2

Singles:

1. Cadence Brace(LSU) d. DJ Bennett(AUB) 6-3, 7-5 

2. Ekaterina Khayrutdinova(AUB) d. Kayla Cross(LSU) 7-6(4), 6-4

3. Angella Okutoyi(AUB) d. Ella McDonald(LSU) 1-6, 6-4, 6-4

4. Addison Lanton(LSU) v Ashton Bowers(AUB) 3-6, 7-5, 4-1 unf.

5. Carolina Kuhl(LSU) v Ava Esposito(AUB) 7-5, 6-7(3), 2-2 unf.

6. Eva Ionescu(AUB) d. Kinaa Graham(LSU) 4-6, 6-0, 7-5

Order of finish: 2, 3, 1, 6

In the second quarterfinal, No. 3 seed Ohio State looked to be cruising to a 4-0 win over Pepperdine in a tidy two and a half hours, and while that was the final score, it got messy for the Buckeyes.

Ohio State won the doubles point with wins at lines 1 and 3, with Pepperdine taking line 2.

The Waves, who had beaten Ohio State 4-0 in March in Malibu, took first sets at lines 5 and 6, but the Buckeyes were dominant at the top three courts and also had a first set at 4. 

Ohio State's Luciana Perry at line 2 and Sophia Cisse-Ignatiev at line 3 posted their points, with Teah Chavez at line 1 holding four match points against Ziva Falkner with Falkner serving at 2-6, 3-5 0-40. Then the wheels came off for Chavez, as she made four errors to squander those team match points, and lost another on a deciding point with Chavez serving at 5-4. 

When the smoke cleared, Chavez had lost five straight games, with Falkner winning forcing the third set playing solid, error-free tennis while Chavez continued misfire on her forehand. 

Fortunately for Ohio State, Nao Nishino at line 5 and Alessia Cau at line 6 had forced third sets, and Nishino was up 3-0 in the third over Duru Soke. Pepperdine earned a split at line 4 and Chavez went down 3-1 in the third in against Falkner, and when Nishino lost three straight games, the Waves had hope.

Nishino knew that she had to bear down once she saw Chavez struggling to close her match at 1.

"I was very aware, I always look at the scoreboard," said the sophomore from Japan. "I knew it wasn't going her way after she lost 5-3 and it went to 5-4. So I had to reset, but I was very aware. I was just telling myself to play my game, to be aggressive. She's a really good player and I kind of played her game in the first set. I was telling myself to focus on myself and play my game and everything will be fine."

Nishino gained the advantage by breaking at 4-all and took a 40-15 lead, giving the Buckeyes their sixth and seventh team match points. Those too came and went, with Soke hitting two big forehands, one on the far sideline, to save them. On the deciding point, Nishino made her first serve and came up with a big forehand of her own to force an error, posting a 1-6, 6-2, 6-4 win to send Ohio State into the semifinals for the first time since 2017.

Although there are no seniors in the lineup, head coach Melissa Schaub cited the experience of the juniors that were at the 1, 2, 4 and 6  positions today.

"With four juniors out there today competing for us, and a sophomore and a freshman, leadership is very strong on this team," Schaub said. "They're definitely a player-led team and I'm really proud of how they fight and how they compete, and I think they're a good representation of college tennis."

Ohio State[3] 4 Pepperdine[11] 0

Doubles:

1. Flora Johnson and Luciana Perry(OSU) d. Ziva Falkner and Sonja Zhiyenbayeva(PEPP) 6-1

2. Chantal Sauvant and Anastasiia Grechkina(PEPP) d. Hephzibah Oluwadare and Teah Chavez(OSU) 6-2

3. Sophia Cisse-Ignatiev and Audrey Spencer(OSU) d. Duru Soke and Shihomi Leong(PEPP) 6-4

Order of finish: 1, 2, 3

Singles:

1. Ziva Falkner(PEPP) v Teah Chavez(OSU) 3-6, 7-5, 4-2 unf.

2. Luciana Perry(OSU) d. Sonja Zhiyenbayeva(PEPP) 6-1, 7-6(2)

3. Sophia Cisse-Ignatiev(OSU) d. Antastasiia Grechkina(PEPP) 6-2, 6-4

4. Chantal Sauvant(PEPP) v Audrey Spencer(OSU) 3-6, 6-2, 4-0 unf.

5. Nao Nishino(OSU) v Duru Soke(PEPP) 1-6, 6-2, 6-4

6. Alexia Harmon(PEPP) v Alessia Cau(OSU) 6-0, 5-7, 4-3 unf.

Order of finish: 2, 3, 6

The Dan Magill Tennis Complex really got rocking for the third quarterfinal of the day, with perfect weather drawing more than 2000 fans to see the Georgia Bulldogs continue their title defense on their home courts against No. 8 seeds North Carolina State.

