Texas A&M
Purdue
No. 11 Aggies Beat Purdue, 6-1
Jan 28, 2012 | Men's Tennis
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - John Lewis clinched the match for the No. 11-ranked Texas A&M men's tennis team and the Aggies rolled to a 6-1 win before a crowd of 357 at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center in College Station on Saturday in the first round of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend.
The Aggies will face No. 14 Mississippi State on Sunday at 3 p.m. for the championship and the right to advance to the University of Virginia and the ITA National Indoor Championships. MSU was a 4-0 victor over Princeton earlier in the day on Saturday.
"I thought the guys competed well today," A&M head coach Steve Denton said. "We got off to a good start in doubles and that really set the tone with No. 2 doubles (Alexis Klegou and Jordan Szabo) racing out to an 8-0 win and then No. 3 (Colin Hoover and Jeremy Efferding) clinched the point. The guys at two, four and six reestablished momentum and played well. We have several guys battling for playing time and John (Lewis) really stepped up today ."
"We know we have a big challenge from Mississippi State on Sunday and both of our teams want to advance to the (Indoor) National Championships at Virginia in February," Denton explained.
Lewis, a senior from Birmingham, Alabama, had a straight sets win (6-3, 6-2) over Evan Hawkins from Purdue at the No. 6 line to clinch the fourth point of the match for Texas A&M.
The win improves the men's tennis home winning streak to 39 straight matches dating back to a 4-3 loss to Fresno State on Jan. 30, 2010. The Texas A&M baseball teams of 1988 and 1989 put together a 39-game winning streak, winning the final 12 games of 1988 and the first 27 home games in 1989.
Texas A&M would like to break its own regular-season attendance record of 1,093 that attended the Ohio State match last spring on Mar. 10, 2011 as part of the streak.
The MSU Bulldogs from the SEC lost to Texas A&M last spring by a narrow 4-3 decision and the Bulldogs return most of the team from last year. Four of the Bulldogs are ranked in the ITA national rankings and the doubles tandem of Louis Cant and Malte Stropp are No. 12 in the country.
In the consolation finals, Princeton and Purdue will face each other at 12 noon and the Aggies and Bulldogs face off at 3 p.m. on Sunday.
No. 11 Texas A&M 6, No. 72 Purdue 1
ITA Kick-Off Weekend
George P. Mitchell Tennis Center, College Station, TX
Singles
1. (#19) Alexis Klegou (A&M) def. Mark Kovacs (Purdue), 6-4, 6-4
2. Colin Hoover (A&M) def. Szymon Tatarczyk (Purdue), 6-3, 6-2
3. (#104) Junior Ore (A&M) def. Aaron Dujovne (Purdue), 7-6 (2), 7-5
4. (#73) Jeremy Efferding (A&M) def. Diego Acosta (Purdue), 6-2, 6-3
5. Krisztian Krocsko (Purdue) def. Jackson Withrow (A&M), 6-2, 4-6, 6-4
6. John Lewis (A&M) def. Evan Hawkins (Purdue), 6-3, 6-2
Doubles (A&M wins the point)
1. Ore/Withrow (A&M) vs. Tatarczyk (Purdue) 5-6 unfinished
2. Klegou/Jordan Szabo (A&M) def. Krocsko/Pawel Poziomski (Purdue), 8-0
3. Hoover/Efferding (A&M) def. Kovacs/Acosta (Purdue), 8-5
Order of Finish:
Doubles: 2, 3
Singles: 1, 4, 6*, 2, 5, 3
Team Records:
Texas A&M 3-0, Purdue 0-2
Earlier match--
No. 14 Mississippi State 4, No.63 Princeton 0
ITA Kick-Off Weekend
George P. Mitchell Tennis Center, College Station, TX
Singles
1. Artem Ilyushin (MSU) vs. (#46) Matija Pecotic (Princeton), 7-5, 2-2 unfinished
2. (#79) James Chaudry (MSU) vs. Augi Bloom (Princeton), 6-4, 4-1 unfinished
3. (#45) Louis Cant (MSU) def. Matt Spindler (Princeton), 6-4, 6-1
4. (#90) Malte Stropp (MSU) def. Matt Siow (Princeton), 6-4, 6-2
5. (#32) George Coupland (MSU) def. Jack McCourt (Princeton), 6-2, 6-2
6. Ethan Wilkinson (MSU) vs. Ravi Yegya-Raman (Princeton), 2-6, 4-2 unfinished
Doubles (MSU wins the point)
1. (#12) Stropp/Cant (MSU) vs. Siow/Spindler (Princeton, 6-4 unfinished
2. Ilyushin/Coupland (MSU) def. Pecotic/Bloom (Princeton), 8-2
3. Wilkinson/Chaudry (MSU) def. Yohei Shoji/Michael Lin (Princeton), 8-2
Order of Finish:
Doubles: 2, 3
Singles: 5, 3, 4*
Team Records:
Mississippi State 4-1, Princeton 0-1
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Players Mentioned
