BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The No. 12 Texas A&M men’s tennis team avenged an early season loss to defeat No. 2 Baylor, 4-3, at the Mitchell Tennis Center Thursday afternoon.
“We are very proud of these guys when we needed to have some guys step up today after making some adjustments in our lineup,” Texas A&M head coach Steve Denton said. “Some youngers guys got to play in a very big match and they came through for us especially in the doubles. We started out really well and got the doubles point which allowed us to relax in singles. Baylor is one of the best teams in the country in singles and we knew that it would be a fight to get to four.”
For the second time this season the Aggies started the match up 1-0 after claiming the doubles point against the Bears. A&M’s Pierce Rollins and Valentin Vacherot were the first off the court with a 6-3 triumph over Charlie Broom and Matias Soto on court two. The day’s first point was clinched by Pranav Kumar and Noah Schachter on court three with a 6-4 victory over Nick Stachowiak and Spencer Furman.
The match tightened up as play transitioned into singles play, each team claimed three first sets with three of six matches going to a third set. The Maroon & White tallied an impressive 3-0 advantage as No. 33 Carlos Aguilar and Bjorn Thomson posted the first two singles wins of the day. Aguilar ousted No. 46 Adrian Boitan 6-2, 6-3 on court two followed by Thomson’s 6-1, 7-6(4) win on court six over Furman.
The Bears were not going to go down without a fight as they claimed the next two points in the match, winning in straight sets on court four and five. No. 74 Stachowiak bested A&M’s Raphael Perot 7-5, 7-6(1) on court four followed by No. 103 Broom’s win on court five over A&M’s Rollins, 7-6(0), 7-6(5).
A&M’s No. 4 Vacherot clinched top-5 win for the Aggies with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 win on court one over No. 56 Soto. The win was the 77th singles dual win for the A&M senior, placing him at No. 3 on A&M’s all-time wins list. The Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France native trails Kimmio Alkio (1982-86) and Greg Hill (1982-85) by eight wins on the all-time ledger.
“I was down a break twice in the third set and at some point I hit a crazy shot and that got be back into the match,” Vacherot said. “After getting a break back and from there I started to play my best tennis of the night. That is what we train for every day so we can come out and play a few games better than your opponent.”
With the team match clinched Baylor claimed the final point of the day on court three.
UP NEXT
The Aggies take to the road for a Sunday showdown against Arkansas at 1 p.m. before venturing out of conference for a Tuesday matchup against No. 25 Oklahoma State at 2 p.m.
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.
Tennis Match Results
Baylor vs Texas A&M
3/9/2021 at BCS, TX
(Mitchell Tennis Center)
#12 Texas A&M 4, #2 Baylor 3
Singles competition
1. #4 Valentin Vacherot (TAMU) def. #56 Matias Soto (BU) 6-3, 4-6, 6-3
2. #33 Juan Carlos Aguilar (TAMU) def. #46 Adrian Boitan (BU) 6-2, 6-3
3. #43 Sven Lah (BU) def. #116 Noah Schachter (TAMU) 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
4. #74 Nick Stachowiak (BU) def. Raphael Perot (TAMU) 7-5, 7-6 (7-1)
5. #103 Charlie Broom (BU) def. Pierce Rollins (TAMU) 7-6 (7-0), 7-6 (7-5)
6. Bjorn Thomson (TAMU) def. Spencer Furman (BU) 6-1, 7-6 (7-4)
Doubles competition
1. #48 Juan Carlos Aguilar/Bjorn Thomson (TAMU) vs. #10 Sven Lah/Constantin Frantzen (BU) 5-4, unfinished
2. Pierce Rollins/Valentin Vacherot (TAMU) def. Charlie Broom/Matias Soto (BU) 6-3
3. Pranav Kumar/Noah Schachter (TAMU) def. Nick Stachowiak/Spencer Furman (BU) 6-4
Match Notes:
Baylor 16-3; National ranking #2
Texas A&M 10-3; National ranking #12
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3); Singles (2,6,4,5,1,3)