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CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's tennis program earned the doubles point, won three quick singles matches to clinch the match and then finished off the final three courts for a 7-0 sweep over UTRGV on Wednesday at the Henry Tennis Center.
It was the second time A&M-Corpus Christi (12-2) swept UTRGV (3-10) 7-0 in the South Texas Showdown this year after doing the same in Edinburg on Feb. 9. The Islanders also beat the Vaqueros 4-1 at the H-E-B Tournament of Champions on Feb. 21.
As an institution, A&M-Corpus Christi leads UTRGV in the showdown 28.5-16.5 and is one win away from sealing this year's competition. The South Texas Showdown is an all-sports competition between the two schools, presented by NavyArmy Community Credit Union.
"This South Texas Showdown brings out the best in our team. I think they love to compete for this great school and the Corpus Christi community. And the showdown just brings even more intensity to the match. I think these guys thrive on that," said head coach
Steve Moore. "We talk so much about earning the right to be confident and earning the right to play with great footwork and balance past the eighth shot. These guys have really grinded and put in the work to earn that confidence. We are seeing them sustain good balance deeper and deeper into the point. I love the way these guys fight and I love the way they compete on an ugly windy day like today. They just show a lot of fight and heart and character!"
The Islanders started the day strong in doubles. The team of senior
Chad Nguyen and freshman
Nathan Schwartz came back from a 2-0 deficit to win 6-3 at No. 3 doubles. A&M-Corpus Christi clinched the point at the No. 2 position where freshmen
Carlos Berna Ruiz and
Pascal Lorieul won 6-4. Berna Ruiz and Lorieul improved to 11-1 as a duo on the year.
In singles, the Islanders made quick work of the Vaqueros at No. 5 and 6 singles. Berna Ruiz cruised to a 6-0, 6-2 win at No. 5, while freshman
Borja Delgado tallied the same exact score at No. 6. The finisher came at No. 4 singles where Schwartz put-away Zane Kohrs 6-4, 6-1.
Having already won the overall match, the teams played out the final three courts. Junior
Kyohei Yamanaka erased a second set deficit to close out a straight set victory 6-2, 6-4.
At No. 3 singles, Lorieul dropped the second set 6-4 and then fell behind 4-0 in the third set tiebreaker before grinding out 10 points in a row in an astonishing turn around. Lorieul remained undefeated on the year with an 8-0 record.
A nail-biter came at No. 2 singles where freshman
Ryuya Ata outlasted his opponent in a 12-10 third set marathon tiebreaker.
As a team, A&M-Corpus Christi is 60-12 (.833) in singles and 31-7 (.816) in doubles.
Men's tennis improved to 21-3 all-time against UTRGV and have won 17 consecutive meetings. The men will next take the court Tuesday when they travel to Rice for a 12 p.m. road match.
A&M-Corpus Christi Tennis
- 11 NCAA Tournaments
- 25 SLC Championships
- 4 Top-40 National Rankings
- 3.0 GPA 31 Straight Semesters
- Islanders have received a No. 3 seed at the NCAA Tournament three times
- Women's tennis has cracked the ITA top-75 national rankings three times
- Men's tennis has cracked the ITA national rankings 10 consecutive years
- Ranked nationally in NCAA DI as high as No. 35 for the men and No. 60 for the women
A&M-Corpus Christi 7, UTRGV 0
Doubles competition
1.
Kyohei Yamanaka/
Ryuya Ata (AMCC) vs. Kohrs, Zane/Jankovic, Luka (UTRGV) 3-5, unfinished
2.
Carlos Berna Ruiz/
Pascal Lorieul (AMCC) def. Izurieta, Carlo/de Felipe Garcia, S. (UTRGV) 6-4
3.
Nathan Schwartz/
Chad Nguyen (AMCC) def. Schmit, Mateo/Williams, Te Kani (UTRGV) 6-3
Singles competition
1.
Kyohei Yamanaka (AMCC) def. Izurieta, Carlo (UTRGV) 6-2, 6-4
2.
Ryuya Ata (AMCC) def. de Felipe Garcia, S. (UTRGV) 6-4, 2-6, 12-10
3.
Pascal Lorieul (AMCC) def. Jankovic, Luka (UTRGV) 6-2, 4-6, 10-4
4.
Nathan Schwartz (AMCC) def. Kohrs, Zane (UTRGV) 6-4, 6-1
5.
Carlos Berna Ruiz (AMCC) def. Williams, Te Kani (UTRGV) 6-0, 6-2
6.
Borja Delgado (AMCC) def. Schmit, Mateo (UTRGV) 6-0, 6-2
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