NEW ORLEANS – In an action packed opening day of the Big Easy Southland Classic, seven members of the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi tennis team earned spots in their respective flight finals by the end of the evening.
"I'm very proud of our grit and toughness today," said Director of Tennis
Steve Moore. "I thought we chose to be strong mentally on a long windy day and I'm proud of the team for that. I think they've worked very hard to have the legs to be fit in these situations. I'm proud of the way prepared for this event."
In a return to the old fall individual championships format, the Big Easy Classic pitted conference rivals against one another in a preview of what's to come in the spring season. The Islanders certainly left their mark in what will be the only day of competition due to deteriorating weather associated with Tropical Storm Nate.
MEN MAKE SPLASH
On the men's side, all five Islanders who made the trip to New Orleans fought their way into the flight finals.
In the top flight,
Francois Kellerman dominated his opening match of the day against Carlos Paton from rival Lamar. Francois rolled to a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Paton to advance to the semifinals. Francois' second match of the day would require a comeback as the Islander fell behind with a 0-6 first set. It matter little, however, as Kellerman rallied to topple Alexis Guedy from New Orleans with a 6-2 second set and 10-1 tiebreak third.
A pair of Islanders were set to square off in the finals of the second flight.
Okkie Kellerman captured a pair of three-set victories while
William Mottet won both of his matches in straight sets.
Okkie toppled Toby Lentz from Nicholls in the opening round earning a hard-fought 6-4, 4-6, 10-7 victory. In the semifinals, Okkie picked up a 4-6, 7-5, 10-6 thriller over Johannes Klien from UNO. Across the bracket, Mottet downed Nicolas Kramer from New Orleans in 6-2, 6-3 fashion to start his day. The sophomore followed with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over UIW's Francisco Bendana.
Flight three belonged to
Carlos Pedrosa Cuevas. The junior rolled past Joey Vantanadilok of UIW with a 6-2, 6-1 performance in the quarterfinals. Pedrosa went on to down Roy Stepanov from Lamar with a 6-2, 6-4 semifinal score.
The final entrant for the men,
Daiki Tanabe, made it a perfect day for the Blue and Green with two victories. The freshman topped Lorenzo Camilli of New Orleans in his opening round before earning another victory over a Lamar entrant for the Islanders, defeating Lukas Grubelnig.
In doubles action, the Kellerman twins took the top-flight by storm with a 6-1 victory over Mary and Stepanov from Lamar. They followed that effort with a 6-3 romp over Vantanadilok and Bendana from UIW.
Mottet and Pedrosa paired in the round robin, earning a pair of 6-2 victories over teams from UIW and New Orleans.
WOMEN IMPRESS
On the women's side,
Marina Vicens Miquel was up to her usual tricks, earning a spot in the finals of the second flight. After playing six for the Islanders last season, Vicens Miquel continued her strong fall with a pair of victories Friday. The junior won in 3-6, 6-3- 10-6 fashion over Hannah Brett from McNeese before taking out Kaela Di Guilio from Lamar with a 6-2, 6-1 win in the semifinals.
Freshman
Maria Soler Valverde was equally impressive in her Islander debut, fighting to the third-flight final. Soler topped Amelie Vossgaetter from Lamar in the opening round. The newest Islander made it a perfect debut with another victory in the semifinal, this one over Marija Mastilovic of McNeese.
Playing in the top flight after spending last season at number three,
Louise Trigona suffered a pair of hard-fought losses. Against Matea Zemunik, UIW's top offering, Trigona fell 6-7, 6-2, 8-10. The sophomore would suffer another agonizing three-set loss to Fabienne Gettwart from Sam Houston State in the afternoon.
In doubles action, Trigona and Vicens paired together for a dominant 6-0 win over Brett and Mastilovic from McNeese.
"We have a lot of work to do and a sense of urgency to get better everyday," said Moore. "I love the character and fight of this team. There's a lot of Islanders choosing the good fork in the road to fight and choose character and right now I don't see a single one choosing to cut corners."
SATURDAY CANCELED
Due to weather concerns associated with the approaching Tropical Storm Nate, the final day of the Big Easy Classic has been canceled.
