NEW ORLEANS – In a rollercoaster day for the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi tennis programs, the women defeated New Orleans 5-2, but the men fell in the smallest of margins 4-3 on Thursday at the Privateers Tennis Center.
"We fought with all our hearts today. You could not ask a team to fight harder," said head coach
Steve Moore. "The men just lost a heartbreaking match. This team has great character, great unity, they are a true team and a true family! I believe in them with all my heart. We have to get smarter in certain situations, we have to stick with our process and not bail out. But we will learn and improve because this is a championship team."
The women, who are the two-time defending Southland Conference Tournament champions, improved to 16-2 on the season and 3-0 in conference. They won the doubles point and four singles matches to put-away the Privateers (7-6, 0-3 SLC).
It was the fifth consecutive win the Islanders, who improved to 9-2 on the road this year. The women are now 106-37 in conference under Moore and 10-2 against UNO.
A&M-Corpus Christi got it started with wins at No. 1 and 3 doubles to earn the point. Junior
Naomi Moi McKenzie and freshman
Sofia Pinto won 6-3 on court one, and juniors
Kateryna Rublevska and
Valeria Cherfus won 6-2 on court three.
The Islanders followed it up with victories at No. 3, 4, 5, and 6 singles. Pinto, Cherfus and Rublevska each went 2-0 on the day with straight-set victories. Senior
Victoire Delattre topped it off with a 6-0, 7-5 win on court five.
The men had to swallow a grueling defeat after falling in four three-set singles matches. They won the doubles point after senior
Pascal Lorieul and junior
Avery Zavala won 6-3 on court one, and senior
Ulysse Bertrand and
Matthieu Peres won a wild 7-6 (8-6) tiebreaker to clinch.
Zavala, the reigning SLC Men's Tennis Player of the Week winner, continued his winning ways with a 4-6, 7-6 (6), 6-4 victory at No. 1. The Islanders also grabbed a point on court six as Bertrand won in straight sets 7-5, 6-4.
Moore is now 66-11 SLC in his career in men's tennis and 11-3 against New Orleans.
A&M-Corpus Christi will continue its road trip Sunday when the women play at 11 a.m. and the men 2 p.m. at Nicholls. The next home match is Wednesday, April 12 when the men host UIW at 1 p.m. at the Thomas J. Henry Tennis Center.
Women's Tennis
A&M-Corpus Christi 5, New Orleans 2
Doubles Competition
1.
Naomi Moi McKenzie/
Sofia Pinto [AMCC-W] def. Laurie Barendse/Tristanne Dechoux [UNOW] 6-3
2. Didi Bredberg/Raluca Puscas [UNOW] def.
Emma Aucagne/
Palina Saulevich [AMCC-W] 6-2
3.
Kateryna Rublevska/
Valeria Cherfus [AMCC-W] def. Ana Kouchnareva/Ksenia Reznitskaya [UNOW] 6-2
Singles Competition
1. Didi Bredberg [UNOW] def.
Emma Aucagne [AMCC-W] 6-1, 6-2
2. Laurie Barendse [UNOW] def.
Naomi Moi McKenzie [AMCC-W] 6-2, 2-6, 6-4
3.
Sofia Pinto [AMCC-W] Ana Kouchnareva [UNOW] 6-4, 7-5
4.
Valeria Cherfus [AMCC-W] def. Tristanne Dechoux [UNOW] 6-4, 6-2
5.
Victoire Delattre [AMCC-W] def. Kate Kalistratova [UNOW] 6-0, 7-5
6.
Kateryna Rublevska [AMCC-W] def. Raluca Puscas [UNOW] 7-5, 6-3
Men's Tennis
New Orleans 4, A&M-Corpus Christi 3
Doubles Competition
1.
Avery Zavala/
Pascal Lorieul [AMCC-M] def. Espen Lagarde/Lilian Dubois [UNOM] 6-3
2. Luke Joujan/Max Heinzel [UNOM] def.
Lucas Schurdevin/
Nathan Schwartz [AMCC-M] (6-3)
3.
Ulysse Bertrand/
Matthieu Peres [AMCC-M] def. Karim Al-Amin/Matthew Armbruster [UNOM] 7-6 (6)
Singles Competition
1.
Avery Zavala [AMCC-M] def. Max Heinzel [UNOM] 4-6, 7-6 (6), 6-4
2. Karim Al-Amin [UNOM] def.
Pascal Lorieul [AMCC-M] 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (3)
3. Espen Lagarde [UNOM] def.
Matthieu Peres [AMCC-M] 6-2, 3-6, 6-4
4. Luke Joujan [UNOM] def.
Nathan Schwartz [AMCC-M] 6-3, 5-7, 7-5
5. Lilian Dubois [UNOM] def
Lucas Schurdevin [AMCC-M] 5-7, 7-2, 6-4
6.
Ulysse Bertrand [AMCC-M] def. Matthew Armbruster [UNOM] 7-5, 6-4
A&M-Corpus Christi Tennis
- 14 NCAA Tournaments
- 30 SLC Championships
- 4 Top-40 National Rankings
- 3.0 GPA 39 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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