AUSTIN, Texas – Playing their second match in a span of 20 hours, the No. 65 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's tennis team topple St. Edward's, 7-0, to rebound from their first loss of the season Thursday at No. 51 SMU.
The victory over the Hilltoppers, the No. 24 ranked team in Division II, moves the Islanders to 6-1 on the season. In its first road trip of the year, the Blue and Green earned a split as they'll return to the Island for a Monday showdown with UT Arlington.
DOUBLES STAY HOT
The Islanders earned an early lead with victories on courts two and three during doubles play. The No. 2 pairing of Ricardo Mayagoitia and Guillaume Rauseo earned the first point as they rolled past the Hilltoppers' Maximo Agoglia and Jared Fellows in 8-2 fashion.
St. Edward's rallied to level the match, at least momentarily at 1-1 with a victory at the top doubles pairing as the Islander duo of Kevin Bettendroffer and Arthur Bedel suffered their first defeat of the season.
The tie did not last long, however, as the Islanders quickly jumped back in front thanks to the Paul Cook and Mitchell Cook tandem, which improved to 3-0 on the season with its victory. The Cooks took their match at No. 3 by an 8-4 score to clinch the doubles point for the visiting Islanders.
SINGLES DOMINATION
A day after being swept in singles action by No. 51 SMU, the Islanders flipped the tables at St. Edward's sweeping all six of the singles matchups. Mayagoitia was the first to post a bounce-back win as he rolled past his Hilltopper opponent, 6-0, 6-0.
Not far behind, Bedel earned a straight-set victory at No. 5. The sophomore defeated Jared Fellows in 6-2, 6-1, fashion to improve to 5-1 in singles play this season. Joining Bedel with a straight-set win was Rauseo on court three. The senior broke a three-match skid in singles play by earning a 6-3, 7-6, win over Maximo Agoglia Friday afternoon.
The No. 4 match went In a third set tiebreak as veteran Javier Pujol rallied from a tough 5-7 loss in the opening set to defeat his opponent Charlie Shin. Pujol earned a 6-1 victory in the second to force the tiebreak. In the decisive third, Pujol managed to grind out a 15-13 win.
Paul Cook ended the match off in perfect fashion as the Islanders swept the Hilltoppers thanks to the junior's 6-4, 6-3 win.
UP NEXT
The Islander men return to Corpus Christi to host UT Arlington Monday afternoon in a 3 p.m. bout. Admission to all home tennis matches is free at the Thomas J. Henry Tennis Center.
MOORE'S MINUTE
On the win and bouncing back…
"I thought we played with a lot of grit and spirit today against St. Edward's. This is a good team and they pushed us hard in certain positions. Whenever you have a tough loss like we did last night at SMU, you're always looking for you team to respond with great character and they did that here today. I thought our senior leaders were terrific today."
On Rauseo breaking three-match skid…
"We've always believed in Gui through this little slump. He just needed to find his rhythm on the court. I've thought both he and Javi needed a long outdoor match to get that rhythm. The great thing about our seniors is I know the energy and effort is always going to be there. It's our job as coaches to help them improve, but the effort is never lacking when they get out there."
On Arthur Bedel and Paul Cook…
"I really feel like we played strong at five and six past two days. Both Arthur and Paul were serving for sets last night at SMU and played very well today. I feel like they've improved a lot."
On the first road trip…
"This was a long two days but we did a great job of staying in the present and controlling what we could control. Especially going from fast indoor courts last night to slow outdoor courts in a matter of hours."
(Results below follow Division II scoring format)
Tennis Match Results
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi vs St. Edward's
Feb 5, 2016 at Austin, Texas
(Strohmeyer Varsity Tennis Courts)
#65 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 8, #24 St. Edward's 1
Singles competition
1. Kevin Bettendroffer (AMCC) def. Ricardo Pineda (SEUMT) 4-6, 6-1, 6-3
2. Ricardo Mayagoitia (AMCC) def. Logan Buignet (SEUMT) 6-0, 6-0
3. Guillaume Rauseo (AMCC) def. Maximo Agoglia (SEUMT) 6-3, 7-6 (7-0)
4. Javier Pujol (AMCC) def. Charlie Shin (SEUMT) 5-7, 6-1, 15-13
5. Arthur Bedel (AMCC) def. Jared Fellows (SEUMT) 6-2, 6-1
6. Paul Cook (AMCC) def. Mateus de Col (SEUMT) 6-4, 6-3
Doubles competition
1. Ricardo Pineda/Charlie Shin (SEUMT) def. Kevin Bettendroffer/Arthur Bedel (AMCC) 8-4
2. Guillaume Rauseo/Ricardo Mayagoitia (AMCC) def. Maximo Agoglia/Jared Fellows (SEUMT) 8-2
3. Paul Cook/Mitchell Cook (AMCC) def. Mateus de Col/Logan Buignet (SEUMT) 8-4
Match Notes:
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 5-1; National ranking #65
St. Edward's 0-0; National ranking #24
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (2,5,1,3,4,6) Official: Glen Whitaker T-3:45 A-48
