While many students choose to relax on a holiday, members of the Texas A&M men’s tennis team used their day off to complete a tennis version of a marathon by taking on three different teams in a nine-hour period.
The No. 9 ranked Aggies solidified their place in the top 10 by dominating Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Texas-Pan American and Trinity on Monday at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center. In fact, they almost played to perfection by winning 19 of the 20 matches played.
“It was a really good test physically for the team,” said A&M senior captain Kahled El Dorro. “We expect ourselves to go out there and play as many matches as we’re going to play and compete with them at the same level of intensity whether it is 10 in the morning or 6 p.m.”
The Aggies started the day by sweeping A&M-Corpus Christi 7-0. Despite the sweep, it was a hard-fought battle as All-Americans Lester Cook and Ante Matijevic each needed three sets to win their respective singles matches.
A&M then defeated Texas-Pan American 6-1 before finishing the day with a 6-0 victory over Trinity. No doubles were played against Trinity because the victory was clinched after singles play.
It was literally a team effort as the Aggies were led by established All-Americans and newcomers alike. Prominent among the newcomers was Mohamed Dakki, a senior transfer from Western Michigan who finally made his A&M debut. Dakki, who is from Morocco, experienced problems re-obtaining a visa, which kept him from being eligible until last week.
“I think all of the team is coming together,” Dakki said. “Everyone understands his job. Either they are playing so they have to take care of business on the court, or they are not playing so they have to cheer for the other guys.”
Head Coach Tim Cass is excited about the long-awaited addition of Dakki.
“Mohamed is a very, very good player and an accomplished player,” Cass said. “He gives us some maturity and some options in our lineup.”
While the victories Monday were impressive, the competition will undoubtedly increase this weekend as the Aggies travel to No. 45 ranked Notre Dame on Friday and then face the defending national champion and No. 1 ranked Illinois on Saturday.
El Dorro and the Aggies are not fazed by the competition ahead.
“That’s last year. This year they (Illinois) aren’t anything,” El Dorro said.
“Obviously they’re a great team and I’m not trying to take anything away from them, but that’s last year and we’re playing this year and we’re looking forward to something special.”