BEAUMONT, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi tennis program swept the day on the road Monday, improving in conference play with a women's 5-2 victory before the men followed with a narrow 4-3 win over Lamar at the Thompson Family Tennis Complex in Beaumont.
The women struck first and never let go, grinding out the doubles point with three wins that set the tone for the afternoon.
Yana Mykytyn and
Kseniya Ramanouskaya delivered a sharp 6-1 victory at No. 1, Adriana Jimenez and
Viktoriia Sedova followed with a 6-2 decision at No. 2, and
Josefa Fuenzalida and
Emma Bousquet capped the sweep at No. 3 with a 6-4 win to give A&M-Corpus Christi a 1-0 lead.
Lamar answered early in singles, but the Islanders responded with force across the middle courts. Ramanouskaya ignited the push with a dominant 6-1, 6-1 win, and Fuenzalida matched it point-for-point with another 6-1, 6-1 result to swing momentum back. Jimenez overwhelmed her opponent 6-0, 6-1, extending the lead as the Islanders tightened their grip on the match. Bousquet then slammed the door with a 6-1, 6-1 victory to clinch the 5-2 team win, overcoming earlier losses on the top two courts.
With the tone set, the men stepped into a battle that would come down to the final court.
A&M-Corpus Christi again seized the early edge, sweeping doubles in hard-fought fashion.
Etienne Marty and
Omar Suarez opened with a 6-3 win at court two,
Ethan Dasset and
Josef Zapletal followed at 6-4 from line three, and
Matthieu Coignet and
Mikel Garmendia edged out a 6-4 victory at No. 1 to complete the sweep for the 1-0 lead.
Lamar surged back in singles, taking control with three straight wins as the Islanders suddenly trailed 3-1. Facing the brink, the Islanders dug in.
Marty stopped the bleeding with a composed 6-3, 6-1 win at No. 3 singles, and Dasset followed with a clutch 6-2, 7-5 victory at court four to even the match at 3-3, setting the stage for a final showdown.
All eyes turned to
Josef Zapletal, who dropped the opening set 4-6 before roaring back. He flipped the match with a dominant 6-1 second set and powered through a tense decider 6-3, completing the comeback and sealing the 4-3 victory.
The women improved to 14-3 overall and 4-2 in conference play, while the men moved to 13-3 and evened their conference record at 1-1. On the women's side, the Islanders are now 17-9 all-time against Lamar, not dropping to the Cardinals since 2017. The men lead Lamar 23-5 all-time and have won the last four meetings in Beaumont.
The teams will return home this weekend with home matches against Nicholls Saturday and New Orleans next Monday. Saturday will also be senior day for the men's senior captains Marty and Zapletal.
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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