Despite being down two points early, No. 12 Texas A&M men’s tennis team mounted an exciting 4-3 comeback victory over No. 25 Oklahoma State.
The Aggies bounced back from a tough loss a few days prior, improving to 11-4 on the season while Oklahoma State falls to 6-4. This marks A&M’s eighth win against an ITA Top-25 team this season.
“Hopefully this will be a confidence builder for the team,” A&M coach Steve Denton told 12thman.com. “Our seniors showed great leadership today by showing the younger guys what it takes to win against a very good team on the road.”
A&M started the match off well in doubles play. Despite a court 1 loss by the No. 48 ranked duo of senior Carlos Aguilar and grad student Bjorn Thomson, the Aggies won the doubles point in their 11th match this year. With senior Hady Habib still out, the junior duo of Noah Schachter and Pranav Kumar got it done again on court 3 with a 6-3 win. They were then followed by sophomore Pierce Rollins and senior Valentin Vacherot on court 2 with a narrow 7-5 victory.
A&M’s 1-0 lead would soon dwindle. The Cowboys racked up wins in the first sets of all six courts. The momentum maintained in Oklahoma State’s favor as they brought in wins on court 3, 5, and 4. With losses from Schachter, Rollins and Thomson, the Aggies trailed 3-1. The Cowboys only needed one more point to win.
Backs against the walls, the team never faltered. Aggies on courts 1, 2 and 6 won their second sets, forcing third sets on all three courts. A&M would have to win all three courts to win the match, a single set dropped would mean a loss.
Court 4 would be the first domino to fall as Rollins earned a 1-6, 7-5, 6-4 victory over OSU’s No. 61 Dominik Kellovsky. A win on court 2 would follow as Aguilar took a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 win over OSU’s No. 86 Henrik Korsgaard. One court remained with the match tied at 3.
The court 1 ranked matchup between A&M’s No. 4 Vacherot and Oklahoma State’s No. 49 Matej Vocel was a back-and-forth affair. The first two sets went to tiebreakers and the third set would determine which team won. Vacherot would piece together a decisive third set for the Aggies, winning 6-7, 7-6, 6-1. For the second time in one week, Vacherot clinched an A&M win in a ranked matchup. The Aggies completed the comeback and would leave Stillwater victorious.
“This just proves that it is never over until you shake your opponent’s hand,” Vacherot told 12thman.com.
The Aggies will have a week to celebrate this win before they face off against TCU. They see the Horned Frogs on Tuesday, March 23 at 6 p.m. in Bryan-College Station. TCU is currently ranked fifth in the nation with a record of 9-3. TCU has matches scheduled against No. 7 Florida as well as SMU before playing the Aggies.