SAN ANTONIO, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's tennis team battled throughout a tightly contested regular season finale in a battle for first, but UIW edged out a 4-3 decision Tuesday at the UIW Tennis Center.
The Islanders (15-4, 3-2 SLC) opened the afternoon with a strong showing in doubles play, securing the opening point with wins on courts two and three.
Etienne Marty and
Omar Suarez teamed for a 6-3 victory at No. 2 doubles, while
Ethan Dasset and
Josef Zapletal followed with a matching 6-3 win on court three. The top flight pairing of
Matthieu Coignet and
Mikel Garmendia held a 5-2 lead before their match went unfinished due to the clinch.
Carrying a 1-0 advantage into singles, A&M-Corpus Christi extended its lead early.
Ethan Dasset was first off the court, cruising to a 6-1, 6-3 win at No. 4 to give the Islanders a 2-0 edge.
UIW answered with a pair of points to swing the momentum. Nicholas Niox fell 6-4, 6-4 at No. 1, followed by a 6-4, 6-4 decision over
Omar Suarez at No. 2. At No. 6,
Maxime Salesses responded for the Islanders with a steady 6-4, 6-4 victory to take back a 3-2 lead in the match.
With the score teetering, the final two courts pushed deep into their matches.
Josef Zapletal forced a third set at No. 5 after rebounding from a 6-2 first-set loss to take the second 7-5, but UIW pulled away in the decider to tie the match at 3-all.
The decider ultimately came down to No. 3 singles, where
Etienne Marty battled into a second-set tiebreak and fended off several match point opportunities before falling 6-4, 7-6 (8-6), sealing the 4-3 result.
With the result, the Islanders will enter next week's conference tournament as the No. 3 seed in Beaumont. They will face the No. 2 seed UTRGV Monday at 10 a.m. with a shot at the finals set for Tuesday at 10 a.m. against the winner of No. 1 UIW/No. 4 Lamar.
A&M-Corpus Christi Tennis
- 17 NCAA Tournaments
- 37 SLC Championships
- 4 Top-40 National Rankings
- 3.0 GPA 43 Straight Semesters
- Islanders have received a No. 3 seed at the NCAA Tournament three times
- Women's tennis has cracked the ITA top-75 national rankings three times
- Men's tennis has cracked the ITA national rankings 10 consecutive years
- Ranked nationally in NCAA DI as high as No. 35 for the men and No. 60 for the women
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