In the first match of a Tuesday afternoon doubleheader on March 14, Texas A&M scratched Abilene Christian on the tennis court in convincing fashion, 6-1.
Before the match, A&M was coming off a road weekend split in conference play, falling to No. 9 Georgia before defeating No. 18 Mississippi State. The Aggies, 8-7 on the season, were able to defeat the Wildcats while continuing to get their players more game action as SEC play ramps up. With the win, the maroon and white increased its record to 7-0 all-time against the Abilene Christian.
Earlier in the day, the ITA announced the Aggies moved up 12 spots in the rankings, coming in at No. 27 in the nation.
A&M began the match by claiming the doubles point in straight sets, 2-0.
On Court 1, the doubles pair of senior UCF transfer Trey Hilderbrand and senior Noah Schachter defeated the ACU doubles pair of junior Dario Kmet and sophomore Cesar Barranquero, 6-4. Schachter and Hilderbrand went back and forth with their opposition, holding leads of 2-1, 3-2, 4-3 and 5-4 before claiming victory.
The duo of Schachter and Hilderbrand increased their doubles win streak to seven-straight while claiming its team-high tenth doubles victory.
A&M claimed victory on Court 2 as well, with the doubles pair of juniors Pierce Rollins and Kenner Taylor drubbing the Wildcat pair of sophomore Daniel Morozov and junior Mihaly Deli. Rollins and Taylor won four of the first five sets on route to a 6-3 triumph.
Court 3’s match went unfinished with the A&M pair of junior Matthis Ross and sophomore Stefan Storch tied 3-3 with the ACU pair of senior Savan Chhabra and freshman Ethan Scribner.
Moving on to singles play, the domination on the court continued for the maroon and white, winning on five of the six courts.
Four of the five wins for the Aggies came in straight sets with Hilderbrand pulling out a close match on Court 1, sophomore Luke Casper winning on Court 3, sophomore JC Roddick dominating on Court 5 and Taylor claiming Court 6.
Junior Rahul Dhokia faced a tougher time than his other victorious teammates, as he dropped the first set 6-4 before responding with a 7-6 win in Set 2 and then winning the tiebreaker set.
The only setback for the Aggies came on Court 2 in singles play, with Ross losing in three sets.
Game 2 of the doubleheader will be at 6 p.m. as A&M takes on Tulsa before continuing its conference season Saturday, March 18, at Arkansas at 1 p.m.