CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's tennis returned to the Thomas J. Henry Tennis Center for a rivalry match against UT-Arlington. In front of nearly 100 fans, the Islanders battled in a thriller to secure a 4-3 victory over the Mavericks. Carlos Pedrosa Cuevas rose up big for the Islanders, earning the final point of the match (6-3, 7-6) to clinch the victory for the Islanders.
Heading into the match, the men remained in the national rankings, being ranked #78 in the nation among all NCAA Division-1 teams in today's ITA poll. They have reached the ITA National Published Ranking for the 12th time in the last 13 years.
"What a great college tennis match that was," said Coach Steve Moore. "UT-Arlington has a great team every year. It cannot get closer than that. I'm proud of our guys for the way that they fight, encourage each other, and never give up. But, at the same time, we as coaches have to drive our team to play every point with intensity and stop mentally checking out 1 out of 5. Those free gifts and mental checkouts will result in a 4-3 heartbreaking loss in a big moment this season if they are not fixed. So, we need to have a sense of urgency as loud as standing behind a jet to play every point with intensity, and eliminate casualness."
FINAL STATS
TAMUCC 4, UTA 3
Singles: Order of Finish – 2,3,6,1,5,4
1. Guanarteme Nuez (UTA) def. Francois Kellerman (AMCC) 6-4, 6-4
2. Enrique Pardo (UTA) def. William Mottet (AMCC) 6-2, 6-1
3. Mauricio Del Rio (UTA) def. Thomas Rodrigues (AMCC) 6-3, 6-1
4. Carlos Pedrosa (AMCC) def. Eduard Simo (UTA) 6-3, 7-6
5. Okkie Kellerman (AMCC) def. Abhishek Bostola (UTA) 6-4, 6-4
6. Kyohei Yamanaka (AMCC) def. Sansidh Kommaraju (UTA) 6-1, 6-2
Doubles: Order of Finish – 3,1,2
1. Francois Kellerman/Okkie Kellerman (AMCC) def. Guanarteme Nuez/Mauricio Del Rio (UTA) 7-5
2. William Mottet/Thomas Rodrigues (AMCC) def. Sansidh Kommaraju/Eduard Simo (UTA) 7-5
3. Enrique Pardo/Andre Russo (UTA) def. Biyik Akinshemoyin/David Ambrozic (AMCC) 6-3
WHAT'S NEXT
As soon as the match ended, the Islanders hit the road, traveling to San Antonio for tomorrow's match against Wichita State. The match, held at a neutral site, is set to start at 3 PM. After today's thrilling victory, the Islanders look to carry that momentum into tomorrow's match, and secure a victory over the Shockers!
