April 18, 2015

Men's Tennis Earns Eighth Straight SLC Regular-Season Title

SAN ANTONIO – The No. 57 ranked men's tennis team clinched its eighth straight Southland Conference regular-season title today at the UIW Tennis Courts. The Islanders cruised to a 6-0 victory over Incarnate Word in their final Southland Conference match of the season.

A&M - Corpus Christi won the conference title by a season score of 26-5. In the last eight years, the Islanders (16-6, 5-0 SLC) have registered a 41-2 record in the Southland.

"I thought the guys really came out tough and focused today," Director of Tennis Steve Moore said. "We're trying to control all the things we can control to play each point separately with intensity, and while we did not achieve that 100 percent of the time, I thought we gave a strong focused effort in that direction.

"These guys have a lot of pride in what they have done in this conference over the years. I think they feel an obligation to respect the guys that passed the baton to them like Laurent Montoisy, Aurelien Tave, Goncalo Figueriedo, James Langford, Jose Zunino, Jaume Farras, Mikhail Pavlov, Matt Westmoreland, Nathan Robinson, Andrew Maingot, Dmitry Novikov and all of the other Islanders brothers who have set such a high standard of family and culture. The Islanders are a big family and I think they know that they have some strong support from their brothers who are all over the world pulling for them to win a conference title."

Due to the weather conditions, the Islanders and Cardinals (5-16, 0-4 SLC) started in singles play and the Islanders came out strong to earn six straight singles wins. Junior Javier Pujol started things off with a 6-1, 6-0 straight-set win at No. 5 singles over Ryan Hoverson. Sophomore Paul Cook then breezed to a 6-1, 6-0 win at No. 6 singles over Brody Rodriguez before junior Ricardo Mayagoitia defeated Tucker Brown, 6-3, 6-2 in the No. 4 slot. A&M - Corpus Christi then clinched the match at No. 3 singles after junior Guillaume Rauseo topped Joey Vatanadilok, 6-4, 6-3.

The Islanders kept the momentum going with two more wins on courts one and two. Sophomore Kevin Bettendroffer earned his seventh straight match with a three-set win in the No. 2 spot. The sophomore secured the first set 6-4, before dropping a close 6-4 second-set loss. In the super tiebreaker, Bettendroffer garnered a 10-8 win. He improved to 5-0 in Southland play with the win.

No. 97 ranked Peter Nagy, who is the two-time Southland Conference Player of the Year, improved his mark to 17-2 at No. 1 singles after defeating Leonard Ivic, 7-6 (1), 6-1. Over Nagy's four-year career he has compiled a 20-1 career record in the Southland, with his only loss in his career in conference play coming during his freshman year. Nagy has won five straight and is just two career wins shy of matching Associate Head Coach Goncalo Figueiredo's program-best 67 wins.

The Islanders now return home for their final regular-season match of the season and the final home match for Nagy. A&M - Corpus Christi will host Texas-Pan American on Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Thomas J. Henry Tennis Center.

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. Incarnate Word

4/18/2015 at San Antonio, Texas

#57 Texas A&M - Corpus Christi 6, Incarnate Word 0

Singles competition

1. #97 Peter Nagy (AMCC) def. Leonard Ivic (UIW) 7-6 (7-1), 6-1

2. Kevin Bettendroffer (AMCC) def. Josip Smoljan (UIW) 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (10-8)

3. Guillaume Rauseo (AMCC) def. Joey Vatanadilok (UIW) 6-4, 6-3

4. Ricardo Mayagoitia (AMCC) def. Tucker Brown (UIW) 6-3, 6-2

5. Javier Pujol (AMCC) def. Ryan Hoverson (UIW) 6-1, 6-0

6. Paul Cook (AMCC) def. Brody Rodriguez (UIW) 6-1, 6-0

Doubles competition