The Mitchell Tennis Center held one of its biggest crowds of the season on March 9 for the second game of a double header, as Texas A&M men’s tennis hosted the University of Texas at Arlington at 1 p.m., followed by No. 15 Texas at 6 p.m.
The intensity was high for the Aggies, and every point was played like match point. This follows a disappointing run at the ITA Indoor Championships, but this newly lit fire was fueled by one thing and one thing only.
Things are different when the Longhorns come to town.
In the first match of the day against UTA, A&M put its foot on the gas and never took it off, shutting out the Mavericks 7-0.
After securing the doubles point, the maroon and white went on to win all six matches of singles play. Despite solid performances from the whole team, A&M sophomore Matthis Ross shined, as he was able to completely shut out UTA freshman Anton Shepp in straight sets.
The Aggies were headed into the 6 p.m. matchup against Texas with confidence, seeking to snap a two-match losing streak.
All three matches of doubles play came down to the wire, leaving fans unsure of which court deserved their full attention. The A&M duo of Ross and freshman Stefan Storch escaped with the first victory on Court 2. This was closely followed by junior Noah Schachter and sophomore Kenner Taylor claiming a win on the top court to give A&M an early 1-0 advantage.
Heading into singles, minor errors began to hurt the Aggies. Despite winning four first sets out of six, A&M allowed comebacks on three of those courts. The Longhorns rallied for four-straight victories to secure the match behind points from senior Richard Ciamarra and sophomores Siem Woldeab, Eliot Spizzirri and Micah Braswell. The Aggies were able to win the final two matches of the day with points from freshmen Giulio Perego and Luke Casper, but ultimately it wasn’t enough as the Longhorns walked away with the 4-3 victory.
This is a feeling the Aggies are familiar with, as they fell to Texas last season by the exact same score.
“The momentum we carried into singles was really good, but we are still learning as a team. I do not think we are doing a good job in the early part of the second sets. We are giving them an opportunity to steal the momentum from us, and an experienced team like Texas will do that,” Coach Steve Denton told 12thman.com. “Having said that, we still had a chance to win. There is a fine margin, and our guys just did not win those important moments.”
The Aggies look to get back on track Friday, March 11 against Vanderbilt at home.