The top seeds got off to good start in doubles, with a quick win at line 1 by Anastasiia Lopata and Patricija Paukstyte over the 2025 NCAA doubles champions Victoria Osuigwe and Gabrriella Broadfoot keeping the crowd in their buoyant Friday Happy Hour mood. North Carolina State took a lead at line 2, but Emma Dong and Anastasiia Gureva closed out the point with a 6-4 win at line 3 over Mia Slama and Lavinia Tanasie.

North Carolina State quickly put up three first sets in singles however, and tied the score at 1 with Osuigwe defeating Sofia Rojas at line 5 6-3, 6-2. 

Georgia retook the lead with Lopata beating Mia Slama 6-4, 6-2 at line 1, with the 2024 spring NCAA singles finalist on top of her game in front of the home crowd. And once Mert and Deniz Dilek forced third sets on lines 2 and 3, the die was cast, with a race to the fourth point at lines 3 and 6 with Georgia having big leads on both.  It was Dilek who closed it out, beating Broadfoot 4-6, 7-5, 6-1, and she gave all the credit to the crowd.

"“As a freshman, having the loud crowd with me is the best experience ever," said the 19-year-old from Turkey. "I try to be my best and try to use the crowd as well. Playing in this environment is the best thing ever. There’s nothing else like this at any other school, and I’m very grateful I get to play here every day with my teammates, who are like family.”

Head coach Drake Bernstein, who played for NCAA semifinalist Georgia here in Athens in 2010, knows the energy the hometown fans provide.

"I don't know the seating capacity now compared to what it used to be," Bernstein said, referring to the renovations made to the outdoor courts in 2020. "But [tonight], that was special. Throughout the regular season even, we're having fantastic turnouts here and it just provides a great platform for college tennis in a time when college tennis is trying to find its way. It's awesome to be able to do it in front of a couple of thousand. Tonight I would say ranks up there with all them."

Georgia[1] 4 NC State[8] 1

Doubles:

1. Anastasiia Lopata and Patricija Paukstyte(UGA) d. Gabriella Broadfoot and Victoria Osuigwe(NCST)

6-2

2. Jasmine Conway and Anna Zyryanova(NCST) v Deniz Dilek and Aysegul Mert(UGA) 5-3, unf.

3. Emma Dong and Anastasiia Gureva(UGA) d. Mia Slama and Lavinia Tanasie(NCST) 6-4

Order of finish: 1, 3

Singles:

1. Anastasiia Lopata(UGA) d. Mia Slama(NCST) 6-4, 6-2

2. Aysegul Mert(UGA) d. Anna Zyryanova(NCST) 2-6, 6-3, 6-2

3. Deniz Dilek(UGA) d. Gabriella Broadfoot(NCST) 4-6, 7-5, 6-1

4. Emma Dong(UGA) v Lavinia Tanasie(NCST) 7-5, 6-6, unf. 

5. Victoria Osuigwe(NCST) d. Sofia Rojas(UGA) 6-3, 6-2

6. Patricija Paukstyte(UGA) v Jasmine Conway(NCST) 6-4, 3-6, 5-0 unf.

Order of finish: 5, 1, 2, 3

Saturday's schedule begins with the two men's semifinals, with Texas and TCU facing off at 10 a.m. and Wake Forest and Virginia slated to start at 1 p.m. The Auburn and Ohio State women will play at 4 p.m., with Georgia and Texas A&M scheduled for a 7 p.m. start.

The NCAA finals tournament page is here; live scoring is provided by iOnCourt, with the men's link here and the women's link here.

All matches are being streamed on ESPN+(subscription required). Jill Craybas and Kevin Skinner will be providing commentary for the women's matches, with Sam Gore and Luke Jensen calling the men's matches.