Texas A&M women's tennis wins second national championship in three years, defeats Auburn

For the second time in three years, Texas A&M has won the national championship in women’s tennis. The Aggies are now one of just seven women’s tennis programs to win multiple national titles with two, joining Stanford (20), Florida (7), Texas (4), Georgia (3), USC (2) and UCLA (2).

No. 4 seed A&M (28-5) accomplished that feat Sunday night, taking a 4-1 win over No. 2 seed Auburn (37-4) in a national championship clash at the University of Georgia’s Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Ga. It marked the 33rd national title Aggie athletics has claimed in history, while joining A&M volleyball as the second over the 2025-26 seasons.

Aggie senior Daria Smetannikov clinched the national title, securing a 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory over No. 68 Ava Esposito in the No. 6 singles while the Nos. 1 and 2 singles were both in the third set. No. 1 A&M junior Lucciana Perez, who gave the Aggies their first-ever undefeated singles season with a 28-0 record, held a 2-6, 6-2, 4-3 lead over No. 16 DJ Bennett on the top court. No. 50 Aggie senior Mia Kupres tied No. 31 Ekaterina Khairutdinova at 6-7 (2-7), 6-3, 1-1 on the No. 2 court.

The first two doubles matchups were split, with No. 8 Angella Okutoyi/Merna Refaat for Auburn securing a 6-1 edge over No. 35 Violeta Martinez/Ilinca Amariei on the No. 2 court before A&M duo Smetannikov/Lexington Reed took a 6-1 win over Ekaterina Khayrutdinova/Ashton Bowers on the No. 3 court. No. 11 Perez/Kupres delivered the Aggies a point with a 7-6 (7-3) tiebreaker victory over No. 2 Esposito/Bennett on the top court. Then, a lightning delay ensued before the singles matches were completed.

In addition to Smetannikov, No. 106 Reed won the No. 4 singles 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 over Refaat while Martinez took the No. 5 singles 7-5, 6-1 over No. 58 Bowers. No. 55 Okutoyi won 6-2, 6-2 in the No. 3 singles against No. 71 Amariei. 

Smetannikov picked up NCAA Championship Most Outstanding Player accolades Sunday, while joining Perez, Kupres, Reed and Martinez on the All-Tournament Team.

To begin the NCAA Tournament, A&M dropped Quinnipiac (4-0) and Baylor (4-1) at home at the Mitchell Tennis Center. In the Super Regional round, the Aggies claimed a 5-1 victory over USC at home. They advanced to the national championship after taking 4-3 wins over North Carolina and Georgia in the quarterfinals and semifinals at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex, respectively.

Under its 11th-year head coach, Mark Weaver, A&M has made three straight trips to the national championship. The Aggies won their first-ever women’s national title in 2024, securing a 4-1 win over Georgia.