AUSTIN, Texas – The No. 6 Texas A&M men’s tennis team reignites a rivalry as they travel to No. 7 Texas for a top-10 showdown Thursday  at 6 p.m. (CT) at the Texas Tennis Center. The Aggies enter the match at 13-4 this season while the Longhorns carry a 14-3 record.

 

AGGIES IN THE RANKINGS

The Aggies moved up a couple spots in the latest edition of the team rankings to No. 6 after collecting top-10 wins against then-No. 2 Baylor and No. 6 TCU in the last month. In the singles poll, the Aggie’s Hady Habib fell one spot to No. 2 after spending a week atop the rankings. Following closely behind is Valentin Vacherot at No. 5, the senior ranks third on A&M’s all-time singles wins list. Rounding out the ranked Aggies singles players are No. 64 Carlos Aguilar, No. 77 Noah Schachter, No. 78 Pierce Rollins and No. 85 Barnaby Smith. In the doubles poll Aguilar and Bjorn Thomson skyrocketed to the No. 8 spot after collecting six ranked wins this season including a pair over teams ranked in the top-10.

 

LAST TIME OUT

The No. 8 Texas A&M men’s tennis team defeated Auburn, 5-2, Friday at the Mitchell Tennis Center.

 

The Aggies opened the match by claiming the doubles point through strong performances on courts one and two. The A&M pair of Valentin Vacherot and Pierce Rollins claimed a 6-3 win over No. 41 Tad Maclean and Finn Murgett on the top court. The Aggie duo of Bjorn Thomson and Kenner Taylor clinched the point with a 7-5 win on court two over Auburn’s Tom Wright and Maxwell Giddens.

 

The two teams split first sets in singles action but the Aggies were able to pile on a pair of points to mount a 3-0 advantage. Freshman Raphael Perot posted a 6-2, 6-3 win on court five over Auburn’s Maxwell Giddens followed by sophomore Pierce Rollins’ 7-6(4), 7-6(1) triumph over Jan Galka on court three.

 

Auburn earned their first point of the day with a 6-4, 6-4 win on court four by Finn Murgett over Guido Marson.

 

No. 71 Noah Schachter clinched A&M’s win on court two with a 2-6, 6-5, 6-3 victory on court two over Auburn’s Maclean. Auburn tacked on a point on court six as Spencer Gray picked up a three-set win over Thomson.

 

In the final match to finish of the night, No. 5 Vacherot bounced back from dropping a first set tiebreaker to win 7-6, 6-3 on court one to make the final score 5-2 in A&M’s favor.

 

UP NEXT

The Aggies return to conference play as they host LSU at the Mitchell Tennis Center on Saturday at 2 p.m.

 

FOLLOW THE AGGIES

Visit 12thman.com for more information on Texas A&M men’s tennis. Fans can keep up to date with the A&M men’s tennis team on Facebook, Instagram, and on Twitter by following @AggieMTEN.

 

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