#15 Aggies advance to super regionals after dispatching Toreros
Sweet victory.
Despite multiple weather delays, No. 15-seed Texas A&M men’s tennis marches on to the Sweet 16 after defeating San Diego on Saturday, 4-2.
After entering the NCAA Tournament on a five-match losing streak, the Aggies found their stride when it mattered most, running through the College Station Regional and defeating Rice and San Diego to advance to the Super Regionals.
“They’ve been through a lot,” A&M head coach Steve Denton said. “My message was to keep battling, keep fighting and keep staying positive no matter what happens out there. There’s going to be a lot of adversity, you have to accept it, and the team that handles it the best is going to come out on top.”
The red-hot San Diego Toreros entered the College Station Regional riding a six-match winning streak as the West Coast Conference champions.
With the first two doubles matches split, it all came down to A&M’s top duo of Giulio Perego and Togan Tokac for the first point of the match.
Perego and Tokac won their final three games to clinch the doubles point for #15 Texas A&M.
In singles, both teams came out firing on all cylinders. All six courts were tied late in their respective first sets.
A short rain delay halted play before Luke Casper won in straight sets to give the Aggies a 2-0 lead, but the Toreros immediately responded with two wins in straight sets to tie the match at 2-2.
With the top three courts left in play, and two points needed to win, the Aggies and Toreros were deadlocked.
As all three matches went deep into their second set, a lightning delay stopped play for 55 minutes.
After the delay, Perego broke the stalemate in a back-and-forth nine-point tiebreaker to win in straight sets and give the Aggies a 3-2 lead.
“Giulio was down a couple set points in that tiebreaker,” Denton said. “He made his shots when it mattered. I’m really happy for him, he’s starting to play better…and that was the difference.”
Looking for just one more point to punch their ticket to the Sweet 16, the Aggies were down to their All-SEC one-two punch: Raphael Perot on Court #1 and JC Roddick on Court #2.
With both matches pushed to the decisive third set, Roddick led the charge to send the Aggies to the Sweet 16.
“The last game I told myself I was down, I needed this game, and if I don’t win this game, then I lose,” Roddick said. “I played a reverse mind game and that’s what made me come through in the clutch at the end.”
After falling behind 0-40 and his serve almost broken, Roddick battled back to take the lead in the third set, and he never looked back, winning 6-4 to clinch the win for Texas A&M.
“I couldn’t be prouder of him,” Denton said. “In all the matches he’s played, even the ones he’s lost, he’s fought his tail off, just like he did tonight. He’s putting it all out there on the line.”
The Aggies advance to the Austin Super Regional where they’ll face No. 2-seed Texas next weekend.