Aggies Drop Pair of Nail-Biting Matches

Saturday, March 4

Bryan-College Station

1:00 PM

Texas A&M

Kentucky

Mar 04, 2023 | Men's Tennis

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: Sam Thornton, Athletics Communications

BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The Texas A&M men's tennis team dropped a pair of tight matches with No. 5 Kentucky (4-3) and No. 47 UTSA (4-3), Saturday, at the Mitchell Tennis Center.

Opening the day versus No. 5 Kentucky (13-2, 1-1 SEC) in doubles play, the Aggies (4-6, 1-1 SEC) started strong through Trey Hilderbrand/Noah Schachter, the pair bested Taha Baadi/Alafia Ayeni on court 1 (6-4). The Wildcats responded on court 3 through Liam Draxl/Jaden Weekes as the pair snatched victory from Raphael Perot/Giulio Perego (7-5). Continuing its momentum was Kentucky, as No. 43 JJ Mercer/Joshua Lapadat sealed the doubles point for the Wildcats as they outlasted Pierce Rollins/Kenner Taylor on court 2 (6-4).

With the Wildcats leading after doubles, the Maroon & White needed a spark, and Luke Casper did just that. He dominated No. 102 Charlelie Cosnet on court 6 (6-1, 6-1) knotting the teams at one point each. Kentucky struck back with a victory on court 2 from No. 31 Ayeni, he out battled No. 57 Perot (7-6(3), 6-4). The Aggies turned the tables on the Wildcats through wins on both courts 1 and 5. No. 105 Rollins leveled A&M in a three-set thriller on court 5 over Weeks (2-6, 6-4, 6-3), while No. 63 Schachter secured his second top-30 ranked win in three days over childhood best friend No. 27 Draxl on court 1 (6-3, 7-6(10)) as A&M led, 3-2. Kentucky responded as it closed out wins on the remaining courts to snatch the match, 4-3.

Wasting no time against the Roadrunners (8-4) Rollins/Taylor made quick work of Sebastian Rodriguez/Garrett Skelly on court 2 (6-1). UTSA responded with a victory on court 1 from Alan Magadan/Tiago Torres over Hilderbrand/Perego (6-3). The Aggies pulled the momentum back and secured the doubles point through Casper/Ross on court 3, as the pair bested Tomas Pinho/Miguel Alonso (6-4).

The Roadrunners countered A&M's early punch with four straight singles wins on courts 2, 3, 4 and 5, clinching the match for UTSA. Ross claimed a straight-set win on court 6 for the Aggies, when he overcame Danijal Muminovic (7-5, 6-2). No. 57 Perot secured A&M's third point, as he outlasted Torres on court 1 in a third set tiebreaker (7-6(4), 3-6, 1-0(4)).

COACHES QUOTES
Head coach Steve Denton on the today's dual match with Kentucky…
"I thought we competed our tails off against Kentucky, the matches were all close which is positive to see. We lost a couple of tiebreakers here and there which probably was the difference, but they did a good job of being resilient, but overall a really good college tennis match."

Denton on the today's dual match with UTSA…
"I've got to give a lot of credit to UTSA today, they came into the match with a lot of energy. We had a lot of tired guys, but played a good doubles point. In singles they played a really energetic and aggressive match against us. Now we need a quick reset as we have another opportunity Monday against USF and UT Arlington."

UP NEXT
The Aggies close out this run of home matches with a final doubleheader at the Mitchell Tennis Center, Monday, March 6 versus USF and UT Arlington, with first serves set for 12 p.m. and 6 p.m., respectively.

TEAM NOTES

Courts 1 leads the Aggies in singles with a .778 winning percentage.
Noah Schachter paces A&M with four ranked wins in dual matches this season.
Every Aggie to take part in a dual match this season has secured a singles win (11 players).
Schachter boasts two top-30 wins in his last three matches

MATCH STATS
Singles Matches vs Kentucky
No. 63 Schachter Def. No. 27 Draxl (6-3, 7-6(10))
No. 57 Perot – No. 31 Ayeni (6-7(3), 4-6)
Marson – No. 23 Lapadat (6-7(4), 5-7)
Perego – No. 100 Baadi (6-3, 3-6, 4-6)
No. 105 Rollins Def. Weekes (2-6, 6-4, 6-3)
Casper Def. No. 102 Cosnet (6-1, 6-1)

Doubles Matches vs Kentucky
Schachter/Hilderbrand Def. Ayeni/Baadi (6-4)
Taylor/Rollins – No. 43 Mercer/Lapadat (4-6)
Perot/Perego – Draxl/Weekes (3-6)

Singles Matches vs UTSA
No. 57 Perot Def. Torres (7-6(4), 3-6, 1-0(4))
Perego – Magadan (4-6, 4-6)
No. 105 Rollins – Rodriguez (2-6, 0-6)
Casper – Pinho (1-6, 0-6)
No. 92 Hilderbrand – Skelly (6-2, 4-6, 2-6)
Ross Def. Muminovic (7-5, 6-2)

Doubles Matches vs UTSA
Hilderbrand/Perego – Magadan/Torres (3-6)
Rollins/Taylor Def. Rodriguez/Skelly (6-1)
Casper/Ross Def. Alonso/Pinho (6-4)

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.