No. 47 Texas A&M men’s tennis geared up for No. 49 UTSA on Saturday, March 4, in what would be its second match of the day after losing a close one to Kentucky 4-3 earlier in the afternoon.
The maroon and white made it a close one, but ended up losing 4-3 to the Roadrunners, making them 4-6 for the season.
The match was a tough one for A&M as it started off hot and was able to capitalize on being warmed up from the morning matchup against Kentucky. However, the fire burned out for the Aggies and they fell apart in the singles matches.
The doubles started off with the Aggies winning their first match of the day 6-1 with juniors Pierce Rollins and Kenner Taylor defeating senior Sebastian Rodriguez and junior Garrett Skelly.
The Aggies lost the next doubles match to the Roadrunners as sophomore Tiago Torres and junior Alan Magadan were able to defeat senior Trey Hilderbrand and sophomore Giulio Perego 6-3.
However, to close out the doubles and capture the doubles point, junior Matthis Ross and sophomore Luke Casper returned the favor for A&M in a 6-4 victory over sophomores Tomas Pinho and Miguel Alonso.
In singles matches the Aggies showed their fatigue, losing four straight to kick off. In the first singles match, Rodriguez defeated Rollins in a quick 6-2, 6-0 sweep that gave UTSA its first point on the board. To follow up on their victory, the Roadrunners won their second singles match with a 6-1, 6-0 sweep, as Pinho defeated Casper.
Court 2 had a close one, but Aggies lost with Madagan defeating Perego in a 6-4, 6-4 sweep. UTSA clinched the win in a tiebreaker where Skelly defeated Hilderbrand 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 on court 5.
To finish off the day, the Aggies stayed strong and put some points on the board. Ross defeated UTSA sophomore Danijal Munminovic 7-5, 6-2 in a sweep.
Court 1 saw Perot defeat Torres in a third set tiebreaker shoot-out with a score of 7-6, 6-3, 1-0.
In an interview with 12thMan.com, coach Steve Denton acknowledged the Aggies’ burnout in the singles match.
“I’ve got to give a lot of credit to UTSA today, they came into the match with a lot of energy,” Denton said. “We had a lot of tired guys, but played a good doubles point. In singles, they played a really energetic and aggressive match against us.”
The Aggies will go on to play South Florida and UT Arlington on Monday, March 6, at the Mitchell Tennis Center before going on a two-match road trip.