The No. 8 Texas A&M men’s tennis team came into the Headington Family Tennis Center in Norman, Oklahoma for a highly anticipated top-15 matchup with the No. 11 Oklahoma Sooners. However, the Aggies wound up finding themselves on the wrong side of an upset on Tuesday, April 2, falling to the Sooners 5-2.
The Sooners got off on the strong foot as the team of sophomore Luis Alvarez and freshman Kholo Montsi defeated the Aggie’s combination of junior JC Roddick and freshman Lathan Skrobarcek, 6-2. Roddick and Skrobarcek are still trying to find their chemistry together as this was just their third match together this season.
The Oklahoma freshman duo of Asahi Harazaki and Hank Trondson took down A&M’s familiar French combination of senior Raphael Perot and freshman Tiago Pires to earn the coveted doubles point, 6-2.
Trailing 1-0 and looking for a quick shift in momentum for the Fightin Farmers, junior Luke Casper came to the rescue, as he defeated fifth-year senior Mark Mandlik, 6-1, 6-2.
With the quick turnaround, Aggie faithful might have hoped it was enough to rally the rest of the troops. That was not the case as the Sooners had other plans, winning the next two singles. First up for Oklahoma No. 16 fifth-year senior Alex Martinez defeated A&M’s No. 26 Perot in two sets, 6-2, 7-5.
Then, the Sooner’s Montsi got the upset over the Aggies’ No. 30 Roddick in just two sets, 7-5, 6-2. This upset allowed the Sooners to make it 3-1, and put their foot on the Aggies’ neck in regards to winning the match.
The Maroon and White were down but not out quite yet as sophomore Togan Tokac dropped junior Jordan Hasson in two close sets, 7-6 (9-7), 6-4. This made it 3-2 and gave the Aggies a fighting chance of walking out of Norman with a win.
Again though, the Sooners refused to let the Aggies take the wheel. Oklahoma called game as Alvarez took down junior Giulio Perego in three tough sets, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2. With the match already in hand for the Sooners, the final singles match also went their way as fifth-year senior Justin Schlageter defeated Pires in three sets, 0-6, 7-6 (10-8), 7-6 (7-4).
Despite the box score it was a real back and forth day for these two teams, as the Aggies attempted to shift the momentum a couple times to no avail. In the face of the loss, A&M is still young and coach Steve Denton has high hopes for this team.
“After getting beat in the doubles, we did a good job of responding early in the singles,” Denton said. “We are making progress with a few guys that will make us only better in the end. We have had some hard lessons along the way that we are learning from, and I am confident that as a team, we will figure it out. I really like this team and I believe something special lies ahead.”
The Aggies are back in action Sunday, April 7, as they return home to welcome the Arkansas Razorbacks to the Mitchell Tennis Center for the final SEC home match of the season with first serve set for 1 p.m.
