CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men and women's tennis teams will both play UTRGV for the second time this season, now on their home court as the Vaqueros come to town Thursday for part two of the South Texas Showdown, presented by Rally Credit Union.
The women will begin play at 11 a.m. with the men to follow right after at 2:30 p.m. at the Thomas J. Henry Tennis Center.
It will be the final meeting for tennis in the South Texas Showdown, presented by Rally Credit Union, an annual rivalry series in which the institutions compete against each other in 12 sports. A&M-Corpus Christi leads the all-time series 5-2 and is leading this year's competition 21.5 to 17.5.
The schools split the first meeting, with the women taking a 6-1 victory while the men fell just short in a 4-3 decision. Under head coach
Steve Moore, the Islanders are 27-1 all-time over the Vaqueros women while the men lead UTRGV 25-4 all-time. The loss was the men's first to UTRGV since 2010.
"We love the match up of the South Texas Showdown, it really brings the intensity of a big conference match and that is so good for the players on both teams! We have a lot of respect for UTRGV and these matches are always a battle. It makes us better and tougher! Thursday will be another opportunity to stay with our process, play every present point with intensity, and strive to have the best team unity in college tennis. Go Islanders!" said Moore.
The men are primed for revenge, however, as they are coming off a comeback 4-2 win over New Mexico State last weekend in the H-E-B Tournament of Champions. Freshman
Nicolas Trebuchet, the reigning SLC Player of the Week, clinched the match with the deciding ace point at No. 6 to complete the Islanders rally. He leads the team this year with most singles wins at seven.
It helped pushed them to 7-2 on the year. Overall, the men are 34-7 in singles duals this season helped largely in part from a 6-0 season from senior newcomer
Antoine Vicaire and 5-0 record from freshman
Matthieu Coignet.
The women are also in top shape as they will look to complete the sweep over the Vaqueros after coming off a 6-1 win over UTEP last week at home.
Senior
Naomi Moi McKenzie, who is also the reigning SLC Player of the Week, helped spearhead that win with a 6-4 win at No. 2 doubles before dominating at No. 2 singles 6-0, 6-1. She has remained an undefeated 5-0 this year all coming at No. 2 singles.
The women are 8-1 on the year and 37-5 in duals. Seniors
Emma Aucagne and
Valeria Cherfus have both registered a team-high seven wins in their respective duals while freshman
Ana Veroux is making a splash to her collegiate career with a spotless 6-0 record.
Both teams are an undefeated 5-0 at home this year. The women will be looking to extend a 39-match home winning streak that has spanned over four seasons.
A&M-Corpus Christi Tennis
- 16 NCAA Tournaments
- 33 SLC Championships
- 4 Top-40 National Rankings
- 3.0 GPA 41 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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