Texas A&M women’s tennis has kicked off with an incredible start in 2022, leaving A&M men’s tennis with a high standard to meet. Thus far, the 12th-ranked men’s team has held serve and gotten off to a great 6-0 start of its own with its victory over Texas Tech on Tuesday, Feb. 15.
A&M coach Steve Denton said the team did a great job of fighting through difficult circumstances against Texas Tech.
“We played a solid doubles point to get things started and I thought our team fought very well in tough conditions this afternoon,” Denton said. “It is not fun for anyone when the wind is swirling as it was today. Our team put their heads down and went to work, the match was much more mental than physical today and our guys responded with a very solid effort up and down the line up.”
The maroon and white dominated the doubles part of the match. The pairings of juniors Austin Abbrat and Noah Schachter, the 23rd-ranked duo in the nation, and sophomores Matthis Ross and Pierce Rollins each defeated their Red Raider opponents 6-3 to clinch the matches’ doubles point.
In singles play, A&M continued its strong play against Texas Tech despite the Raiders’ valiant effort to stay in the match.
The Aggies quickly took a 3-0 lead after Schachter and freshman Luke Casper each won their singles matches over their Red Raider counterparts. However, the Red Raiders responded with a point of their own after Rollins was defeated by Texas Tech senior Ilgiz Valiev 6-4, 6-4.
The rest of the singles matches were close.
A three-set victory from No. 116 sophomore Raphael Perot and a 7-5, 7-5 victory from No. 89 Ross put the Aggies on the brink of victory with a 5-1 lead.
A&M clinched the win after No. 105 junior Guido Marson pulled out a 6-4, 7-5 victory to improve to 6-0 on the season.
Next up for A&M is a trip to Seattle to compete in the first round of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association National Team Indoor Championships against No. 2 Tennessee on Friday, Feb. 18. First serve at the Seattle Tennis Club is scheduled for 2 p.m.
