No. 9 Texas A&M Defeats No. 20 OU to Win 12th Straight Match

(Source: Sam Craft/Texas A&M Athletics)
(Source: Sam Craft/Texas A&M Athletics)

COLLEGE STATION – The No. 9 Texas A&M men’s tennis team earned it 12th straight victory with a 4-3 win over No. 20 Oklahoma Tuesday evening at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center to improve to 15-3 on the year.

“Tonight’s win really started with the doubles point as we played really well to open the match,” Texas A&M head coach Steve Denton said. “Carlos [Aguilar] and Barney [Smith] put away a great win quickly at one and we played at a good level in the other two matches. We got a break late at three and Val [Vacherot] and Jack [Pulliam] were able to get that important point for us. That ended up being the difference tonight in a 4-3 match. They jumped on us in singles, they are an experienced team and I knew they wouldn’t go away after dropping the doubles point. We were able to get a couple wins in straight sets and get a good team win.”

The Aggies jumped 10 spots in the Oracle/ITA Division I Men’s Rankings published Tuesday morning after becoming one of the hottest teams in the country. In addition to winning their 12th straight match this spring, the Aggies have racked up 19 straight regular season SEC wins dating back to the 2017 season and defeated No. 1 Ohio State last week. Oklahoma (14-3) moved up one spot to No. 20 heading into the Tuesday night showdown.

The Maroon & White opened the match with the doubles point with wins on courts one and three against the Sooners. A&M’s 23rd ranked doubles team of Carlos Aguilar and Barnaby Smith dominated the match on the top court, besting OU’s Spencer Papa and Jake Van Embrugh, 6-1. The Sooner pair of Alex Bakshi and Ferran Calvo edged out A&M’s Hady Habib and Kevin Lam, 6-4, on court two. The point was secured by A&M’s Valentin Vacherot and Jack Pulliam as the pair defeated OU’s Stefano Tsorotiotis and Jochen Bertsh, 6-4, on court three.

The two teams split first sets in singles action, but OU earned its first lead at 2-1 after winning the first two singles points of the night. No. 88 Van Emburgh tripped up Vacherot, ranked No. 32, on court three followed by OU’s Mason Beiler defeating A&M’s Alex Vedri on court six.

A&M roared back into the match and clinched the win after securing the next three wins. No. 76 Smith put on a masterful display on court four, outplaying OU’s Calvo 6-3, 6-1 to even the match at two-all. The win improved Smith’s record to 13-1 this spring and was his fifth straight victory.

No. 62 Habib posted the third point of the night for the Aggies, winning 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 on court two over OU’s Bakshi, ranked No. 49. Habib has posted a 12-2 mark since rejoining the team in January including five straight wins and a 10-1 mark in dual matches.

Aguilar, ranked No. 77, clinched the win for the Aggies with an impressive 7-5, 6-2 win over No. 54 Spencer Papa on court one. Each of Aguilar’s past three wins have been over ranked opponents as he jumped back into the singles rankings released on Tuesday.

OU claimed the final point of the night on court five as Bertsch edged A&M’s Noah Schachter in three sets.

The Aggies return to conference action on Friday as Arkansas comes to town for a 6 p.m. match.

Visit 12thMan.com for more information on Texas A&M men’s tennis. Aggie fans also can keep up to date with the A&M men’s tennis team on Twitter by following @AggieMTEN or on Facebook at Facebook.com/AggieMensTennis.

Tennis Match Results
OU vs Texas A&M
3/19/2019 at College Station, TX
(George P Mitchell Tennis Center)

#9 Texas A&M 4, #20 OU 3

Singles competition
1. #77 Juan Carlos Aguilar (TAMU) def. #54 Spencer Papa (OU) 7-5, 6-3
2. #62 Hady Habib (TAMU) def. #49 Alex Bakshi (OU) 6-2, 4-6, 6-2
3. #88 Jake Van Emburgh (OU) def. #32 Valentin Vacherot (TAMU) 6-2, 6-2
4. #76 Barnaby Smith (TAMU) def. Ferran Calvo (OU) 6-3, 6-1
5. Jochen Bertsch (OU) def. Noah Schachter (TAMU) 6-3, 4-6, 6-3
6. Mason Beiler (OU) def. Alex Vedri (TAMU) 6-1, 6-1

Doubles competition
1. #23 Juan Carlos Aguilar/Barnaby Smith (TAMU) def. Spencer Papa/Jake Van Emburgh (OU) 6-1
2. Alex Bakshi/Ferran Calvo (OU) def. Hady Habib/Kevin Lam (TAMU) 6-4
3. Valentin Vacherot/Jack Pulliam (TAMU) def. Stefano Tsorotiotis/Jochen Bertsch (OU) 6-4

Match Notes:
OU 12-4; National ranking #20
Texas A&M 15-3; National ranking #9
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (3,6,4,2,1,5)

Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics

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