Crushing the Colonels

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – In front of a packed and loud Thomas J. Henry Tennis Center, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi tennis program won in dominant fashion on Wednesday with a pair of shutout victories in the Southland Conference over Nicholls.
 
The Islanders women (8-1, 2-0) were perfect for their second straight outing with a 7-0 win, while the Islanders men (9-4, 1-0) opened up conference play by beating the Colonels 7-0.
 
MEN – 7-0
 Aiming to continue their three-match winning streak, the Islanders opened up strong in doubles with Kevin Bettendroffer and William Mottet downing Bernard Wezeman and Samm Meesen 6-4, before Cagatay Soke and Paul Cook put the Blue and Green on the board with a  6-1 win at number two.
 
Carlos Pedrosa Cuevas needed a second-set tiebreak to give the Islanders' their first point in singles play. Gonzalo Achondo handled Leo Santos in the number six position at 6-2, 6-0.
 
At number three, Paul Cook gave up just four games to Oleksander Podgursky, winning 6-3, 6-1. William Mottet sealed the win for Corpus Christi by posting matching 6-3, 6-3 sets to top Max Sinn at number four.
 
Kevin Bettendroffer was pushed to the brink in the first set, but rallied to defeat Bernard Wezeman 7-6, 6-3. Cagatay Soke kept the Blue and Green perfect and bounced back from a second-set defeat to win 6-4, 0-6, 10-7.
 
The men will return to action March 25 for the Rice Spring Invitational, where the Blue and Green will face UNLV, Denver and Rice.
 
WOMEN – 7-0
For the fourth time this season, and third time in the last four matches, the Islanders women shutout an opponent.
 
Doubles gave the Islanders an early lead, as the Blue and Green gave up just five games between the three matches. Alexandra Belle and Kerry Galhos rolled to a 6-1 victory at number three. Louise Trigona and Marina Vicens Miquel held off Changwei Wei and Marria Kozachok to win 6-2, as Judit Vives and Jelena Dzinic closed out the doubles at 6-2.
 
Vives continued to roll into the singles portion with at 6-2, 6-2 win over Clemence Krug at number two. Marina Vicens Miquel remained undefeated at number five with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Changwei Wei.
 
Dzinic matched her double partner's dominance over the Colonels with a win of Lingfeng Gu at number one, 6-1, 6-3. Gahlos took the Blue and Green over the top with an impressive 6-0, 6-11 win in the six spot.
 
Maldonado and Trigona completed the shutout with 7-5, 6-4 and 6-3, 6-7, 10-6 wins, respectively.
 
The women hit the road for a pair of Southland matches this weekend with a trip to Lamar on Saturday and Sam Houston State on Sunday.