No. 11 Aggies Sweep Opening Twinbill

Saturday, January 21

College Station

12:00 PM

Texas A&M

Louisiana-Lafayette

Jan 21, 2012 | Men's Tennis

By: Texas A&M Athletics

COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Texas A&M men's tennis coach Steve Denton won his 100^th match with the Aggies as the 11^th-ranked A&M team defeated the University of Louisiana Lafayette, 5-2, in the opening match of a twinbill on Saturday. The Aggies extended their home match winning streak to 38 straight with a 7-0 shutout of UTSA in the nightcap before 539 fans at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center on the Texas A&M campus.

"We played two good solid matches today," Denton said. "I was really pleased with our doubles play. We played well last weekend in Miami and continued today and that helps set the tone for the match. I thought the young guys like (Jordan) Szabo and (Jeremy) Efferding played well. We are a young team and one of the things you want to see from a team is consistent play. We really step up the play next weekend against Purdue, Princeton or Mississippi State. I think Mississippi State is a Top 10 team. We beat them 4-3 last year with a more experienced club, and they return everyone off of their team from last year."

"In regard to the 100^th win, that is more of the players that we have had," Denton explained. "I am honored to be the head coach here at Texas A&M and to have the opportunity to work with so many talented and excellent tennis players. I hope to continue for many more years."

Redshirt freshman Jackson Withrow (from Omaha, Nebraska) and sophomore Junior Ore (from Gaithersburg, Maryland) teamed up to play No. 1 doubles and was the first match off of the courts against Louisiana, winning 8-4. In the nightcap, the duo was the final doubles match in the books with an 8-5 win.

Senior co-captain Colin Hoover (from Victoria, Texas) teamed up with true freshman Jeremy Efferding (from Boca Raton, Florida) to win both doubles matches at the No. 2 line and Hoover claimed a 6-0, 6-3 straight sets win against Louisiana and then followed up with another straight set victory at the No. 1 singles line in the nightcap.

Another redshirt freshman, Jordan Szabo (from Bayswater, Australia) teamed with senior John Lewis (from Birmingham, Alabama) to win the No. 3 doubles match against Louisiana, and then Szabo posted a win in singles No. 5 and followed with a win at the No. 6 line in the second match of the day against UTSA.

The doubleheader sweep moves the Aggies' record to 2-0 on the year. Louisiana fell to 0-2 and UTSA is 0-1. The Aggies play host to Purdue next Saturday (Jan. 28) in the opening round to determine who will advance to the ITA National Indoor Tournament. Princeton and Mississippi State will also play in College Station.

The tennis team has now won 38 straight home matches at the Mitchell Tennis Center. The longest home winning streak for any Aggie athletic team was a 39-game winning streak put together by the 1988 and 1989 Aggie baseball teams at Olsen Field. The '88 club win the final 12 home games and then the '89 team started the year with 27 straight wins at Olsen.

Men's Tennis Results:

#11 Texas A&M 5, Louisiana 2

Singles

#1-DeGroot, UL def. #104 Ore, A&M-- 6-4, 6-7 (3), 13-11

#2-Hoover, A&M def. Murray, UL-6-0, 6-3

#3-#73 Efferding, A&M def. Mandl, UL-6-3, 6-2

#4-Farinola, UL def. Withrow, A&M-7-6 (4), 7-6 (3)

#5-Szabo, A&M def.Wynan, UL-6-3, 6-0

#6-Angus, A&M def. Nilsson, UL-6-4, 6-3

Doubles

#1-Withrow/Ore, A&M def. Mandle/Farine, UL-8-4

#2-Hoover/Efferding, A&M def. DeGroot/Wynan, UL-8-6