#15 A&M sweeps Rice to advance to second round of NCAA Tournament
Movin' on.
#15 Texas A&M men's tennis will continue its run in the NCAA Tournament after sweeping Rice 4-0 on Friday evening.
“We had really good energy since the beginning. I think we didn't give them a chance,” Giulio Perego said. “We kept going on the gas without taking a break.”
Head coach Steve Denton echoed that statement.
“Our guys came with a lot of determination tonight,” Denton said. “We got off to a good start in the doubles. We were really energetic in the doubles. I think sometimes if you don't finish teams of, it can come back and bite you.”
Texas A&M is back on track after a five-game slide in conference play that almost put them on the road this weekend. Thankfully, other teams failed to capitalize on A&M's skid, hosting their ninth time in 11 years.
Back at Mitchell Tennis Center, the Aggies' start was briefly delayed as rain rolled into College Station, postponing the Baylor-San Diego match beforehand.
Although dreary weather may have affected the Aggies' match time, it did not impact their dominance.
“I think it was an advantage for us,” Denton said. “Our guys got to go back to their apartments and relax... Probably a little tougher on the road team. They are here waiting, and it's a long day. I think that helped us.”
The evening began with double's play as Perego and Togan Tokac dominated from the jump. Raphael Perot and Tiago Pires followed suit with a 6-3 win of their own to secure the doubles point.
With a 1-0 advantage, A&M carried the momentum over to singles play as five of six Aggies won their first sets, setting up the sweep.
Perego was the first to clinch a single's point, beating his Rice opponent Emir Sendogan in straight sets.
“Specifically, Giulio, I thought he played really, really well,” Denton said. “He played one of his better matches that I had seen in a while. That was great to see.”
Perot added to A&M's preexisting lead soon after with a straight-set victory on Court 1.
Almost simultaneously, Luke Casper's win on Court 6 completed the sweep.
“I preached before this match that we needed to finish,” Denton said. “We finished in the doubles. We got off to good first sets. We were able to continue that in the second sets. We did not really give the other team an opportunity.”
The Aggies will continue their run through the NCAA Tournament, hosting the second round against San Diego on Saturday at 4 p.m.
“This last couple weeks, the team put in a lot of work because we know it's our last chance to do something special with this group of guys,” Perego said. “Everyone worked really hard, and we don’t want to end here.”