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COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Twin sisters Maria Ines and Maria
Paula Deheza have signed to play women's tennis at Texas A&M, Aggie
second-year head coach Howard Joffe announced.
The heralded duo from Santa Cruz, Bolivia, will join the
Aggies in January and bolster an already talented lineup.
"Both young ladies are top international tennis players and
fabulous students who possess character and smarts of the highest caliber,"
Joffe said. "Their inclusion in our group is a coach's dream."
Maria Ines has been ranked as high as No. 9 in the world in
the International Tennis Federation (ITF) junior world singles rankings. She
has competed in the junior division at the U.S. Open, the French Open and
earlier this year reached the round of 16 in doubles at Wimbledon. In addition,
Maria Ines won both the singles and doubles titles at the ITF Inka Bowl (Peru)
and the ITF Copa Coldeportes (Columbia).
Maria Paula has been as high No. 60 in the ITF junior world rankings.
In 2011, she competed at the U.S. Open and partnered with Maria Ines to advance to the
round of 32 in doubles. Maria Paula was the winner of the 2011 South American Junior
Championships, as well as the doubles winner at the Le Pont Des Generations
Junior International in France. She was the runner-up in singles at both the Le
Pont Des Generations Junior International and the Mondial Paris Cadet in Paris,
France.
The twins, who represented Bolivia at the 2011 Federation
Cup, are second-generation Aggies and will be joining another sister in College
Station when they arrive for the spring season.
"The recruitment of Maria Paula and Maria Ines proves the
old adage that it is often better to be lucky than good," Joffe said. "The
twins' story is a true Texas A&M gem. Rafael Deheza, the twins' father, got
his degree from Aggieland, and their older sister, Leni, is currently studying
engineering here at A&M. I am enormously grateful to the Deheza family for
trusting us with the twins."
A&M opens the spring season January 20th at
Rice.
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