The No. 27 Texas A&M mens tennis teams woes continue as they close out the regular season rivalry in the Big 12 against No. 17 Texas with a 4-3 loss in Austin. This loss extends their losing streak to three games, all-coming from 4-3 losses.
In doubles competition, the Aggies (12-12, 1-3 Big 12) dropped two of three courts in order to give the Longhorns the early 1-0 lead.
In court two, junior Niall Angus and senior John Lewis got off to a bad start and couldnt recover against 69th ranked duo juniors Ben Chen and Daniel Whitehead in an 4-8 loss.
In court one, 41st ranked sophomore Junior Ore and freshman Jackson Withrow, after the duo didnt play in the Notre Dame game, lost a close match to 26th ranked junior Chris Camillone and sophomore David Holiner, 7-9.
Although the Longhorns clinched the doubles point, seniors Colin Hoover and Alexis Klegou were able to avoid the sweep for the Aggies as they defeated freshmen Soren Hess-Olesen and Jacoby Lewis in a 9-8 victory.
Coming into singles competition, the Aggies have only won two singles matches in each of their last two games. A&M would split the courts with Texas to lose the final match between their long time rival.
In court one, Ore dropped a close first set to No. 77 Hess-Olesen and couldnt recover from the second set as he lost in two sets, 7-6 and 6-3, giving the Longhorns momentum going forward.
Freshman Jeremy Efferding, winning his last three singles matches, was looking to extend his streak in court four until Holiner took the first set in dominating fashion and then eventually defeating him in two sets, 6-2 and 6-4.
Facing the threat of losing the game, the Aggies showed some resilience by winning the next three courts in order to tie the Lone Star State Showdown at three points apiece.
The rally began in court two as No. 31 Klegou was able to brush off his latest struggles playing in court one and defeated No. 99 Whitehead in two sets, 7-6 and 6-2.
In court five, No. 115 Lewis, after losing his last two matches against Texas Tech and Notre Dame, rebounded back toward his winning ways by edging out freshman Lloyd Glasspool in three sets 4-6, 6-1 and 6-2.
Hoover was the final contributor, in court three, toward the A&M rally as he fell early to sophomore Sudanwa Sitaram in the first set, 2-6, but then regained his composure by winning the next two sets, 7-6 and 6-2, to give the Aggies a chance to pull off a victory on the road.
The final match between Angus and Chen would decide which school would come out of the rivalry on top.
Angus started off shaky as he fell to Chen in the first set, 6-2. He would then bounce back in the second set by edging out Chen, 3-6. The final set was nothing less than dramatic, as both players would tie the match 5-5 until Chen delivered the final two points for the Longhorns in order to give the Aggies their final road game loss.
The Aggie-Longhorn rivalry could resurface itself again this season if they meet each other either in the Big 12 Tournament, April 27-29, or the NCAA National Championship Tournament, starting May 12.
The Aggies return to College Station as they will play their final game of the regular season against No. 28 Baylor on April 18 at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center.