HOUSTON, Texas - The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's tennis team returned to action this weekend at the Ralph O'Connor Invitational hosted by Rice. The Islanders played over three days as they competed in their third match of the fall season and picked up 13 wins over some of the toughest competition in the state.
In the A draw of the tournament, the Islanders paired
Andres Delgadillo and
Dani Lopez as a team that faced Rice. On Friday, they each fell in their singles matches in straight sets and fell 6-2 in their doubles match. On Saturday, they fell 3-0 to UTRGV and then had a 3-0 walkover win on Sunday against Texas Arlington.
Mikel Garmendia and
Jami Savolainen teamed up in the B draw. They had a tough draw against the eventual winners of the bracket as they fell in straight sets in singles and dropped a close 7-5 doubles match. On Saturday, Savolainen took down his UTA opponent in three sets in singles while Garmendia won his singles match in straight sets. The pair teamed up to cruise to a 6-2 doubles win to sweep UTA 3-0. They faced a pair from Incarnate Word today for fifth place in the group, and Savolainen had success in his singles match again as he bounced back from dropping the first set to take the final two 7-6. However, Garmendia fell in his singles match in two sets, and the pair dropped their doubles match in the tiebreak.
The Islanders had four players in the C draw of the event.
Nicolas Rivera Paz and
Egor Gorin had the most success as they won their quarterfinals match 2-1. They faced a combined pair from Lamar and UTA as the Islanders took them down 6-3 in the doubles match. Rivera Paz rolled in his singles match 6-2, 6-2, while Gorin took the first set but couldn't close the match. The Islanders still advanced 2-1, and to the semifinals to face their UIW opponents. Gorin won his match in straight sets, but Rivera Paz fell in his singles and they fell in the doubles match. They took third place after a 3-0 walkover win over UTA today.
Dan Hosono and
Paxton O'Shea teamed up as the second Islanders pair in the C draw. They fell to the eventual winners from ACU 3-0 in the first round before falling to Lamar by the same score in their second match and the combined UTA/Lamar pair in their third match.
The Islanders men's tennis team is back in action next weekend at the Southland Conference Individual Championships. The event will take place Oct. 22-25 in Lake Charles, LA.
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