EDINBURG, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's and women's tennis teams will rematch UTRGV Saturday as the men officially begin their conference journey and both look to sweep the South Texas Showdown, presented by Rally Credit Union.
The men (12-2) finally begin their conference journey, looking to defend their regular season title after securing the championship outright last year. It came in the regular season finale against none other than UTRGV which capped an undefeated 5-0 conference record.
It marked their 13
th all-time regular season title for 23 total championships. They are one of the winningest teams in the Southland Conference, across all sports, holding conference tennis records in regular season titles, conference tournament titles, and NCAA tournament appearances.
"This is a team with great character and team unity, and have truly earned the right to be confident with their hard work! There is great pride and tradition among this team and I know they will fight with all their hearts for each other. We always have the same mindset for each match: max out the things we can control and play each present point with intensity and process! And we judge ourselves on doing that over any result," said head coach
Steve Moore.
The women (12-2, 2-1 SLC) have already gotten conference play underway with wins over SFA and Southeastern, continuing to fight for championship contention. They have won the last three regular season titles and are fighting for their fourth straight.
This weekend will also be pivotal in leading up to the SLC Tournament as both gun for the top seeds for opportune positioning to advance to the NCAAs. The teams have been to the NCAA Championships a record-breaking 17 times.
The women will get going first at 10 a.m., with the men to follow.
Both teams already defeated UTRGV earlier this year in nonconference matches that only counted towards the South Texas Showdown, presented by Rally Credit Union, an annual rivalry series in which A&M-Corpus Christi and UTRGV compete against each other in 12 sports. A&M-Corpus Christi's biggest all-time advantage is in tennis.
Under Moore, the women are to 31-1 over UTRGV while the men are 29-4 over the Vaqueros. The women have won 16 straight against the Vaqueros, not having dropped a match to them since the 2018 season.
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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