April 07, 2015

Islanders Improve to 9-0 at Home With 5-2 Win over Lamar

CORPUS CHRISTI – After a slow start, the No. 53 ranked Texas A&M - Corpus Christi men's tennis team rallied back in singles play to clinch a 5-2 victory over Lamar today in a rematch of last season's Southland Conference Tournament finals at the Thomas J. Henry Tennis Center. With the win, the Islanders (14-5) improve to 9-0 at home and 3-0 in Southland play.

"This was a flat out battle and we knew it would be," Director of Tennis Steve Moore said. "This is a very good team who came down here on a mission and played with great tenacity. A lot of respect for Lamar and Coach Shankles, they had us on our heels especially in the doubles.

"I'm very proud of our guys and their commitment to play each present point with intensity and not be concerned with the score or flow of the match. We kept chopping wood today and we needed to. We have been saying all year that we believe our fitness will pay off and I'm proud of the choices the guys have made to be disciplined with their lifestyle, so they had the legs to grind it out today. It was a tough character win and I'm proud of our guys."

Lamar (10-10, 1-1 SLC) garnered the doubles point on courts one and two to jump out to a 1-0 start. The duo of Guillaume Rauseo and Kevin Bettendroffer dropped an 8-4 loss to Michael Feucht and Benny Schweizer at No. 2 singles before the freshman-senior pair of Arthur Bedel and Peter Nagy came up short, 8-6, to Jeandr Hoogenboezem and Nikita Lis in the No. 1 slot.

The Islanders answered back in singles play with four straight wins to clinch the match. Junior Javier Pujol downed Steve McMullan in No. 5 singles, 6-1, 6-1 before Bettendroffer took care of business with a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Feucht in No. 2 singles to win his fifth straight match. No. 94-ranked Nagy then padded the Islanders lead to 3-1 after cruising to a 6-2, 6-2 win over Lis in No. 1 singles for his 15th dual-match win of the season. Nagy also improved his career mark to 18-1 in Southland play in his four years with the Islanders.

Sophomore Paul Cook clinched the match then in No. 6 singles with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Mikko Rajamaki to give the Islanders their third straight win. Junior Ricardo Mayagoitia followed suit with a 7-5, 6-3 straight-set win in No. 3 singles for his third straight win and the Islanders fifth point of the day.

In the final singles match of the day, Rauseo fell to Schweizer in No. 4 singles. The junior dropped a 6-4 first set before bouncing back to earn a 6-4 second-set win. Rauseo then came up short 10-8 in a super tiebreaker.

The Islanders will have a quick turnaround, as they will head to Austin, Texas to take on No. 9 Texas (16-3) tomorrow at 5 p.m. at the Westwood Country Club. The Longhorns are taking on UTSA tonight before facing the Islanders tomorrow. Last season, the Islanders dropped a 6-1 loss to then No. 6 Texas in Austin, Texas at the Penick-Allison Tennis Center. Fans can follow along to the match HERE.

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Tennis Match Results

Lamar vs. Texas A&M - Corpus Christi

4/7/2015 at Corpus Christi, Texas

#53 Texas A&M - Corpus Christi 5, Lamar 2

Singles competition

1. #94 Peter Nagy (AMCC) def. Lis, Nikita (LU) 6-2, 6-2

2. Kevin Bettendroffer (AMCC) def. Feucht, Michael (LU) 6-2, 6-0

3. Ricardo Mayagoitia (AMCC) def. Hoogenboezem, Jeandr (LU) 7-5, 6-3

4. Schweizer, Benny (LU) def. Guillaume Rauseo (AMCC) 6-4, 4-6, 10-8

5. Javier Pujol (AMCC) def. McMullan, Steven (LU) 6-1, 6-1

6. Paul Cook (AMCC) def. Rajamaki, Mikko (LU) 6-2, 6-0

Doubles competition