No. 12 Men’s Tennis Upsets No. 8 Tennessee in SEC Bout, 5-2

BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION – The No. 12 Texas A&M men's tennis team upset the No. 8 Tennessee Volunteers, 5-2, Friday at the Mitchell Tennis Center.
 
"I thought it was a hard-fought win," head coach Steve Denton said. "I was especially pleased with the bounce back after a very tough loss to Ohio State on Wednesday night. We did a good job to continue fighting after a slow start in the doubles. Coming back at number one doubles from down 5-2 in the set, I thought it was a big momentum change in the match. Great team win."
 
Luke Casper/JC Roddick fell to No. 20 Shunsuke Mitsui/Filip Pieczonka on court 2, 6-2. However, Tiago Pires/Kenner Taylor took down Filip Apltauer/Younes Lalami on court 3, 7-5. No. 58 Giulio Perego/Togan Tokac were down 5-2 and came back to clinch the pivotal doubles point for the Aggies (15-4, 4-1 SEC) with a top-5 victory over No. 4 Angel Diaz/Johannus Monday on court 1, 7-5. Tokac sealed the match with an ace down the middle of the court.
 
No. 64 Roddick went to work on court 2, earning his sixth ranked victory of the season over No. 23 Mitsui (6-1, 7-5) to extend the lead for A&M. Roddick has earned two top-25 wins this week and has a spotless 3-0 record. Tennessee responded with a win on court 3, but No. 116 Perego came back from behind and beat Diaz on court 4 (2-6, 6-3, 6-1). Tennessee (15-4, 4-1 SEC) responded with a win on court 1, to make it 3-2. Clinching the match for the Aggies was Pires who defeated No. 94 Pieczonka in a three-set thriller on court 5 (6-4, 4-6, 6-2).
 
The teams played out the remaining match where Casper got the last victory of the day on court 6 against Apltauer (4-6, 6-4, 7-5) to seal the 5-2 upset for the Maroon & White. Texas A&M now sits in second in the league standings behind No. 6 Kentucky.
 
The Aggies return home Sunday, March 17, with a doubleheader against Georgia at 1 p.m. and UTA at 6 p.m.
 
TEAM NOTES

• A&M is 9-1 at home this season.
• A&M has won four SEC matches in a row.
• A&M earned their fourth ranked win of the season.
• JC Roddick has six ranked wins on the year and is currently on a five-match winning streak.
• Roddick earned two top-25 wins this week.
• Giulio Perego/Togan Tokac are 6-0 against ranked opponents.

 
 
MATCH STATS
Doubles

1. No. 58 Giulio Perego/Togan Tokac (TAMU) def. No. 4 Angel Diaz/Johannus Monday (TENN) 7-5
2. No. 20 Shunsuke Mitsui/Filip Pieczonka (TENN) def. Luke Casper/JC Roddick (TAMU) 6-2
3. Tiago Pires/Kenner Taylor (TAMU) def. Filip Apltauer/Younes Lalami (TENN) 7-5

 
Order of finish: 2, 3, 1*
 
Singles

1. No. 6 Johannus Monday (TENN) def. No. 36 Raphael Perot (TAMU) 7-6 (12-10), 6-2
2. No. 64 JC Roddick (TAMU) def. No. 23 Shunsuke Mitsui (TENN) 6-1, 7-5
3. Christopher Li (TENN) def. No. 118 Togan Tokac (TAMU) 7-6 (7-2), 6-2
4. No. 116 Giulio Perego (TAMU) def. Angel Diaz (TENN) 2-6, 6-3, 6-1
5. Tiago Pires (TAMU) def. No. 94 Filip Pieczonka (TENN) 6-4, 4-6, 6-2
6. Luke Casper (TAMU) def. Filip Apltauer (TENN) 4-6, 6-4, 7-5

 
Order of finish: 2, 3, 4, 1, 5, 6*
 
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