March 19, 2015

No. 55 Men's Tennis Clinches Seventh Straight Match with 4-3 Win over No. 70 UTSA

SAN ANTONIO – The Texas A&M - Corpus Christi No. 55 ranked men's tennis team once again battled No. 70 UTSA in a nail-biter that came down to doubles play. After No. 73 ranked Peter Nagy clinched a 7-5 third-set victory to force doubles, the Islanders (10-3) secured wins at No. 2 and No. 3 to clinch their seventh consecutive match, 4-3, at the UTSA Tennis Center.

"That match was a pure dogfight," Director of Tennis Steve Moore said. "UTSA played a tremendous match and competed extremely hard at home. I thought two teams deserved to win that match. I'm so proud of our guys for their grit and perseverance and the way they clawed back after being down 3-1. They showed tremendous character."

The Islanders snapped UTSA's (10-6) five-match winning streak in a match that mirrored the opening round of the H-E-B Tournament of Champions between the two teams.

After splitting the singles matches, the Islanders grinded out doubles wins on courts two and three to clinch the match. Sophomore Paul Cook and junior Ricardo Mayagoitia teamed up for an 8-3 win at No. 3 over Yannick Junger and Jake Rother before junior Guillaume Rauseo and sophomore Kevin Bettendroffer downed Diogo Casa and Joel Rubio, 8-5, at No. 2 doubles to secure the match.

The Islanders and Roadrunners opened the day in singles play, and UTSA tacked up the first point of the day after Bettendroffer fell to Tito Moreiras, 6-0, 6-1, at No. 3 singles. Junior Javier Pujol then answered with a 6-3, 6-0 win over Joao Riquelme at No. 5 singles for his sixth win of the season. The Roadrunners then extended their lead to 3-1 with back-to-back wins at No. 4 and No. 6 singles. Rubio snapped Rauseo's five-match winning streak with a three-set win. Rubio captured the first set 6-1, before Rauseo fought back to win the second set, 6-3. In the third, Rauseo dropped a close 7-5 battle. The Roadrunners then earned their third point of the match with a straight-set win at No. 6 singles after freshman Arthur Bedel fell 7-6 (4), 7-5 to Casa.

A&M - Corpus Christi then grinded their way back with three-set thrillers on courts one and two. Mayagoitia, in his first dual-match this season at No. 2 singles edged out Junger, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 to pull the Islanders within one.

The final singles match then came down to Nagy and No. 77 ranked Tomas Stillman. Nagy rose up and improved his mark to 10-1 at No. 1 singles after squeezing out a three-set win over Stillman, who handed Nagy his first lost of the season. Nagy dropped the first set 6-3, before winning the second set 6-4. In the third, Nagy edged out Stillman 7-5 to force doubles play. With the win, Nagy snapped Stillman's 11-match winning streak, and has now won five straight matches.

"UTSA is a very good team and their No. 1 player is as good as anyone we have played all year," Moore added. "I'm very excited about the future of this team because they never quit fighting, and they have tremendous character and they really showed that today."

The Islanders will now head to Hattiesburg, Miss. to face Southern Mississippi on Sunday, March 22, at 1 p.m.

For all the latest on Islanders Tennis, like the team on Facebook (IslandersTennis) and follow them on Twitter and Instagram (@IslandersTennis). Fans can also receive updates on both teams by downloading the Islanders Front Row App at GoIslanders.com/frontrow.

Tennis Match Results

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi vs. UTSA

3/19/2015 at San Antonio, Texas

#55 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 4, #70 UTSA 3

Singles competition

1. #73 Peter Nagy (AMCC) def. #77 Tomas Stillman (UTSA) 3-6, 6-4, 7-5

2. Ricardo Mayagoitia (AMCC) def. Yannick Junger (UTSA) 3-6, 6-2, 6-4

3. Tito Moreiras (UTSA) def. Kevin Bettendroffer (AMCC) 6-0, 6-1

4. Joel Rubio (UTSA) def. Guillaume Rauseo (AMCC) 6-1, 3-6, 7-5

5. Javier Pujol (AMCC) def. Joao Riquelme (UTSA) 6-3, 6-0

6. Diogo Casa (UTSA) def. Arthur Bedel (AMCC) 7-6 (7-4), 7-5

Doubles competition