In spite of an early Sun Devil rally in the singles, Texas A&M held on to secure a win and made a strong showing for its impending Intercollegiate Tennis Association, or ITA, kickoff.
The doubles matches began with freshman Giulio Perego and sophomore Raphael Perot gaining the first point, giving the Aggies an early lead over Arizona State. However, the Sun Devils came back to earn a point of their own in the matchup against junior duo Stefan Storch and Matthis Ross. The final match of doubles featured the 35th-ranked pair, juniors Austin Abbrat and Noah Schachter, facing No. 42 sophomore Max McKennon and senior Fabien Salle of Arizona State. In a tough rally, the Abbrat-Schachter pair pulled out a 2-0 win to close out the doubles event.
Coach Steve Denton said an early fight and a late break is what secured their doubles point.
“You never know what you are going to get in a first match situation, and I thought our team did a great job of coming out with energy to get the doubles point,” Denton said. “Austin [Abbrat] and Noah [Schachter] were able to get an early break and held serve throughout the match to get the win. Austin did a great job closing out at No. 1 doubles.”
In the singles matches, the maroon and white continued their advantage with Ross, junior Guido Marson and Perego all managing 2-0 wins over their opponents. Perego’s 6-4, 6-3 match clinched the win for the Aggies, but the meet wasn’t over yet. Arizona State picked up two matches, and Sun Devil junior George Stoupe took the first set against No. 80, freshman Luke Casper, but made a strong comeback scoring 6-3, 6-2 to end the match.
The team made strong efforts both individually and overall, but there is still work to be done, Denton said.
“We are really proud of the effort from Giulio [Perego] to see him come out and go 2-0,” Denton said. “He did a great job of playing within himself and was able to win some crucial three-all points. Luke [Casper] is a fighter, he never gives up and after the first set he was able to turn the tables. We are pleased with the team win, but we have to continue to build on everything we were able to accomplish on this road trip.”
After a short hiatus, the Aggies will take the court again on Saturday, Jan. 29 at the Mitchell Tennis Center in College Station to host the ITA Kickoff Weekend against No. 15 Arizona, No. 25 UCLA and Texas Tech. The winner will advance to the ITA National Team Indoor Championships in February in Seattle.