Comeback Bid Falls Short as Aggies Fall to Mustangs

Sunday, February 27

Bryan-College Station

1:00 PM

Texas A&M

SMU

Feb 27, 2022 | Men's Tennis

Box Score

By: Matt Callaway, Texas A&M Athletics Communications

BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The No. 18 Texas A&M men's tennis team fell 4-3 to SMU at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center on Sunday afternoon. With the loss A&M fell to 6-5 on the season while SMU improved to 6-3 this spring.

SMU claimed the doubles point to open the match, winning on courts one and three. On the top court, SMU's Adam Neff and Ivan Thamma topped Pierce Rollins and Matthis Ross, 6-2, before the point was clinched by Huntley Allen and Julien Steinhausen over A&M's Giulio Perego and Raphael Perot, 6-4, on court three.

After transitioning to singles play, the Aggies gained a bit of the momentum as they claimed four of six first sets. A&M picked up straight set wins by Luke Casper and Noah Schachter to briefly take a 2-1 advantage. Casper ousted SMU's Louis Cloud 6-3, 6-4 on court six while Schachter dominate Caleb Chakravarthi 6-3, 6-2 on the top court.

The Mustangs evened the match at two-all through a 7-6(4), 6-4 win by Liam Krall over Rollins on court three.

A&M took its final lead of the day as No. 50 Perot prevailed in three-sets on court two over Neff. The 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-1 win by Perot delivered Neff's first dual loss of the season and put the Aggies ahead 3-2.

The match evened for the final time at three-all as Thamma outlasted Guido Marson on court five before the team match was won by Pranav Kumar on court four over A&M's Ross.

The Aggies continue their 10-match home stand with a double headed on Friday, March 4, against Incarnate Word and Arkansas at noon and 6 p.m. (CT), respectively.

POSTMATCH QUOTES
Steve Denton, Texas A&M Head Coach
On the match…
"I thought SMU outplayed us in the doubles, but we gave ourselves a chance to win today when we won four first sets. Unfortunately, we were not able to hold on to all four first sets. As I have alluded to throughout this spring we have not been playing the big points well and have been playing them a bit scared and not to lose. Those are ingredients for bad results and that is what ended up hurting us today. We give a lot of credit to SMU, they played very hard and took advantage of our mistakes. I felt like that was the difference today, they competed and were more aggressive than we were. We have to learn from this match and begin taking it to our opponent and not be so passive."

TENNIS MATCH RESULTS
SMU vs Texas A&M
2/26/2022 at BCS, TX
(Mitchell Tennis Center)

SMU 4, #18 Texas A&M 3

Singles competition
1. Noah Schachter (TAMU) def. Caleb Chakravarthi (SMU) 6-3, 6-2
2. #50 Raphael Perot (TAMU) def. Adam Neff (SMU) 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-1
3. Liam Krall (SMU) def. Pierce Rollins (TAMU) 7-6 (7-4), 6-4
4. Pranav Kumar (SMU) def. Matthis Ross (TAMU) 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 6-3
5. Ivan Thamma (SMU) def. Guido Marson (TAMU) 0-6, 6-4, 6-4
6. Luke Casper (TAMU) def. Louis Cloud (SMU) 6-3, 6-4

Doubles competition
1. Adam Neff/Ivan Thamma (SMU) def. Matthis Ross/Pierce Rollins (TAMU) 6-2
2. Noah Schachter/Kenner Taylor (TAMU) vs. Pranav Kumar/Liam Krall (SMU) 6-6, unfinished
3. Julian Steinhausen/Huntley Allen (SMU) def. Raphael Perot/Giulio Perego (TAMU) 6-4

Match Notes:
SMU 6-3
Texas A&M 6-5; National ranking #18
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (6,1,3,2,5,4)

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