LUBBOCK ? The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men?s tennis team is
starting to make waves on the national collegiate tennis scene with
big wins over Texas Tech and New Mexico State.
The victory over Texas Tech marks the first time an Islander men?s
team has defeated a team from the Big 12 Conference. The Islanders,
ranked no. 62 in NCAA Division I cruised to a 6-1 win over the No.
61 Red Raiders.
The following day the Islanders defeated the New Mexico State
Aggies, 5-2 taking the doubles portion of the match and four of six
singles matches.
In the Texas Tech match, Jeremy Blandin and Luis Moris took a 7-5,
6-4 win over Bojan Szumanski and Esat Tanik. The Islander tandem
also took a 8-5 win over New Mexico State?s Andre Archer-Crowes and
Jeremy Lyon. The two wins marked the fifth straight win for the
Islander duo.
The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi doubles team of Goncalo
Figueiredo and Oscar Roman, ranked No. 39 in the country also took
two wins this weekend. They took a 8-5 win over Texas Tech?s Jakob
Paulsen and Dinko Halachev and a 8-3 win over Demetri Beg and
Michael Halligan.
The national ranking of Roman and Figueiredo marks the highest
ranked doubles team Texas A&M-Corpus Christi has ever had.
In singles play, No. 1 seed Blandin, ranked No. 65 in the country,
took a 7-5, 6-4 win over Paulsen of Texas Tech, but suffered a
tough, 4-6, 6-4, 10-8 defeat by Archer-Crowes. The loss snapped a
five-match winning streak for Blandin.
Figueiredo, who moved his national ranking to No. 89, extended his
singles match winning streak to five with wins over Tech?s Borjan
Szumanski (6-3, 7-6) and a 6-3, 7-5 win over New Mexico State?s
Ivan Zironobic.
The Islanders will return home this weekend to play in the HEB
Collegiate Tournament held at the HEB Tennis Center.
