It has been said countless times that success is built through adversity.
The No. 12 ranked Texas A&M men’s tennis team appeared to get their first taste of that adversity this season as they escaped USF by a score of 4-3 on Saturday, Feb. 12.
The Bulls struck early in doubles play when USF junior Sergio Gomez Monteza and sophomore Alvin Tudorica defeated A&M sophomore Raphael Perot and freshman Guilio Perego on Court 3. Following an A&M victory on Court 2, evening doubles play, the USF duo of junior Rithvik Bollipalli and sophomore Bruno Oliveira shocked the No. 27 ranked duo of juniors Austin Abbrat and Noah Schacter.
Not only were the Aggies trailing for the first time this season, they had also dropped doubles play for the first time all year.
This feeling of playing from behind would not last long for the maroon and white, as A&M would go on to secure four-straight victories in singles. A&M junior Guido Marson and Perego struck first with wins over Oliveira and Tudorica, giving the Aggies a 2-1 lead.
Back in his home state, Schacter was able to recover from the doubles loss by defeating No. 96 junior Chase Furguson. Riding the current hot streak for the Aggies, Perot would issue the final blow by overpowering USF junior Antonio Muniz to secure the win for A&M. Even with the team match now out of reach, the Bulls rallied to win the final two matches of the day.
Despite facing a relentless USF team, the Aggies were able to secure the victory 4-3. This win proved to be the most challenging yet for the Aggies as they allowed more points than they had all year. Coming into the matchup against the Bulls, A&M had only lost five matchups in singles and doubles play this season. They dropped four against USF.
A&M coach Steve Denton commended his team on battling back against a tough USF team following the 1-0 deficit.
“Nothing was easy today. We had a tough doubles point where we had a match point or two. I thought the guys responded with great energy in the singles,” Denton told 12thman.com. “It was great to see Noah [Schachter] come home and play so well. We know that was not easy to do, there is a tendency to get too emotional, but he was very solid today. I also thought Raphael [Perot] stepped up and played very well. He was super aggressive, which is how I want him to play. This was a solid road win for our team.”
The maroon and white have now improved to 5-0 on the season, including ranked wins over No. 23 UCLA and No. 12 Arizona. In their final match before heading to Seattle for ITA indoors, the Aggies return to action against in-state rival Texas Tech on Feb. 15.