The Aggie men’s tennis team dropped their second straight game against Ohio State in a rematch Friday night — yet rebounded with a 4-2 road victory against Illinois Sunday.
The doubles group of Aggie seniors Harrison Adams and Shane Vinsant were defeated 6-2 by the Buckeyes. By the same score, the Buckeyes handed Aggie junior Max Lunkin and sophomore Jordi Arconada the Aggies’ second loss.
In singles, no Aggie was able to get on the scoreboard — suffering a 4-0 loss.
Sunday afternoon against Illinois was just third time A&M dropped its doubles point in 14 matches this season. The Illini won courts two and three over Aggies Max Lunki and Jordi Arconada as well as the pair of Harrison Adams and AJ Catanzariti.
At the start of singles play, Illinois claimed their second point. It did not take long for Aggies Jason Withrow and AJ Catanzariti to even out the match at one point apiece.
Moments later, Harrison Adams earned A&M its third point then sophomore Arthur Rinderknech sealed the 4-2 win for the Aggies.
The Aggie women didn’t nearly have as much trouble this weekend as the men at the Mitchell Tennis Center.
Led by senior Anna Mamalat and junior Rutuja Bhosale, A&M trounced Stephen F. Austin 7-0.
A strong partnership and communication was the secret between Mamalat and Bhosale.
“Our energy and communication is really well on the court, we’ve played with each other for a while now and we’ve always played well,” Mamalat said.
The second court in doubles was played for the first time by senior Aggie Ines Deheza and Domenica Gonzalez. This match remained unfinished after A&M clinched on the board 1-0.
“This was the first time we’ve played doubles together so we’re going to try and improve and to get to know each other very well,” Gonzalez said.
At the beginning of singles play, A&M was automatically given a 3-0 lead as SFA forfeited two single matches.
All singles matches were won by A&M in straight sets en route to the 7-0 shutout.
Mamalat looked forward to the challenge that their next opponent, Baylor, will present.
“Baylor is obviously a really good team they’re tough, competitive so, and the SEC is tough as well so it’ll prepare us for that,” Mamalat said.
The women’s tennis team will be back at the Mitchell Tennis center this Wednesday Feb. 24 to take on Baylor University at 4pm.
