CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi tennis teams opened the 2016 campaign in perfect fashion, sweeping past Prairie View in a pair of men's matches, 6-0, 7-0, and adding a flawless 7-0 result on the women's side.
RELATED: MEN'S BOX SCORE (1) | MEN'S BOX SCORE (2) | WOMEN'S BOX
MEN'S MATCH ONE: ISLANDERS 6 – PRAIRIE VIEW 0
The No. 60 ranked Islanders men's team opened the afternoon with a 6-0 romp past the visiting Panthers, which saw every Islander win their singles match in straight sets.
Playing as the No. 2, senior Guillaume Rauseo set the tone early Monday afternoon for the Islanders. Rauseo blasted his way through the first set finishing 6-0 over the Panthers' Anirudh Yadov before finishing his match with a 6-1 set.
Fellow senior Ricardo Mayagoitia topped the Islanders' lineup Monday afternoon and rolled in the first match of the day. The veteran looked sharp early, finishing off Christian Waldron 6-2, 6-0. The third of the the Islanders' trio of seniors, Javier Pujol also produced a strong showing at the No. 3, earning a 6-1, 6-2 victory.
With the Islanders rolling at the top of the order, a pair of young 'Ders had an opportunity to step up right away for the Blue and Green. Junior Kevin Bettendroffer sat out Monday's matches to rest a slight injury, which led to a shakeup of the lineup.
Sophomore Arthur Bedel was one of the two notables youngsters for the Islanders. Bedel had to grind through the first set to earn a 6-4 win before finding his "groove" and rolling 6-0 in the second. Not to be outdone, freshman Carlos Pedrosa Cuevas, was perhaps the star of the day, rolling through a clean morning match with a 6-0, 6-0 victory at the No. 6.
MEN'S MATCH TWO: ISLANDERS 7 – PRAIRIE VIEW 0
After rolling through the first match of the day, the Islanders produced a second shutout to complete the doubleheader sweep.
The Islanders opened by taking the doubles point courtesy of Mayagoitia and Rauseo taking the No. 1 pairing with a 6-1 decision over the Panthers' Waldron and Sergio Avella. A duplicate 6-1 finish earned the Islanders the point as Bedel and Pujol knocked off Freddy Quintero and Mossab Ali in the No. 3 pairing. The duo of Mitchell Cook and Paul Cook were level at 3-3 when the point was clinched by the Blue and Green.
In singles play, it was much the same story as the Islanders rolled in straight sets in each of the six matches. In the second contest, Pujol sat out jumping the 4-6 players up a rung for the Islanders and adding junior Maximilian Ilic to the fold at No. 6.
Ilic joined his teammates by orchestrating a 6-1, 6-0 victory in his first appearance on the Island. Ilic was one of two Islanders making his debut Monday and the German showed no signs of angst in dispatching Mossab Ali.
Pedrosa Cuevas was bumped up to the No. 5 slot after a clean sweep in the first match and nearly duplicated the feat in the nightcap. The rookie rolled past Freddy Quintero 6-0, 6-1, to bring his game total for the day to 24-1, not a bad start to his career on the Island.
In the 2-4 slots, Rauseo, Bedel and Paul Cook each rolled to straight set victories as the Islanders clinched a 2-0 start to the season.
At the top, Mayagoitia faced a whale of a battle from Waldron, in what was easily the match of the day on the men's courts. The showdown was back-and-forth from the beginning with Waldron staking an early 2-1 lead. Mayagoitia would rally to take a 5-4 lea, but couldn't finish off the pesky Panther in six. The set would go to the wire with Mayagoitia earning a hard-fought 7-6 victory. In the second, the Islander made short work of Waldron, clinching another sweep for the Islanders.
WOMEN'S MATCH: ISLANDERS 7 – PRAIRIE VIEW 0
After cheering the men on 6-0 victory in the early match, the Islander women got their first shot of 2016 and followed suit with a 7-0 sweep of the Panthers.
In doubles action, the pairing of Judit Vives and Jelena Dzinic rolled at the top spot, defeating Neharika Rama and Timara Maxwell 6-2. At the No. 3, another veteran pairing of Maider Martin and Kerry Galhos clinched the doubles point with an identical 6-2 victory over Sydney Thomas and Tatiana Ruhl. The No. 2 match played out to a 6-4 victory for the Islanders as senior Celia Rodriguez and freshman Alexandra Belle, rallied from an early deficit to knock off Stacy Lackey and Shaddae Findley.
With the doubles point in hand, the Islanders left little to doubt during singles action. The Islanders' two seniors showed their experience as both had to grind out a tight set. Martin had to rally from an early hole to pull out a 7-5 victory in the first set before cruising 6-2 in the second. Then at the No. 3, Rodriguez sailed through the first 6-1, before fighting for a 7-5 victory in her second set.
Dzinic slotted at the top of the order for the Islanders and the sophomore earned a 6-4, 6-1 win, recovering nicely from a bit of a slow start in the first. Across the courts at No. 2, junior Judit Vives was rock solid, churning out a 6-1,6-0 victory.
Finally, a pair of freshman made their Islanders debut as Alexandra Belle and Marina Vicens Miquel each made their first start in the Blue and Green. Vicens Miquel was the first to finish her singles match, rolling to a 6-2, 6-1, victory in the No. 6 slot. Just above at No. 5, Belle pulled away for a 6-3, 6-0, victory to seal a perfect start to her Islander career.
QUICK HITS
• The Islanders did not drop a single set in any of the three matches.
• The shutouts marked the second consecutive season the Islander men opened the season with a sweep.
• The 6-0, 7-0 sweep is the first time the men have swept a doubleheader in shutout fashion since 2011.
WHAT THEY SAID
Coach Steve Moore on men's youth stepping up….
"We got good leadership right from our seniors from the very start. Then I was surprisingly impressed with how quickly some of our young guys stepped up. We had a few injuries today so we needed a couple of guys to step up. I thought they did a great job and was very impressed with their tenacity in every point and the energy they came out with."
On Arthur Bedel…
"I was very impressed with Arthur. It's tricky sometimes to always play your style and what I call situational tennis. He did a great job of doing that, he played with his strengths and took a few risks at the right time. I think he is an emerging player for us and if he continues playing like that, I expect big things."
On women's effort…
"One of the things about a high-character team is sometimes at the beginning, they can over-try. They did a good job of using their checkmarks and loosening up. I think this team is trying so hard and has poured so much heart into preparing this fall that they were bound to be tight, but they showed their maturity and worked through it by making adjustments and finding a way to win."
Arthur Bedel on growing into the match…
"I had to fight through some tough points in the first set. For me, I really have to groove my game and early on, I was fighting a few things. Once I found it though, I was able to really to carry that through the rest of that match and the second match."
Judit Vives on early nerves…
"Early on, I thought we were all a bit tight. I know I was tight. In doubles, me and my partner (Dzinic) were able to release some of that tension and get into the match. That really helped heading into singles play."
UP NEXT
The Islanders continue their season-opening homestand with a pair of matches this weekend, facing UMBC Friday and UTRGV on Sunday. For the latest information, follow the Islanders on social media by liking Islanders Tennis on Facebook and following @IslandersTennis on Twitter.
