Pummeling Prairie View

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – In its first action of the 2017 season, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's tennis swept a pair of matches from Prairie View while the women opened their title defense with a 7-0 rout of the Panthers Tuesday at the Thomas J. Henry Tennis Center.
 
The women played a single match against Prairie View, rolling to a 7-0 win. Senior Judit Vives led the charge with a dominant 6-1, 6-0 victory at the number two spot in the order.
 
Jelena Dzinic stood tall at the top of the lineup, knocking off Neharika Rama in straight sets. The Islander junior left little doubt, sealing a 6-1, 6-3 victory.
 
Freshman Louise Trigona and Maria Maldonado produced impressive starts to their careers with wins at three and four, respectively. Trigona won her match 6-3, 6-2 while Maldonado won in 6-1, 6-2 fashion.
 
THE RESULTS
>> The Islanders swept the doubles action, allowing just one game to be taken by the Panthers.
>> Dzinic and Vives won 6-0 at the top doubles spot.
>> Trigona paired with Marina Vicens Miquel for a 6-0 win at number two.
>> Maldonado and Alexandra Belle won 6-1 at three.
>> Vicens Miquel won 6-1, 6-1 at the five spot in singles.
>> Belle won the opening set of her singles match 7-5 before her opponent defaulted.
 
MEN TAKE MATCH ONE 5-1
 
Starting with singles in the first half of their doubleheader, the Islanders clinched the victory at 4-0 before playing out the remaining two matches.
 
Freshman Cagatay Soke set the tone with a quick 6-0, 6-1 win at number two. Carlos Pedrosa Cuevas followed with an identical 6-0, 6-1 scoreline at the four spot in the order.
 
Freshman Gonzalo Achondo made it a 3-0 lead for the Islanders with his 6-0, 6-3 win at the fifth position. Then it was senior Paul Cook, playing at the top of the lineup, who clinched the Blue and Green's first win of the season.
 
Cook rolled to a 6-2, 6-1 win before newly arrived freshman William Mottet rounded out the Islanders' points with a 6-1, 7-5 victory in his first action.
 
MEN SWEEP REMATCH
 
In the second match of the day with the Panthers, the Islanders were flawless in a 7-0 victory.
 
With a juggled lineup from the earlier matchup, the Islanders set the tone with a dominant doubles performance. Mitchell Cook and Maximilian Ilic teamed together and claimed a 6-2 win at the third doubles pairing. Kevin Bettendroffer and William Mottet matched that effort with a 6-2 victory at the top spot as the Blue and Green jumped out to a 1-0 lead.
 
As the match moved to singles play, it was Achondo who raced to a 6-1, 6-1 victory to make it 2-0. Ilic followed with a solid 6-2, 6-4 win at five and freshman Lukas Buth rolled to a 6-1, 6-1 win at number six to clinch the victory for the Islanders.
 
Soke moved to the top of the order and won 6-3, 7-6 (0) as the Islanders and Panthers played out the full order.  Paul Cook also won in straight sets, going 6-2, 7-6 (3) at the second spot. Finally, Mottet rallied from a 4-6 first set to win with a 7-5 second and 10-7 tiebreak.
 
SHOWDOWN TURNAROUND
 
The Islanders now head to UTRGV for the South Texas Showdown presented by NavyArmy Community Credit Union on Wednesday afternoon. Both the men and women's teams will be in action against the Vaqueros.
 
MOORE ON THE NIGHT
 
On the men's performance…
 
"We had four freshmen playing for the guys and I thought those freshmen grew up a lot today. They followed their game plans and I thought they showed great heart and grit. I thought they grew a lot today. I thought the team did a real good job of controlling the things they could control. I also thought they did a great job encouraging each other and fighting for every point. They really listened to their game plans too. I was pleased with this group today. We have a lot of work to do and a lot to improve on, but as far as the fight and encouragement of one another, I thought it was fantastic."
 
On the women's 7-0 victory…
 
"The girls have unbelievable chemistry and leadership. Senior captains Judit and Kerry have poured so much into this program – so much winning, leadership and commitment. I really thought this team came out and made a statement today with the energy and spirit the played with."