CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Continuing to build upon its success as one of the winningest programs in the history of the Southland Conference for any sport, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's tennis team signed Tomas Quesada Perez,
Lucas Schurdevin and
Avery Zavala for 2022-23.
The trio join an A&M-Corpus Christi squad that has won three championships in the last two seasons and 21 overall.
Quesada Perez arrives on The Island as a true freshman with four years of eligibility. The Canary Islands native won two big tournaments in 2022 including the ITF Grade 5 Cairo and the Master Rafa Nadal Tour by Mapfre of Spain. Quesada Perez hoisted an 11.9 UTR.
"Tomas was ranked No. 63 in the Spanish men's open rankings which includes the professionals and adults. He's a very talented lefty who is rising fast in the rankings. Also ranked 261 in the ITF Junior World Rankings. We are super excited Tomas chose to join the Islander family. We think he's going to be a tremendous fit with his work ethic, motivation and strong character," said head coach
Steve Moore.
Schurdevin comes from Tours, France and will also be a true freshman. He notched a career-high ITF Junior Ranking of 563 and moved up over 1,000 spots from 2021. Schurdevin registered a UTR of 12.01.
"Lucas is one of the top juniors in France and holds a -2.6 French ranking which represents a strong player on a nationally ranked college team. He comes highly recommended from other Islanders for his fighting spirit, fitness and mental toughness. We think he's going to be a great player for us and super excited he chose to join the Islander family over many other choices," Moore said.
Zavala is a Texas product from Amarillo. He transfers from Arkansas where he played two seasons and registered wins over Alabama and Kentucky. Zavala was an SEC All-Academic honoree with the Razorbacks. In high school, he was the No. 1 player out of the state of Texas and a five-star recruit by Tennis Recruiting Network. He tallied a UTR of 12.25.
"Avery was the No. 1 ranked player in the state of Texas two years ago. We are incredibly excited he chose the Islanders. He has tremendous talent and potential and we love his aggressive attacking game. He's a great athlete with incredible upside who comes from a great family and tennis background. Excellent character, hard worker and great team guy," Moore said.
Perez, Schurdevin and Zavala will strengthen an Islanders men's tennis roster that returns four starters from last year's team including their No. 1, 2 and 3 singles players.
Signee Roster
Tomas Quesada Perez (Freshman, 6-1, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands/Canturbury School of Las Palmas/UTR 11.90)
Lucas Schurdevin (Freshman, 5-8, Tours, France/Centre National d'Enseignement a Distance/UTR 12.01)
Avery Zavala (Junior, 6-0, 175, Amarillo, Texas/Allen HS/Arkansas/UTR 12.25)
A&M-Corpus Christi Tennis
- 14 NCAA Tournaments
- 30 SLC Championships
- 4 Top-40 National Rankings
- 3.0 GPA 37 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
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