SEATTLE, Wash. - The No. 15 Texas A&M men's tennis team dropped its second consecutive match, falling to Mississippi State, 4-0, at the Seattle Tennis Club in the ITA National Indoor Championships in Seattle, Washington. The Aggies fall to 7-2 on the season while the Bulldogs improve to 8-1.

 

Live scoring for the event can be found at http://www.gohuskies.com/sports/m-tennis/13-ita-indoors.html

 

"We came out flat today in doubles," said head coach Steve Denton. "We got down a break at all three lines. You definitely can't do that in indoors where conditions favor the serving team. We did a good job of fighting back at the one and three lines, but we lost both 3-3 points to seal our fate. We had to play uphill the rest of the way as Mississippi State won four-of-six first sets in singles. You have to give them credit for not opening the door for us and giving us an opportunity."

 

Texas A&M failed to win the crucial doubles point for the second straight day. The duo of Pedro Dumont and Romain Bogaerts won the first doubles match, defeating the pair of Jordan Szabo and Jeremy Efferding, 8-4, at the No. 3 doubles line. Shortly after, the No. 13 tandem of Malte Stropp and Jordan Angus downed the No. 40 duo of Junior Ore and Jackson Withrow, 8-6, from the No. 1 position.

 

Texas A&M could never get in a rhythm in singles, dropping four of the first six first sets. Jordan Angus, brother of Texas A&M's Niall Angus, defeated No. 67 Vinsant, 6-1, 6-1, at the No. 4 line. Moments later, No. 19 Bogaerts downed Ore, 7-6 (3), 6-3, from the No. 1 line to put Mississippi State up 3-0. With the match on the line, No. 43 Stropp bested No. 124 Adams, 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2, from the No. 2 position to clinch the match for the Bulldogs.

 

"I thought the key in singles was Harry had two match point opportunites, serving at 5-4 in the second set to put us on the board," Denton said. "On the first, he likely played a ball that was out to win the match, but he ended up losing the point and eventually the game."

 

The doubles point proved to be crucial as the Aggies were within striking distance on three of the courts that remained unfinished. Efferding was leading James Chaudry 5-3 at the No. 3 line in the third set after splitting the first two sets 6-2 and 4-6. No. 100 Jackson Withrow also narrowly missed clinching a point for the Aggies, as his match against Stefan Vinti was concluded before a winner was decided. Withrow split the first two sets 2-6 and 7-6 (4) before his match was called at 2-3 in the third set from the No. 5 slot. Behzad Minavi was in a similar situation, splitting sets with Zach White, 3-6, 6-2, before the match was called with a 5-5 tie at the No. 6 position.

 

"As Mississippi State clinched on Harry's court, the Ags were up 5-3 on Efferding's court, Minavi was tied at 5-5 and Withrow was serving down 2-3 all in the third set," said Denton on how close the match was. "We have no choice but to learn from this and get ready to play another tough opponent in Tennessee tomorrow."

 

Texas A&M plays another SEC foe in No. 14 Tennessee tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. (CT) at the Seattle Tennis Club. To learn more about the men's tennis team, visit AggieAthletics.com and follow @AggieMTEN on Twitter.

 

No. 10 Mississippi State, 4 No. 15 Texas A&M, 0

 

Singles

No. 1 - No. 19 Romain Bogaerts, MSST def. Junior Ore, A&M 7-6 (3), 6-3

No. 2 - No. 43 Malte Stropp, MSST def. No. 124 Harry Adams, A&M 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2

No. 3 - James Chaudry, MSST vs. Jeremy Efferding, A&M 2-6, 6-4, 3-5 (Unfinished)

No. 4 - Jordan Angus, MSST def. No. 67 Shane Vinsant, A&M 6-1, 6-1

No. 5 - Stefan Vinti, MSST vs. No. 100 Jackson Withrow, A&M 6-2, 6-7 (4), 2-3 (Unfinished)

No. 6 - Zach White, MSST vs Behzad Minavi, A&M 6-3, 2-6, 5-5 (Unfinished)

 

Doubles

 

No. 1 - No. 13 Stropp/Angus, MSST def. No. 40 Ore/Withrow, A&M 8-6

No. 2 - Wilkinson/White, MSST vs. No. 7 Adams/Vinsant, A&M 6-6 (Unfinished)

No. 3 - Dumont/Bogaerts, MSST def. Szabo/Efferding, A&M 8-4

 

Order of finish: Doubles 3, 1 Singles 4, 1, 2

*Clinched the match

Texas A&M (7-2), Mississippi State (8-1)