CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Traveling together on the road, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi tennis teams split decisions at Louisiana-Lafayette as the women swept the Ragin' Cajuns 4-0 while the men fell 4-2 Wednesday.
WOMEN: Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 4 Louisiana-Lafayette 0
The Islander women continued their perfect start and their strong play on the road with a 4-0 victory over the Ragin' Cajuns (4-4). The Blue and Green got off to a great start by taking the doubles point, just as they have in the previous five matches this season.
It was by no means an easy sweep, as several Islanders battled through food poisoning and lineup changes were forced upon the Blue and Green.
The senior duo of Celia Rodriguez and Maider Martin provided a quick start for the Islanders (6-0) with their 6-3 win on court No. 2. The Spaniards improved their doubles record to 4-1 on the season.
Not to be outdone, the all-French pairing of sophomore Hortense Boscher and freshman Alexandra Belle sealed the doubles point with a 6-2 win on court No. 3. The victory kept the Islander pairing undefeated on the season at 5-0.
In singles play, it was the senior Rodriguez who led the surge for the Islanders. The veteran took her match at No. 4 6-3, 6-2. Shortly after, it was fellow senior and co-captain Martin who made it a 3-0 advantage for the Blue and Green as she clinched her match 7-5, 6-1.
Needing just a single point from the remaining four matches, Boscher, one of the Islander women bttling through food poisoning, made sure the match would never come in doubt. The sophomore, playing her third match at the top of the lineup, wrapped things up with a 7-5, 6-1 victory.
• Jelena Dzinic had taken the first set 7-5 and led 5-2 in the second when play was halted.
• Judit Vives was in the third set when the match was won, scoring 0-6,6-3.
• Freshman Marina Vicens Miquel was nearing victory, 2-6, 6-2, 5-1 when the match was stopped.
MEN: Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 2 Louisiana-Lafayette 4
The Islander men could not duplicate the women's success in Lafayette, falling 4-2 to the Ragin' Cajuns. For the first time this season, the Islanders (7-3) dropped the doubles point.
The Blue and Green dropped the No. 1 pairing as Kevin Bettendroffer and Arthur Bedel fell 5-7 to open the match.
Guillaume Rauseo and Ricardo Mayagoitial took the No. 2 match 6-2, but the previously unbeaten pairing of Paul Cook and Mitchell Cook dropped a 6-2 decision at No. 3.
In singles play, Kevin Bettendroffer and Paul Cook provided the two points for the Islanders. Bettendroffer won 6-3, 6-3 at No. 1 and Cook went 6-2, 7-5 at No. 5 but the Islanders could not rally from the early deficit.
The Ragin' Cajuns took the next two matches after Cook tied it at 2-2 to clinch the victory. In his first action since the opening weekend, freshman Carlos Pedrosa Cuevas fell in a hard-fought battle 5-7, 7-5, 2-6.
Rauseo dropped his match 1-6, 5-7, while Arthur Bedel fell 3-6, 7-6, to provide the other results.
UP NEXT
The Islander men continue on the road to Hattiesburg, Miss. to face Southern Miss Thursday afternoon.
MOORE'S THOUGHTS
On the women playing through adversity…
"This was a tough team effort from these gritty girls. They're just playing with tremendous fight and unity. I was especially proud of the way they responded to adversity as three girls got food poisoning and we had to pull Kerry Galhos. I thought Hortense was an absolute champion at No. 1. She showed tremendous courage to play after having food poisoning."
On senior leaders Celia Rodriguez and Maider Martin…
"I also thought that Celia and Maider were extremely good leaders today as they have been all year. This is a team with strong leadership and strong character and every match I become prouder and prouder of them."
On the men's loss…
"We were out-played physically in the doubles and I thought that we fought hard, but we need to take that fight to another level. There are a lot of teams fighting to be nationally ranked and you're not going to do it by being pretty good. You have to be a pit bull, you have to outfight your opponent with a rare and special grit and tenacity. Being average or pretty good will not get you ranked at the Division I level. That's a lot to ask, but that's what this team is about."
On improving the intensity needed to win…
"We ask them to compete in a way that is a higher standard than most competitors will ever reach or experience. We ask that at every match and with no apologies. We demand that we be more physical than our opponents and demand that they compete at an A+ effort. Today was a B and that's not bad. There's a 'B' in the word beat and today we got beat."
