The No. 10 Texas A&M men’s tennis team dominated the No. 27 Vanderbilt Commodores at the Mitchell Tennis Center on Friday, March 29. Despite tough conditions, the Aggies managed to secure a hard-fought 6-1 victory and send the Commodores back on the train with another loss in their luggage.
Things started off strong for the Maroon and White as the team of junior JC Roddick and freshman Lathan Skrobarcek defeated Vanderbilt’s freshman duo of Hugo Coquelin and Danil Panarin, 6-3, on Court 3.
The Commodores answered right back in a fight for the doubles point as the Commodore team of senior Jeremie Casabon and sophomore Nathan Cox took down freshman Tiago Pires and graduate Kenner Taylor, 6-4, on Court 2.
However, to secure the doubles point and a 1-0 lead heading into singles play, the Fightin’ Farmers’ No. 28 team of junior Giulio Perego and sophomore Togan Tokac beat Vandy’s No. 54 duo of fifth-year senior Joubert Klopper and junior Michael Ross, 7-6 (7-5), on Court 1.
Leading 1-0, things fell off the rails for the Commodores as A&M won the next five singles matches. The first victorious Aggie, Tokac defeated Cox in two lopsided sets, 6-2, 6-0, on Court 3.
Next for the Aggies, junior Luke Casper beat the Commodore Coquelin quickly in two sets, 7-5, 6-1, on Court 6. Then, securing the win for A&M, No. 24 Roddick defended his ranking against Klopper in two one-sided sets, 6-2, 6-4, on Court 2. For Roddick, this was the junior’s 11th singles victory of the season.
After securing a 4-0 win the remaining matches played out as follows. Perego beat Ross, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4, on Court 4. This was Perego’s 12th singles victory which makes him the team leader in singles wins.
Next, A&M’s No. 33 senior Raphael Perot took down Vanderbilt’s No. 85 Panarin, 6-1, 7-6 (7-0), on Court 1. However, one bright spot for the Commodores on the day was in the final match as Casabon defeated Pires in three tough sets, 1-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4).
After securing the 6-1 win over their in-conference opponent, the Aggies now hold an overall record of 17 wins and five losses. A&M also boasts an SEC record of 6-2. This hard fought victory at home for A&M makes it the 11th of the season, losing on its home court just once to the No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes.
“We were able to secure the doubles point which I thought kept us in the lead early in the match,” coach Steve Denton said “The team relaxed a little from there and just played tennis, winning the first sets. Vanderbilt did a good job pushing back in the second sets of some of the matches and made it tough on us. Proud of the way we responded there to close out the match. We have a quick turnaround in getting ready at LSU on Sunday.”
The Aggies are next in action on Sunday, March 31, taking on the No. 36 LSU Tigers at the LSU Tennis Complex in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, with first serve set for 1 p.m.
