The Texas A&M men’s tennis team traveled to Nashville, Tennessee on Friday, April 7, to take on the Vanderbilt Commodores in another SEC matchup. The No. 21 Aggies entered Music City looking to extend their winning streak to three matches after beating Florida and Rice during their previous homestand. Meanwhile, the Commodores, who scheduled their senior day against the Aggies, were fresh off of a road trip through the state of Alabama, where they split their two matches with Alabama and Auburn.
The Aggies got off to a quick start in the doubles point thanks to an early break by the juniors Raphael Perot and Kenner Taylor. After racing to a 3-0 lead, the duo shut the door on senior Joubert Klopper and graduate Macsen Sisam with a final score of 6-2.
The momentum quickly swung the way of the ‘Dores, though, as the hosts reeled off back-to-back wins on courts 1 and 2. On the first court, Siim Troost and Jeremie Casabon took down seniors Trey Hilderbrand and Noah Schachter 6-4. Meanwhile, on Court 2, freshman Nathan Cox and sophomore Michael Ross dismissed sophomore JC Roddick and junior Giulio Perego in a tiebreaker, 7-6(2). The underclassmen duo’s win on Court 2 handed Vandy the doubles point, putting them up 1-0 heading into singles play.
Despite its strong finish in doubles, Vanderbilt couldn’t keep their momentum early on in singles. A&M coach Steve Denton’s team showed its mental toughness by winning the first set on four of the six match courts. Perot continued his perfect afternoon by leveling the match at 1-1 thanks to his quick 6-3, 6-4 dismissal of Klopper. The two teams then traded wins on Courts 1 and 4, leveling the match again at two apiece.
The Aggies held tough to seal the victory thanks to clutch performances by Hilderbrand and sophomore Luke Casper on Courts 5 and 6, respectively. Casper only needed one break advantage all match to beat Sisam 7-6(3), 6-4. Hilderbrand’s 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 win just moments later sealed the match for the visitors with a final score of 4-2.
“It was a very tough environment to play in today, and it showed in doubles as they [Vanderbilt] claimed the point,” coach Steve Denton said to 12thMan.com. “We flipped the momentum when [senior] Guido [Marson] and Luke [Casper] came back late to win their first sets. I thought we handled the second sets well, and then Trey [Hilderbrand] followed that up clinching the match. It’s always tough to win on the road on your opponent’s senior day, but the guys played well and now it’s time to rest up and get ready to compete on Sunday again.”
Looking ahead, the Aggies will look to extend their winning streak from 3 to 4 and build on their 7-3 conference record when they head down to Oxford, Mississippi to take on Ole Miss in an Easter Sunday showdown. The match will take place at 1 p.m.