The No. 18 Texas A&M men’s tennis team showed why it earned a high rank to kick off the season in its 6-1 win against the Georgia Southern Eagles at the Byers Tennis Complex in Atlanta.
The Aggies brought the brooms out in doubles play as they grabbed a win in all three matches.
The Turkish and the Italian were the first victorious duo from A&M as sophomore Togan Tokac and junior Giulio Perego claimed a 6-3 victory over Georgia Southern’s combo of senior Judson Blair and sophomore Pierre Mouesca. With the win, Tokac and Perego grabbed their second doubles win of the season.
The next team of victorious Fightin’ Farmers was senior Raphael Perot and freshman Tiago Pires. The senior and freshman Frenchman combo showed great chemistry with a 6-3 win against the team of junior Pol del Castillo and sophomore Matthew Mitchell.
The final doubles match of the day also went the way of the Maroon and White as freshman Lathan Skrobarcek and graduate Kenner Taylor got the win with a score of 6-1 versus the pair of juniors Alex Suk and Laurent Julia Calac.
After doubles play, the Aggies led the Eagles, 1-0.
Georgia Southern tied it up, grabbing its first and only point of the day as Del Castillo took care of Tokac 7-6, 6-0. A&M did not wait to reclaim its lead, as redshirt freshman Grant Lothringer defeated Suk in two dominant sets by scores of 6-1, 6-1.
Yet another Aggie underclassman won as freshman Brayden Michna got the point in three sets as he beat Mitchell 6-2, 2-6, 6-3.
Lothringer and Michna were extremely sharp in both their first matches of the season.
Despite dropping a competitive first set, Perego managed to come back and secure yet another point for the Aggies, defeating Blair 4-6, 6-0, 6-3.
The victory by Perego made the score 4-1 in the Aggies favor, securing the win for A&M. The Aggies agreed to play out the remaining matches.
Nothing faltered for A&M as it swept the remaining sets. Perot tangoed with Mouesca before he got the win 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. In the final match of the day, Pires defeated Julia Calac 6-4, 4-6 and 7-5.
“I really liked the energy we showed in doubles,” coach Steve Denton said. “I am proud of Grant, Lathan and Brayden for getting wins in their first college match.”
With a 2-0 record, A&M ‘s next appearance comes at the ITA Kickoff Weekend for the opportunity to advance to the indoor championships. In the first round, it takes on the No. 26 Auburn Tigers at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Georgia on Sunday, Jan. 28.
