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BEAUMONT, Texas – The top-seeded Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's tennis program earned the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament after beating the host and second-seeded Lamar 4-1 in the finals of the Southland Conference Championship on Monday at the Beaumont Municipal Tennis Center.
It marked the 27th SLC Championship and will be the 12th NCAA Tournament appearance for A&M-Corpus Christi tennis.
The clinching match for the men (19-4) came at No. 3 singles where
Nathan Schwartz grinded out a 7-6 (3), 6-3 victory over Filippo Salsini from Lamar (11-9).
The morning started with a win in doubles for the Islanders. Schwartz and fellow freshman
Pascal Lorieul won 6-4 at No. 2, and freshmen
Borja Delgado and
Carlos Berna Ruiz clinched posted a 6-3 victory at No. 3.
In singles, A&M-Corpus Christi won four first sets. It included tiebreakers at No. 3 and 5 singles.
Freshman Guillermo Castanedo registered the first singles win 6-3, 6-2 at No. 6. Lorieul, the SLC Freshman of the Year, shortly followed with a 6-3, 6-3 victory at No. 4 to put the Islanders up 3-0.
Schwartz served for the championship and built a 40-15 lead in the final game. Championship point came on a big first serve that was returned wide.
In unfinished matches, Delgado was up a set on court five after clawing out a tiebreaker but trailed 4-2 in the second in a tight match.
Junior
Kyohei Yamanaka erased a first set deficit and came back to win in the second 7-6. His match was early in the third when the Islanders won.
Selections for the 2021 NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Tennis Championships will be announced at 5 p.m. on, Monday May 3. The first round will be played on either Friday, May 7 or Saturday, May 8.
A&M-Corpus Christi Tennis
- 12 NCAA Tournaments
- 27 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
Men's Tennis
A&M-Corpus Christi 4, Lamar 1
Doubles Competition
1. Axel Vila Antuna/Nicolas Mayr (LU) def.
Kyohei Yamanaka/
Ryuya Ata (AMCC) 6-2
2.
Nathan Schwartz/
Pascal Lorieul (AMCC) def. Filippo Salsini/Joshua Taylor (LU) 6-4
3.
Borja Delgado/
Carlos Berna Ruiz (AMCC) def. Carlos Paton Canal/Joshua Sundaram (LU) 6-3
Singles Competition
1.
Kyohei Yamanaka (AMCC) vs. Axel Vila Antuna (LU) 1-6, 7-6 (7-5), 1-2, unfinished
2. Nicolas Mayr (LU) def.
Ryuya Ata (AMCC) 6-4, 6-3
3.
Nathan Schwartz (AMCC) def. Filippo Salsini (LU) 7-6 (7-3), 6-3
4.
Pascal Lorieul (AMCC) def. Carlos Paton Canal (LU) 6-3, 6-4
5.
Borja Delgado (AMCC) vs. Brandon Do (LU) 7-6, 2-4, unfinished
6.
Guillermo Castaneda (AMCC) def. Joshua Sundaram (LU) 6-3, 6-2
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