CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's and women's tennis teams continued their hot roll to start the season as both squads raced to 6-1 wins over visiting Texas Rio Grande Valley Sunday afternoon at the Thomas J. Henry Tennis Center.
The No. 61 nationally ranked Islander men improved to 5-0 on the season after closing out the three match homestand while the women moved their mark to 3-0.
ISLANDERS RULE DOUBLES
The Islander men earned the doubles point in quick fashion, using wins on courts one and two to clinch the early lead. Seniors Ricardo Mayagoitia and Guillaume Rauseo were the first to finish off their opponent, defeating the Vaqueros' Juan Cruz Soria and Elliot Johnstone 6-2 in the No. 2 pairing.
Minutes later, the Islanders' top pairing of Kevin Bettendroffer and Arthur Bedel finished off a 6-3 victory over Yehonatan Kaufman and Koby Jansen to clinch the doubles point. Paul Cook and Mitchell Cook left their match unfinished but had a 5-3 lead when the point was decided.
Across the spectator area, the Islander women mimicked the men's quick success. The Blue and Green's two seniors, Celia Rodriguez and Maider Martin, rolled at No. 2 doubles in a 6-1 win. Then it was A&M-Corpus Christi's pairing of newcomers, Hortense Boscher and Alexandra Belle, who clinched the match with their 6-4 victory on court three.
BOSCHER LEADS WOMEN IN SINGLES PLAY
A transfer from Texas Tech, Boscher has quickly proven her salt in singles action. After rolling at No. 2 Friday versus UMBC, the sophomore duplicated the result Sunday, topping Dominique Esparza, 6-0, 6-1. Boscher was the first Islander to finish amongst both the men's and women's teams in solo play.
SENIORS SEAL THE DEAL
Following Boscher on the women's side, Martin made it 3-0 Islanders with her 6-3, 6-1 victory on court five.
With the Islanders just one point away from clinching the match, junior Judit Vives put the Vaqueros away by defeating Natacha Minc. Vives rebounded from a slow start in doubles play, which saw her and partner Jelena Dzinic down 3-5 before the Islanders earned the point. Vives won in straight sets in singles play, clinching the match with the 6-4, 6-1 win.
COOK DOMINATES, BETTENDROFFER CRUISES
For the second straight match, Paul Cook was the first to finish on the men's side of the courts. The junior gave the Islanders their first singles point by trouncing Elliot Johnstone 6-2, 6-2.
The Islanders would bookend the scorebook as shortly after Cook's victory at No. 6, top-liner Bettendroffer finished off the Vaqueros' Juan Cruz Soria in 6-1, 6-2 fashion. The win is Bettendroffer's second, straight-set victory to open the season after sitting out the first match.
MAYAGOITIA CLINCHES
With a hefty 3-0 lead, the Islanders needed just one of the remaining four matches to earn the victory. The honor would go to the senior Mayagoitia who rallied back in the opening set before cruising in the second. Mayagoitia defeated Koby Jansen by scores of 6-4, 6-1 to ensure the Islanders finished the three-match homestand with a perfect record.
THE REMAINING RESULTS
A&M-Corpus Christi and UTRGV agreed to play out the remaining matches, using a 10-point tiebreak for third sets if necessary.
• Senior Javier Pujol defeated Cosme Jubera 7-5, 7-5 on court four for the men.
• Bedel went to a tiebreak third, earning a 4-6, 6-1, 10-5 victory at the No. 5 spot.
• Rauseo rallied from a 3-6 first set loss to force a tiebreak third with a 7-6 (10-8) second. Rauseo dropped the tiebreaker 2-10 as Ethan Ammon earned UTRGV's lone point.
• Women's senior Rodriguez rolled at No. 4, winning 6-3, 6-0.
• Freshman Belle emerged victorious from her first singles tilt, earning a hard-fought 7-5, 7-6 (7-3) win on court six.
• Top-billed Jelena Dzinic dropped the first set before rallying 6-2 in the second. Dzinic fell in the tiebreaker 12-10.
INSIDE MOORE'S MIND
Director of Tennis Steve Moore on Sunday's crowd of 132…
"We just had a tremendous crowd today. Our fans really uplifted our team and I thought our team played with great spirit thanks to the crowd. Our crowd really made a difference today. I say it all the time, but there really is no tennis community I'd rather be a part of than Corpus Christi."
On the team's play in another windy day…
"I thought we did a great job of controlling the things we can control in this wind. It requires a lot of discipline to play in these conditions. Everyone was playing each point with focus and intensity."
LOOKING AHEAD
The Islander men return to action with a pair of matches next week as the Blue and Green travel to St. Edward's Tuesday, Feb. 2 before challenging SMU in Dallas the following Thursday. The women play their next match on February 8 when both teams host UT Arlington.
