No. 12 Texas A&M men’s tennis traveled to Oxford, Mississippi to compete against No. 50 Ole Miss on Sunday afternoon. After a shaky come-from-behind win against No. 55 Vanderbilt on Friday, the Aggies had an easier match today, sweeping the Rebels in a 4-0 victory and extending their winning streak to six.
“Conditions were tough today with the rain delay,” coach Steve Denton said. “We had used the momentum from the doubles in our singles line at each court today, so it hurt to pause that. But after the break, our guys seized the momentum again, which propelled us to the win today. It capped off our road swing with a couple of tough wins.”
The Aggies started off strong in doubles, winning two out of three matches. On Court 2, sophomore Tiago Pires and senior Alan Magadan won in a tight battle against the freshman duo of Benjamin Martin and Matthieu Chambonniere, 7-5. On Court 3, senior Luke Casper and redshirt freshman Ritesh Patil sealed the deal, winning 6-4 against junior Noah Schlagenhauf and freshman Loan Lestir. The Fightin’ Farmers secured the first points of the match, 1-0, and it would only go upward for them in single matches.
“I thought Luke and Ritesh stepped up and played well together today,” Denton said. “They started us off strong against a duo with a winning record at line three. Alan and Tiago were both exceptional today to round out our doubles action.”
Three Aggies easily finished off the sweep by claiming the first three points of singles play. No. 32 freshman Theo Papamalamis won his match against Schlagenhauf in a hard-fought first set, 7-5, and an easy 6-1 second set. Magadan was the second Aggie to dominate, disposing of junior Isac Strömberg in two straight-forward sets, 6-0, 6-3. Casper dealt the final blow, beating Martin in straight sets to help the Aggies secure the final point of the singles matches.
“Again, it is always tough on the road,” Denton said. “While the score was 4-0, there were a lot of tight moments. I have to give credit to Ole Miss for always fighting to the end.”
A&M returns to College Station to face off against No. 18 South Carolina at Mitchell Tennis Center on Friday, March 28, at 6 p.m.
