Top-10 Showdown on Tap as No. 10 Texas A&M Hosts No. 6 TCU Tuesday

Tuesday, March 23

Bryan-College Station

6:00 PM

Texas A&M

TCU

Huddle - 20210311_MTEN_GAME_Baylor_SM_0774

Photo by: Sydney Morriss/Texas A&M Athletics

Mar 22, 2021 | Men's Tennis

By: Matt Callaway, Texas A&M Athletics Communications

BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The No. 10 Texas A&M men's tennis team returns to the Mitchell Tennis Center primed and ready for a top-10 showdown against No. 6 TCU Tuesday at 6 p.m. (CT). The Aggies enter the match at 11-4 this season while the Horned Frogs carry a 10-4 record.

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
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 in Stillwater, Okla.

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.

UP NEXT
The Aggies return to SEC play as they host Auburn and Alabama at the Mitchell Tennis Center this weekend. A&M will take on Auburn Friday at 6 p.m. while first serve against the Crimson Tide is slated for 1 p.m. on Sunday.

FOLLOW THE AGGIES
Visit 12thman.com for more information on Texas A&M men's tennis. Fans can keep up to date with the A&M men's tennis team on Facebook, Instagram, and on Twitter by following @AggieMTEN.