Story by Nick Whitley, Texas A&M Athletics Communications
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The No. 6 Texas A&M men’s tennis team stormed past the LSU Tigers on Saturday evening at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center, earning the team’s first 7-0 result against a Southeastern Conference opponent this season.
Following the rout of the Bayou Bengals, the Maroon & White climb to 14-5 overall with a 5-3 ledger in SEC matches. In defeat, LSU drops to 11-9 this season and has a 3-6 record in league play.
The match began in doubles play, with Kenner Taylor and Bjorn Thomson submitting a 6-4 result on court two over Joao Graca and Joey Thomas. On court three, Pranav Kumar and Noah Schachter took down Nick Watson and Boris Kozlov, also in a 6-4 affair, securing the doubles point and giving the Aggies a 1-0 lead heading into singles play. Valentin Vacherot and Pierce Rollins just advanced to a 6-5 lead over LSU’s No. 55-ranked pairing of Ronald Hohmann and Rafael Wagner, but the match went unfinished as the doubles point was clinched.
Both teams transitioned into singles play, with the Oracle ITA No. 5-ranked Vacherot defeating No. 54 Hohmann in a 6-3, 6-2 result to push A&M up 2-0. Schachter followed that up with a 7-5, 6-1 win over Wagner to put the Aggies on the verge of victory, and freshman Raphael Perot recorded the clinch win on court five in a 6-1, 6-1 demolition of Benjamin Ambrosio. The Aggies booked singles victories on the remaining three courts as well, with Rollins defeating Graca, Thomson beating Ben Koch and Guido Marson finalizing the 7-0 result against Kozlov.
With his victory, the Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France, native Vacherot cemented his ninth-consecutive victory and improves to 19-4 overall with a 12-2 record against opponents during the dual-match season. The senior is 8-1 in SEC singles play and boasts an outstanding 12-2 record against nationally ranked competitors. Schachter improved to 18-10 overall and has a 6-3 record in SEC play, while Perot has won each of his last three singles matches and is tied for third on the team with 14 victories.
UP NEXT
The Maroon & White prepare for their final road trip of the season next weekend, beginning with a 4 p.m. matchup against the Georgia Bulldogs on Friday, April 9th at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex.
POSTMATCH QUOTES
TEXAS A&M QUOTES
Head Coach Steve Denton
On logging a 7-0 result against an SEC opponent…
“That hasn’t happened for us yet this year, and our guys stepped up and played really good tennis there. We got a bit behind in the doubles point and our guys were able to bounce back to take the 1-0 lead. I feel like we carried that success over and won a bunch of first sets in singles play. Even though we were down early in some of those matches, we were able to turn it around and keep the pressure on LSU. The further ahead we were able to get, the more relaxed our team played, and it looked like they were really having fun out there. LSU is a good team, and we were able to raise our level of play when we needed to.”
TENNIS MATCH RESULTS
No. 6 Texas A&M 7, LSU 0
George P. Mitchell Tennis Center – Bryan-College Station, Texas
Singles Competition
1. #5 Valentin Vacherot (TAMU) def. #54 Ronald Hohmann (LSU) 6-3, 6-2
2. #77 Noah Schachter (TAMU) def. Rafael Wagner (LSU) 7-5, 6-1
3. #78 Pierce Rollins (TAMU) def. Joao Graca (LSU) 6-2, 6-5, 99-0
4. Guido Marson (TAMU) def. Boris Kozlov (LSU) 4-6, 7-5, 1-0(4)
5. Raphael Perot (TAMU) def. Benjamin Ambrosio (LSU) 6-1, 6-1
6. Bjorn Thomson (TAMU) def. Ben Koch (LSU) 7-5, 4-6, 1-0(6)
Doubles Competition
1. Valentin Vacherot / Pierce Rollins (TAMU) vs. #55 Ronald Hohmann / Rafael Wagner (LSU) 6-5, unfinished
2. Kenner Taylor / Bjorn Thomson (TAMU) def. Joao Graca / Joey Thomas (LSU) 6-4
3. Pranav Kumar / Noah Schachter (TAMU) def. Nick Watson / Boris Kozlov (LSU) 6-4
Order of Finish: Doubles (2,3); Singles (1,2,5,3,6,4)
POSTMATCH NOTES
Texas A&M improves to 14-5 overall with a 5-3 record in Southeastern Conference matches. The Aggies were ranked at No. 7 in the latest Oracle ITA Men’s Team Rankings released last week.
LSU falls to 11-9 this season and has a 3-6 record in SEC play.
The order of finish in Saturday’s match was as follows: Doubles (2,3); Singles (1,2,5,3,6,4)