CORPUS CHRISTI – The Texas A&M - Corpus Christi men's tennis team powered its way to a 4-1 win over No. 73-ranked Louisiana today to secure the 49th Annual H-E-B Tournament of Champions title. The Islanders (7-3) grinded their way past UTSA, Arizona and the Ragin' Cajuns (8-8) to earn their second title in the event that has been held every year since 1966 and been sponsored by H-E-B.
Senior Peter Nagy, along with juniors Javier Pujol and Guillaume Rauseo picked up straight-set singles wins before junior Ricardo Mayagoitia clinched the match for the Islanders at the Thomas J. Henry Tennis Center.
"It means so much to us to win this grand Corpus Christi event," Director of Tennis Steve Moore said. 'The H-E-B' is widely considered one of the premier college tournaments in the nation, and it's incredibly special for Texas A&M - Corpus Christi to win this title. 'The H-E-B' is such a great event for the city of Corpus Christi, so winning as the hometown team is special beyond words."
The Islanders earned their first trip to the finals of 'The H-E-B' since 2013 when the team secured a gutsy 4-3 win over No. 34 Middle Tennessee to win their first H-E-B title. Last season, the Islanders fell in the first round and were hungry to get back to the finals this season. A&M - Corpus Christi grinded its way with a 4-3 win over UTSA in the opening round before defeating Arizona 4-2 in the semifinals. The Islanders then rose up and topped the Cajuns who have spent most of the season ranked in the top 75 of the ITA rankings.
"Congratulations to Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns for a great tournament, and a very tough match today," Moore said. "I'm just so proud of our guys and the courage and grit they showed. There's no winning easy on slow courts and windy conditions. You have to pay the price and suffer, and these guys did just that. They really battled with all of their hearts and I could not be more proud of this high-character group."
The match started with singles play and the Islanders quickly jumped out to a 1-0 lead after Nagy, the reigning two-time Southland Conference Player of the Year downed Damian Farinola, 6-0, 6-2 at No. 1 singles. With the win, the senior improves to 7-1 on the year in the No. 1 slot.
The Cajuns then evened the match at 1-1 after Jarred Wynan defeated freshman Arthur Bedel, 7-5, 6-2 at No. 6 singles. Following that, the Islanders took care of business as Pujol topped Vlad Kramarov 6-3, 6-4 at No. 5 singles to seal his fourth consecutive match. Rauseo then edged out Edgar Lopez, 7-6 (1) in a first-set tiebreaker, and then earned the Islanders their third point of the day with a 6-4 second-set win to earn his third straight victory.
The match then came down to Mayagoitia in No. 3 singles and sophomore Kevin Bettendroffer in No. 2 singles. Mayagoitia garnered the first set 7-6 (5) over Will Huyton in a close tiebreaker 
while Bettendroffer fell to Jake Wynan 6-2 in the first set. Bettendroffer then answered with a 6-4 second-set win and was battling in the third when Mayagoitia squeezed out a 7-5 second-set victory to clinch the match for the Islanders.
"We can't begin to express our gratitude to H-E-B for being the title sponsor of this great college tournament for 49 years," Moore added. "Their generosity makes this possible. I also want to take a moment to thank the amazing Corpus Christi tennis community for housing all of these teams. That speaks volumes about their commitment to high-level tennis in Corpus Christi."
The Islanders will now have a quick turnaround as they prepare for UT Arlington. The men's team along with the women's team will trek to Arlington to take on the Mavericks on Tuesday, March 10.
For all the latest on Islanders Tennis, like the team on Facebook (IslandersTennis) and follow them on Twitter and Instagram (@IslandersTennis).
Tennis Match Results
Louisiana vs. Texas A&M - Corpus Christi
3/7/2015 at Corpus Christi, Texas
Texas A&M - Corpus Christi 4, #73 Louisiana 1
Singles competition
1. Peter Nagy (AMCC) def. Farinola, Damian (UL) 6-0, 6-2
2. Kevin Bettendroffer (AMCC) vs. Wynan, Jake (UL) 2-6, 6-4, 2-4, unfinished
3. Ricardo Mayagoitia (AMCC) def. Huyton, Will (UL) 7-6 (7-5), 7-5
4. Guillaume Rauseo (AMCC) def. Lopez, Edgar (UL) 7-6 (7-1), 6-4
5. Javier Pujol (AMCC) def. Kramarov, Vlad (UL) 6-3, 6-4
6. Wynan, Jarred (UL) def. Arthur Bedel (AMCC) 7-5, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. Farinola, Damian/Lopez, Edgar (UL) vs. Peter Nagy/Arthur Bedel (AMCC) no result
2. Wynan, Jarred/Wahlberg, Coleman (UL) vs. Kevin Bettendroffer/Guillaume Rauseo (AMCC) no result
3. Wynan, Jake/Huyton, Will (UL) vs. Paul Cook/Ricardo Mayagoitia (AMCC) no result
Match Notes:
Louisiana 8-8; National ranking #73
Texas A&M - Corpus Christi 7-3
Order of finish: Doubles (); Singles (1,6,5,4,3)
