CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's tennis team battled to the final courts Sunday afternoon but came up just short as Louisiana out a 4-3 decision at the Thomas J. Henry Tennis Center on the final day of the H-E-B Tournament of Champions.
Despite the narrow defeat, the Islanders showed grit throughout, claiming the doubles point and earning straight-set victories at the top of the singles lineup before the match ultimately swung on a pair of tight three-setters.
The Islanders struck first in doubles. The No. 1 tandem of
Mikel Garmendia and
Matthieu Coignet set the tone with a 6-3 win, and
Etienne Marty and
Omar Suarez followed with a 7-5 victory at No. 2 to clinch the point.
In singles, Suarez kept the momentum rolling. Playing at No. 2 in the lineup, he delivered a composed 6-4, 6-2 win to give the Islanders a 2-0 advantage. Moments later, Marty extended the lead to 3-0 with a dominant 6-4, 6-1 performance at No. 3 singles.
Louisiana responded with resilience of its own. The visitors earned straight-set wins at No. 4 and No. 1 to even the match, setting up decisive third sets on the back courts.
At No. 6,
Maxime Salesses forced a third after splitting the first two sets, but Louisiana pulled away in the final frame. The clincher came at No. 5 in a marathon battle.
Josef Zapletal captured the opening set 6-4 and pushed the third to the limit, seeing a pair of dual match points up 5-4 before falling 7-5 in the decider, sealing the 4-3 result after more than three hours of play.
It concludes the 62
nd annual H-E-B Tournament of Champions which was started by H-E-B founder Howard E. Butt in 1964 and is the oldest college team tournament in America at 62 years. It outdates the NCAA championships which wasn't a team tournament yet as the H-E-B Tournament of Champions became the first big college team tournament in the country.
Gallery: (2-22-2026) H-E-B Tournament of Champions - vs. ULL
A&M-Corpus Christi Tennis
- 17 NCAA Tournaments
- 37 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
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