Furious Rally Pushes No. 12 Men’s Tennis Past No. 25 Oklahoma State

Tuesday, March 16

Stillwater, Okla.

2:00 PM

Texas A&M

Oklahoma State

Vacherot - 20210223_MTen_Game_Kentucky_0026.jpg

Photo by: Craig Bisacre

Mar 16, 2021 | Men's Tennis

Box Score

By: Matt Callaway, Texas A&M Athletics Communications

STILLWATER, Okla. – The No. 12 Texas A&M men's tennis team bounced back from a 3-1 deficit to win the final three matches to defeat No. 25 Oklahoma State, 4-3, Tuesday afternoon at the Greenwood Tennis Center. With the win the Aggies improved to 11-4 this season while the Cowboys fell to 6-4.

Needing to win all three matches still being played, sophomore Pierce Rollins bounced back from dropping the first set to No. 61 Dominik Kellovsky to win 7-5, 6-4 in the final two sets and bring the Aggies back within 3-2. Rollins, an Oklahoma native, picked up the second ranked win of his career and first this season.

No. 33 Carlos Aguilar continued the A&M spark with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 win over No. 86 Henrik Korsgaard on court two to even the match at 3-3 and set the stage for the heroics a court over.

For the second time in less than a week, No. 4 Valentin Vacherot provided the clinch victory over a ranked Big-12 foe in a decisive third-set to deliver an A&M win. On Tuesday, Vacherot bounced back from a tiebreaker defeat in the first set and five match points in the second set against No. 49 Matej Vocel to win 6-7(5), 7-6(8), 6-1 and clinch A&M's fourth point of the day. Last Thursday, Vacherot clinched A&M's 4-3 upset of No. 2 Baylor at the Mitchell Tennis Center.

The Aggies opened the match winning the doubles point through victories on courts two and three. OSU's Vocel and Korsgaard topped A&M's Aguilar and Bjorn Thomson 6-2 on court one, but the Aggies bounced back quickly with a 6-3 triumph on court three by Noah Schachter and Pranav Kumar over Matthieu Scaglia and Maxim Tybar. With the day's first point in the balance, A&M's Valentin Vacherot and Pierce Rollins prevailed 7-5 on court two over Emile Hudd and Kellovsky to give A&M the 1-0 advantage.

Following doubles action, the home team took all of the momentum by claiming the first set on all six singles courts. The Cowboys were able to convert courts three, five and six into straight set wins.

Tennis Match Results
Texas A&M vs Oklahoma State
Mar 16, 2021 at Stillwater, Okla.
(Greenwood Tennis Center)

#12 Texas A&M 4, #25 Oklahoma State 3

Singles competition
1. #4 Valentin Vacherot (TAMU) def. #49 Matej Vocel (OSU) 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (10-8), 6-1
2. #33 Juan Carlos Aguilar (TAMU) def. #86 Henrik Korsgaard (OSU) 3-6, 6-4, 6-4
3. #101 Emile Hudd (OSU) def. #116 Noah Schachter (TAMU) 6-2, 6-2
4. Pierce Rollins (TAMU) def. #61 Dominik Kellovsky (OSU) 1-6, 7-5, 6-4
5. Mathieu Scaglia (OSU) def. Raphael Perot (TAMU) 7-5, 6-2
6. Etienne Donnet (OSU) def. Bjorn Thomson (TAMU) 6-4, 6-4

Doubles competition
1. Matej Vocel/Henrik Korsgaard (OSU) def. #48 Juan Carlos Aguilar/Bjorn Thomson (TAMU) 6-2
2. Valentin Vacherot/Pierce Rollins (TAMU) def. Emile Hudd/Dominik Kellovsky (OSU) 7-5
3. Noah Schachter/Pranav Kumar (TAMU) def. Mathieu Scaglia/Maxim Tybar (OSU) 6-3

Match Notes:
Texas A&M 11-4; National ranking #12
Oklahoma State 6-4; National ranking #25
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (3,5,6,4,2,1)

POSTMATCH QUOTES
Steve Denton, Texas A&M Head Coach
On the match…
"That was a gritty win by our guys today. We lost the first set on all six courts, but the guys just kept fighting. We are very proud of the way the team stayed together out there and found a way. Hopefully this will be a confidence builder for the team. Our seniors showed great leadership today by showing the younger guys what it takes to win against a very good team on the road."

Valentin Vacherot, Texas A&M senior
On the team win…
"I mean it is not just about my win it is more about the team win. We came back from nowhere down 3-1 and Pierce, Carlos and I pulled it out. I saved five match points in the second set, Carlos was down a set and a break, and we lost six first sets. This just proves that it is never over until you shake your opponent's hand. I saved four match points Sunday at Arkansas, maybe today it was meant to happen again."

Juan Carlos Aguilar, Texas A&M senior
On the day…
"It was a tough day in Stillwater, especially with the conditions we faced. It was very windy from the beginning but the team did a great job to win at two and three doubles. It did not look good at all at the beginning of singles, losing all six first sets, but we knew we had a chance. Pierce did a great job getting another point on the board. I did not my play my best today, but I was able to fight through the conditions and fight for this team. I started playing a little better and smarter. This was a huge team effort and we are very happy with this win. We will take this win and get ready tomorrow to host TCU next Tuesday."

Pierce Rollins, Texas A&M sophomore
On starting the momentum for the comeback…
" I always believed and I kept getting energy from my teammates and the people watching no matter what the score was, that was what kept me going out there. It is always great to get a win in your home state."

UP NEXT
The Aggies return to Bryan-College Station to host No. 5 TCU at the Mitchell Tennis Center on Tuesday, March 23 at 6:00 p.m. (CT).

FOLLOW THE AGGIES
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