It was Senior Day for both Aggie tennis teams, and the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center was the sight of a triple-header on Friday afternoon. The No. 11 men’s tennis team had two matches while the No.19 women’s team had a big conference fight against LSU.
Abilene Christian first stepped into town and took a swing at the No. 11 Aggies. The Wildcats had a single chance to put themselves on the board when they defeated the Aggie doubles group of Aleksandre Bakshi and Jackson Withrow. After the rest of the action played out, ACU did not put up much of a fight against A&M.
Through singles, all Aggies claimed wins except for junior James Martell, who fell to ACU’s Hunter Holman following a ten-point tiebreaker. A&M did not allow the Wildcats to get any closer than two sets, which left the final score at 5-1 Aggies.
Head coach Steve Denton said he was impressed with how his team played.
“I was very pleased with how our guys were able to take care of business,” Denton said. “ACU is a good team, they got a lot of good players.”
The Aggie men’s tennis team got a their first victory on the day and then looked for a second a couple of hours later.
In the second match of this triple-header, the No. 19 Aggie women’s tennis team had their own shot against the No. 18 LSU Tigers. Texas A&M was able to show its potential by beating the conference foe in sweep fashion.
The doubles point was a big part in the victory for the Aggies, which allowed them to get ahead 1-0. Both court wins for the Aggies were left at a final score of 6-4 while Ines Deheza and Saska Gavrilovska played in the only court that was abandoned.
“It was a tricky one, the doubles was pretty close. We had a rough start at the beginning,” women’s tennis head coach Mark Weaver said. “We lost the first eleven points of the doubles, so it was a bit of a strange one. Big credit to the girls that overcame that.”
Following doubles, singles play was also a big part of the Aggies’ success. Rutuja Bhosale was the first to finish, followed by an impressive win by Saska Gavrilovska. Gavrilovska, ranked No. 32 in singles, was able to defeat her opponent in two sets, 7-5 each. Rachel Pierson later won her match and was the last point in the sweep win for A&M 4-0.
The women’s final 2016 SEC record moved to one game above .500 at 7-6.
“I couldn’t be more delighted with the girls,” Weaver said. “We’ve truly made a little bit of progress inch by inch, week by week and we are starting to show our true colors of how good of a team we really are.”
After the mid-day intermission, the time turned to six o’clock and the Mitchell Center had its taste of the last match on Friday evening.
The No. 11 Aggies men’s tennis team came back and competed in their conference match.
LSU made it an interesting final game by taking away the doubles point against the Aggies. The Aggies have had a solid record claiming the doubles points in each of their matches since mid March. The Tigers then controlled the first, 1-0.
In singles, A&M quickly tied it up after a win by Harrison Adams. Max Lunkin was able to clinch the win for the Aggies at 4-1 before the remaining matches played out. LSU did scratch one more against A&M, but the final score was in favor of the Aggies 5-2.
The Aggie men improved their regular 2016 SEC record to 8-4 and now wait for the SEC tournament in South Carolina next week.
“We’re the defending champions the last two years,” Denton said. “While we didn’t win the regular season, we tend to peak at this time of the year. I’m liking what I’m seeing from this team.”
