No. 8 Texas A&M men’s tennis will head into postseason play after a 4-0 sweep of No. 18 Alabama, breaking its two-loss conference streak after celebrating the collegiate careers of four senior players.
Before the match, seniors Bjorn Thomson, Carlos Aguilar, Hady Habib and Valentin Vacherot were recognized for their time spent serving the 12th Man.
To start the day off strong, doubles No. 71 Vacherot and Pierce Rollins beat Alexey Nesterov and Edson Ortiz on court 2 6-3.
Accompanying Vacherot and Rollins, juniors Pranav Kumar and Noah Schachter won 6-4 on court 4 against the Tide’s Marcelo Sepulveda and Zhe Zhou.
The Aggies took reign on five of six courts played in singles coming in with a 1-0 lead against Alabama.
Almost breaking a school record for dual singles won and giving a 2-0 advantage to A&M, No. 5 Vercherot defeated No. 47 Ortiz 6-2, 6-2 on court 1.
On court 5, Rollins faced and toppled Jeremy Gschwendtner 6-1 and 6-3. Rollins’s win gave the Aggies a 3-0 edge over Alabama heading into the last of the match’s singles.
Freshman Raphael Perot brought an end to the high-spirited match, overcoming Alexey Nesterov 6-1, 6-3 on court 6. Perot clenched the maroon and white their final sweep of the preseason.
A&M will head to Fayetteville, Ark., for the SEC Championships on Tuesday, April 20.