COLLEGE STATION, Texas — The No. 10 Texas A&M men’s tennis team is set to open conference play at Vanderbilt at the Currey Tennis Center Sunday at 12 p.m. (CT). A&M enters the match 4-1 overall while the Commodores carry a 4-2 season record and an 0-1 mark in SEC play.
The Aggies entered the spring season with five student-athletes ranked in the singles poll and a single ranked doubles team. No. 4 Valentin Vacherot leads the charge for the Maroon & White with No. 13 Habib, No. 33 Carlos Aguilar, No. 110 Barnaby Smith and No. 116 Schachter rounding out the ranked Aggies. Aguilar and Bjorn Thomson open the season at No. 48 in the doubles rankings, Thomson is in his first season in Aggieland after graduating from Texas Tech last season.
LAST TIME OUT
Aguilar clinched the last match standing to secure a 4-3 win for No. 10 Texas A&M men’s tennis over No. 19 UCF at the USTA National Campus Wednesday evening.
No. 33 Aguilar fought back after dropping a first-set tiebreaker to win 6-7(4), 7-5, 6-1 over Trey Hilderbrand on court three to deliver the final blow for the Maroon & White. The clinch victory was the second of the year for Aguilar after he delivered the fourth and final point against No. 21 Pepperdine last month at the ITA Kick Off Weekend in Ann Arbor.
The Aggies opened the match by capturing the doubles point through a pair of tiebreakers on courts two and three. After A&M’s No. 48 Aguilar and Bjorn Thomson dropped a 6-3 result on court one to Hildebrand and Gabriel Decamps, the visitors needed both courts still playing to secure the early 1-0 advantage. A&M’s Hady Habib and Noah Schachter registered the first tiebreaker win 7-5 on the middle court over Juan Pablo Grassi Mazzuchi and Bogdan Pavel. The day’s first point was secured by Valentin Vacherot and Pierce Rollins on court three with a 7-2 win against Alan Rubio and Kento Yamada.
UCF flipped the script on the Aggies winning four of six first sets in singles action, but the Aggies were the first to secure singles wins to march out to a 3-0 advantage. No. 116 Schachter topped Rubio 6-2, 6-2 while No. 13 Habib bested No. 52 Grassi Mazzuchi 6-2, 6-4 before UCF was able to claim three straight wins and even the match. With all of the attention on court three, Aguilar was able to clinch the last match standing in three-sets over Hilderbrand.
UP NEXT
The Aggies will return to the Mitchell Tennis Center to host No. 16 Kentucky Tuesday afternoon, first serve has not been set for the top-20 matchup yet.
