CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's and men's tennis teams both dug deep for a victory Monday over tough Lamar squads, as the women posted the 6-1 win while the men won a marathon 5-2 battle at the Thomas J. Henry Tennis Center.
The women (22-2, 7-1 SLC) are now just one match behind Northwestern State in the conference standings, with one left on their schedule. The Lady Demons have three matches remaining as the Islanders will have to wait until April 19
th when Northwestern State plays their final league contest.
Meanwhile, the men (19-4, 4-0 SLC) are now in a race to the finish line as today kept them undefeated in conference play with one final opponent standing in their way to a regular season championship. They are tied in first place with UTRGV at 4-0, with the two teams facing each other in the regular season finale on Saturday.
"I cannot say enough about the heart and fight of these Islanders!" said head coach
Steve Moore. "The women are so young with six freshmen and two sophomores, but they fight so hard and want it so much. Their motivation is fun to coach, and they just keep growing and improving every day.
"The men dug a hole for themselves but then showed the heart of a lion to fight back and win this match! Their team unity is truly special, and it was obvious the way they fought for each other. Anyone at today's match saw what the Islander heart and fight is all about! Islander family fight always."
The women began with doubles wins at No. 1 and No. 2, where
Kseniya Ramanouskaya/
Yana Mykytyn took a 6-3 decision at the top court while
Leticia Tarocco/
Josefa Fuenzalida clinched at court two with a tough 7-5 score.
Those four each took care of business in singles play as well. Tarocco came back from a 1-6 set one and took the next two sets in reverse for the win at No. 1 singles. Fuenzalisa and Mykytyn both notched straight-set victories at No. 2 and No. 3 singles, respectively. Ramanouskaya went the distance for a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 win at court four after
Adriana Jimenez Casado opened singles play a 6-1, 6-2 win at No. 5 singles.
The men had to enter singles play down after dropping the doubles point. However, they rallied as a unit and battled their way on each court to take five of the singles points for the match win.
Omar Suarez evened the match up with a 6-1, 6-3 win at No. 2 singles.
Harry Fouzas wrapped soon after upon finalizing a 6-3, 6-4 decision at court six. The score held at 2-1 for a lengthy period as the remaining courts required a decisive third set.
Nicolas Trebuchet would be the next to finish, turning in a 6-0, 2-6, 6-3 victory at court four. Lamar managed to make it a 3-2 match score to prevent an early clinch, but the final blow came from
Nicholas Niox Chateau on court three who shook off a tiebreak loss in set two to win a tiebreak in set three 8-6 to clinch the match.
Nathan Favier then finished out a grueling fight at No. 1 singles, emerging victorious in a 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-2 decision.
"I also gave to give big credit to our assistant coaches who coached like absolute warriors! I believe they make up one of the best coaching staffs in the nation;
Olga Bazhanova,
Avery Zavala,
Emma Aucagne, and
Valeria Cherfus were big-time today! I'll take their character and leadership over any other staff in the country," said Moore.
Both teams will wrap their regular seasons this Saturday against UTRGV at home. Both will have a chance at a conference title but also clinching the South Texas Showdown in the institutional rivalry between A&M-Corpus Christi and the Vaqueros.
Women's Results // A&M-Corpus Christi 6, Lamar 1
Doubles competition
1.
Yana Mykytyn/
Kseniya Ramanouskaya (AMCC-W) def. Asta Miettinen/Megan Do (LU) 6-3
2.
Leticia Tarocco/
Josefa Fuenzalida (AMCC-W) def. Arina Gudovskaya/Luana Paiva (LU) 7-5
3.
Ana Veroux/Adriana J. Casado (AMCC-W) vs. Savannah Bijlsma/Martina Alcaino (LU) 5-4, unfinished
Singles competition
1.
Leticia Tarocco (AMCC-W) def. Arina Gudovskaya (LU) 1-6, 6-1, 6-1
2.
Josefa Fuenzalida (AMCC-W) def. Asta Miettinen (LU) 6-2, 6-3
3.
Yana Mykytyn (AMCC-W) def. Megan Do (LU) 6-3, 6-1
4.
Kseniya Ramanouskaya (AMCC-W) def. Luana Paiva (LU) 6-2, 3-6, 6-1
5. Adriana J. Casado (AMCC-W) def. Martina Alcaino (LU) 6-1, 6-2
6. Savannah Bijlsma (LU) def.
Juliette Jalai (AMCC-W) 6-4, 2-6, 10-5
Men's Results // A&M-Corpus Christi 5, Lamar 2
Doubles competition
1. Fabian Anthin/Guy Dagan (LU) def.
Tom Berry/
Harry Fouzas (AMCC-M) 6-3
2. Leon Nickel/Haruki Omori-Cowie (LU) def.
Omar Suarez/
Etienne Marty (AMCC-M) 6-4
3.
Nathan Favier/
Matthieu Coignet (AMCC-M) def. Louis Drapeau/Santiago Ledesma (LU) 6-3
Singles competition
1.
Nathan Favier (AMCC-M) def. Leon Nickel (LU) 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 6-2
2.
Omar Suarez (AMCC-M) def. Haruki Omori-Cowie (LU) 6-1, 6-3
3. N. Niox Chateau (AMCC-M) def. Fabian Anthin (LU) 6-1, 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (8-6)
4.
Nicolas Trebuchet (AMCC-M) def. Stefano Chappuis (LU) 6-0, 2-6, 6-3
5. Louis Drapeau (LU) def.
Etienne Marty (AMCC-M) 6-2, 4-6, 6-4
6.
Harry Fouzas (AMCC-M) def. Guy Dagan (LU) 6-3, 6-4
A&M-Corpus Christi Tennis
- 17 NCAA Tournaments
- 35 SLC Championships
- 4 Top-40 National Rankings
- 3.0 GPA 43 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
#ShakasUp
