Despite a lackluster start in doubles play, the No. 14 Texas A&M men’s tennis team soundly defeated the Abilene Christian Wildcats 6-1 on Tuesday, Feb. 6 at the Mitchell Tennis Center.
A&M is coming off a sweep of the SMU Mustangs on Feb. 2, which gives the Aggies a total score of 13-1 in their past two matches.
A&M and ACU have a one-sided relationship on the tennis court, with the record being 8-0 in favor of the Maroon and White.
ACU could have cared less about the ranking held by the hosts as the Wildcats walked right in and took the doubles point for themselves.
The first winning team of the Wildcats’ junior Benjamin McDonald and sophomore Ethan Scribner, defeating the Aggies’ team of graduate Kenner Taylor and freshman Lathan Skrobarcek, 6-3.
The next winning Wildcats were the Hungarian brother tandem of senior Mihaly Deli and freshman Merse Deli, as they defeated the Aggies’ combination of junior JC Roddick and sophomore Ethan Silva, 6-4. The ACU brothers had quite the outing, proving that blood is indeed thicker than water.
Facing a 1-0 deficit, it was all Aggies from there on as A&M won every remaining match on the day. The first victorious Fightin’ Farmer was the Italian Stallion, junior Giulio Perego over Mihaly Deli, 6-2, 6-2.
Next up in the winning column was No. 93 Luke Casper, who defeated Merse Deli, 6-1, 6-3. Despite the strong showing in doubles play, the brothers from Hungary seemed rather codependent in singles play.
Redshirt freshman Grant Lothringer was the third Aggie to earn a point on the day as he defeated Scribner, 6-0, 6-1. The underclassman earned his second win of the season with his only other appearance coming against the Georgia Southern Eagles on Jan. 25.
Fourth to the finish line on the day was senior Raphael Perot, who defeated junior Daniel Morozov. The French upperclassmen earned his fifth individual victory of the season, giving him the most among members of the Maroon and White.
The final two victorious players for A&M included No. 109 Roddick and freshman Brayden Michna. Roddick defeated senior Dario Kmet, 6-3, 6-4. Roddick’s strong performance in individual play so far this season proves why he earned his preseason ranking.
Michna defeated McDonald, 6-1, 7-5. Like Lothringer, it was just Michna’s second appearance of the season. The underclassmen have done the most with the chances they have been given this season.
With a final score of 6-1, the Aggies moved to 6-0 on the season. Despite the team’s falter of form in doubles play, the performance in singles play got it the win.
“It’s not about adversity, but how we respond, which we certainly did today,” coach Steve Denton said. “We accomplished what we wanted by getting more guys playing time. It was really important for our team going forward.”
The Aggies will be back on the court at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships from Feb. 16-18 in New York City.
