College Tennis News - No. 12 Aggies Fall at No. 3 Georgia

ATHENS, GA— A terrific tennis match between two Southeastern Conference men’s tennis powerhouses took place at the University of Georgia on Easter Sunday as the third-ranked Bulldogs defeated the 12th-ranked Aggies of Texas A&M, 4-1, before 316 fans at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Georgia.

“This was a great mental effort by our guys today against a quality team,” Aggie head coach Steve Denton said. “I thought both teams played at a very high level of intensity. The difference in the match was Georgia won the tiebreakers at the end of each singles set. I was very proud of our team. If we play like that, we are going to do some great things before the season is over.”

With the victory, Georgia improves to 15-4 on the season and 7-1 in SEC play. The Aggies fall to 13-10 on the year and 4-4 in SEC play.

Texas A&M earned the first point of the match in doubles play. The Texas A&M duo of Junior Ore and Jackson Withrow, currently ranked No. 11 in the country, upset the Georgia tandem of Hernus Pieters and Ben Wagland, 8-6, at the No. 1 doubles line. The Bulldog duo is the No. 6-ranked doubles team in the land.

The first doubles match in the books fell to the Bulldogs at the No. 2 line as Nathan Pasha and Garrett Brasseaux defeated the Aggie freshmen tandem of Harrison Adams and Shane Vinsant, 8-3. The No. 3 doubles fell to the A&M side, 8-2, as Jeremy Efferding and Jordan Szabo defeated KU Singh and Austin Smith.

The singles play at the top of the lineup was fierce as the first set at the No. 1 and No. 2 lines went to a tiebreaker. Georgia’s Singh, ranked No. 11 in the country, edged Efferding, who is ranked No. 40, 7-5 in the tiebreaker and the Bulldogs Wagland, ranked No. 64 in the land, took the tiebreaker from Ore, 7-3.

Georgia would tie the match with the nation’s No. 53-ranked player Pasha winning in straight sets against Aggie freshman Adams, 6-1, 6-2, at No. 3 singles.

The Bulldogs would take the lead when Pieters defeated another Aggie freshman Vinsant, 6-4, 7-5, at the No. 4 line.

After Singh won the first set in a tiebreaker against Efferding at No. 1 singles, the Bulldog would take the match with a 7-5 victory in the second set.

The Bulldogs’ Wagland would close out the match at the No. 2 singles line despite a valiant fight from Texas A&M’s Ore. After the first set tiebreaker went Wagland’s way, the second set also went to a tiebreaker with Wagland edging Ore, 8-6.

The Bulldogs have now won 10 of their last 11 matches.

The Aggies return to SEC play next Friday as they travel to face the Auburn Tigers.

Men's Tennis: Georgia 4, Texas A&M 1

Tennis Match Results
Texas A&M vs Georgia
Mar 31, 2013 at Athens, Ga.

#3 Georgia 4, #12 Texas A&M 1

Singles competition
1. #11 KU Singh (UGA) def. #40 Jeremy Efferding (TAMU) 7-6 (7-5), 7-5
2. #64 Ben Wagland (UGA) def. Junior Ore (TAMU) 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (8-6)
3. #53 Nathan Pasha (UGA) def. Harrison Adams (TAMU) 6-1, 6-2
4. Hernus Pieters (UGA) def. #93 Shane Vinsant (TAMU) 6-4, 7-5
5. Austin Smith (UGA) vs. #118 Jackson Withrow (TAMU) 7-5, 5-2, unfinished
6. Marco Nunez (UGA) vs. Jordan Szabo (TAMU) 3-1, unfinished

Doubles competition
1. #11 Junior Ore/Jackson Withrow (TAMU) def. #6 Hernus Pieters/Ben Wagland (UGA) 8-6
2. #41 Nathan Pasha/Garrett Brasseaux (UGA) def. #25 Harrison Adams/Shane Vinsant (TAMU) 8-3
3. Jeremy Efferding/Jordan Szabo (TAMU) def. KU Singh/Austin Smith (UGA) 8-2

Match Notes:
Texas A&M 13-10 (4-4); National ranking #12
Georgia 15-4 (7-1); National ranking #3
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (3,4,1,2)
Official: Walt Williams T-3:39 A-316