COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Texas A&M achieved an all-time record-high No. 3 in the final team national rankings published last week by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, and today the Aggies completed an impressive trifecta with record highs in both the singles and doubles final national rankings, as announced by the ITA.
Senior Cristina Sanchez-Quintanar is No. 5 in the nation in the ITA final singles rankings, bettering A&M’s previous record of No. 6, which she set in 2012.
Freshman Stefania Hristov and junior Cristina Stancu are No. 17 in the nation in doubles, breaking the previous school record of No. 18 set last year by Sanchez-Quintanar and Wen Sun.
Senior Nazari Urbina and Stancu also are listed in the final national singles rankings, coming in at No. 39 and No. 63, respectively. Sanchez-Quintanar and Wen are No. 50 in the final ITA national doubles rankings.
Texas A&M’s 2013 squad becomes the third Aggie team to finish No. 1 In the final ITA Texas Region rankings, also released today. A&M previously accomplished the feat in both 2003 and 2004.
Sanchez-Quintanar is No. 1 in the final ITA Texas Region singles rankings for the second consecutive year. Former Texas A&M All-American Jessica Roland is the only other Aggie to receive top billing in the final region rankings, achieving the No. 1 distinction in 2004.
Urbina is listed sixth and Stancu is eighth in the region singles rankings. In addition, freshman standout Ines Deheza garnered a No. 18 region ranking in singles.
In doubles, Hristov and Stancu are No. 2 in the final Texas Region rankings, and the duo of Sanchez-Quintanar and Wen is No. 6.
Under the direction of second-year head coach Howard Joffe and assistant coach Mark Weaver, the 2013 Aggies produced the most successful season in school history, including a first-ever appearance in the NCAA Championship finals, where the Aggies narrowly fell, 4-3, to 17-time national champion Stanford. A&M, which had only once reached the Round of 16 going into the 2013 campaign, finished 26-4, a record for most wins. In addition, A&M’s No. 3 final ranking is an all-time high, crushing the previous record-high final ranking of No. 15 which had stood since 1986.
Sanchez-Quintanar, who became A&M’s first two-time All-American in women’s tennis after receiving a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Singles Championship, finished the season 41-9, one shy of the A&M all-time record. She completed her stellar two year career with a school-record .843 winning percentage (81-15) in singles, obliterating the previous record of .765 set by Morgan Frank (2008-11).
Urbina, who climbed 13 spots since the previous May 2 rankings to a personal season-high No. 39 final ranking, spearheaded A&M’s historic run to the finals, going 5-0 in NCAA Championship play and garnering NCAA all-tournament team accolades at No. 3 singles. She also made a school-record fourth consecutive appearance in the NCAA Singles Championship and finished her career 102-32 (.731), ranking third in the A&M records for most career victories and third in career winning percentage.
Stancu went 26-14 in singles play, including 17-8 in dual match play, posting a 14-8 mark at the No. 2 line and going 3-0 at No. 3. She and Hristov, who together won the ITA Texas Regional in the fall and were an at-large selection to the NCAA Doubles Championship, finished 22-11 overall in doubles, including 11-7 at the No. 1 line and 2-0 at No. 2. They were named to the NCAA all-tournament team at No. 1 doubles.
Joffe loses three seniors from the record-setting squad, which also won the SEC regular-season title in its first year as a member of the league: Sanchez-Quintanar, Urbina and Sun. In addition to Stancu, Hristov and Deheza, he will return sophomores-to-be Anna Mamalat and Paula Deheza for the 2013-14 season.
Texas A&M in the 2013 ITA final rankings:
Team: No. 3
Singles:
5. Cristina Sanchez Quintanar (Sr., Campo de Criptana, Spain)
39. Nazari Urbina (Sr., Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico)
63. Cristina Stancu (Jr., Constanta, Romania)
Doubles:
17. Stefania Hristov (Fr., Iasi, Romania)/Cristina Stancu
50. Cristina Sanchez-Quintanar/Sun Wen (Sr., Dalian, China)
Texas A&M in the ITA Texas Region final rankings:
Team: No. 1
Singles:
1. Cristina Sanchez-Quintanar
6. Nazari Urbina
8. Cristina Stancu
18. Ines Deheza
Doubles:
2. Stefania Hristov/Cristina Stancu
6. Cristina Sanchez-Quintanar/Wen Sun
For the complete ITA final rankings, go to itatennis.com.
