CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men and women's tennis teams put a lot of heart into a pair of conference wins Monday, each defeating Nicholls to complete a 2-0 home weekend at the Thomas J. Henry Tennis Center.
The women (16-2, 3-0 SLC) didn't bat an eye, sweeping the Colonels in straight sets at every court. The men (15-5, 2-0 SLC) went 3-for-3 at doubles to take a quick lead before Nicholls tried battling back in singles, but the Islanders stood their ground and finished on top 5-2. The wins come after each team took down New Orleans also at home on Saturday.
Seniors
Valeria Cherfus and
Kateryna Rublevska notched a 6-2 victory at No. 3 doubles before each taking their singles matches at courts four and five, respectively. They both move to 3-0 in singles duals in conference play this year.
Seniors
Emma Aucagne and
Naomi Moi McKenzie opened with the 6-3 decision at No. 1 doubles as the duo remains an undefeated 3-0 in conference doubles matches. Aucagne then won with a pair of 6-1 sets at No. 1 singles before McKenzie notched a 6-3, 6-2 victory at court two.
The pair of freshman
Ana Veroux and
Palina Saulevich took a 6-4 win at No. 2 doubles and completed the 7-0 day with straight set wins in their singles duals as the two combined to only concede three games between them.
The women have not dropped a match to a conference opponent since the 2021-22 season, having won the last 19 meetings. They extend their home winning streak to 42 straight matches spanning over the last four seasons and improve to 16-0 all-time over Nicholls.
Additionally, the women are now 40-2 in SLC play at home since 2015.
"We're just very proud of these girls! I can't say enough about their character, team unity, and work ethic! We talked since August about putting in the hard work and sacrifice to earn the right to be confident and they truly have! This group is a joy to coach. Anyone who wouldn't want to hire these girls after college should sell their company," said head coach
Steve Moore.
The men had senior
Avery Zavala/sophomore
Etienne Marty and senior
Antoine Vicaire/freshman
Iannis Fernandes each secure 6-3 doubles decisions before sophomore
Lucas Schurdevin/freshman
Nicolas Trebuchet closed out with a 6-4 win at court three.
Schurdevin got his second win at No. 3 singles with a 6-2, 6-0 victory to even the match after the Colonels were able to strike back with two singles wins. Zavala then gave everything he had at No. 1 singles to defeat his opponent with a pair of 6-4 sets.
Trebuchet grinded out a long back-and-forth dual at No. 6 despite the final score being a 6-3, 6-4 Islanders win as he pulled through to clinch the clinch. Fernandes, in the face of adversity after allowing his opponent to even the dual in the second, didn't drop a game in the third in response for a 6-3, 4-6, 6-0 victory.
Zavala/Marty are now 2-0 as doubles partners in conference play at the top spot. The men now hoist a 58-3 home record against conference opponents since 2007 and move to 22-0 all-time over Nicholls.
"I can't put into words how proud I am of these guys and the heart and character they showed today! This match was a flat out dogfight, and we have the biggest respect for Nicholls and the team coach Greg Harkins has put together! That was a darn good team we played today and this was a great college tennis match. Competing with all your heart and earning everything is a great life lesson for these kids, and that's exactly what we had to do today! I'm proud of the way the guys rose up. The Southland Conference in tennis these days, you have to be ready to fight for everything and come expecting a battle!" said Moore.
The women will be back in action Saturday at home against UIW in a rematch of the 2023 SLC Championships when the Islanders won 4-1 to threepeat the tournament title. The men will have slight longer break, returning to the court on April 9 at UIW.
Women's Results – A&M-Corpus Christi 7, Nicholls 0
Doubles competition
1.
Emma Aucagne/
Naomi Moi McKenzie (AMCC-W) def. Constanza Cruz/Carla Bouygues (NICH) 6-1
2.
Ana Veroux/
Palina Saulevich (AMCC-W) def. Lea Grinberg/Aada Inna (NICH) 6-4
3.
Valeria Cherfus/
Kateryna Rublevska (AMCC-W) def. Noemie Piquet/Dareen Hassan (NICH) 6-2
Singles competition
1.
Emma Aucagne (AMCC-W) def. Carla Bouygues (NICH) 6-1, 6-1
2.
Naomi Moi McKenzie (AMCC-W) def. Liu QianYu (NICH) 6-3, 6-2
3.
Ana Veroux (AMCC-W) def. Lea Grinberg (NICH) 6-1, 6-0
4.
Valeria Cherfus (AMCC-W) def. Aada Inna (NICH) 6-1, 6-4
5.
Kateryna Rublevska (AMCC-W) def. Noemie Piquet (NICH) 6-1, 6-3
6.
Palina Saulevich (AMCC-W) def. Dareen Hassan (NICH) 6-2, 6-0
Men's Results – A&M-Corpus Christi 1, Nicholls
Doubles competition
1.
Avery Zavala/
Etienne Marty (AMCC-M) def. Quentin Lamothe/Omar Morsy (NICM) 6-3
2.
Antoine Vicaire/
Iannis Fernandes (AMCC-M) def. Kotaro Matsumura/Harry Collins (NICM) 6-3
3.
Lucas Schurdevin/
Nicolas Trebuchet (AMCC-M) def. Danail Banov/Antonio Sasso (NICM) 6-4
Singles competition
1.
Avery Zavala (AMCC-M) def. Omar Morsy (NICM) 6-4, 6-4
2. Harry Collins (NICM) def.
Etienne Marty (AMCC-M) 6-0, 6-1
3.
Lucas Schurdevin (AMCC-M) def. Quentin Lamothe (NICM) 6-2, 6-0
4.
Iannis Fernandes (AMCC-M) def. Danail Banov (NICM) 6-3, 4-6, 6-0
5. Antonio Sasso (NICM) def.
Antoine Vicaire (AMCC-M) 6-3, 7-5
6.
Nicolas Trebuchet (AMCC-M) def. Kotaro Matsumura (NICM) 6-3, 6-4
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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