Texas A&M
Mississippi
Bautista, Aggies Punch Ticket To NCAA Round Of 16
May 15, 2010 | Men's Tennis
May 15, 2010
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Freshman Alberto Bautista (McAllen, Texas) led the 10th-ranked and 10th-seeded Texas A&M men's tennis team to a 4-2 victory over 18th-ranked Mississippi in the second round of the 2010 NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Championship held Saturday before a crowd of 226 fans at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center.
It was sweet redemption for the Aggies (25-6) who fell to the Rebels (19-8) in the NCAA Round of 16 just a year ago in College Station, site of the 2009 national championships. A&M punched its ticket for its 10 overall trip to the Round of 16 in school history. It marked the first back-to-back appearance for the Aggies since the 2004 and 2005 seasons.
A&M continues on a record-setting run having won 18 of its last 20 matches and registering its second-ever 25-win campaign which is second only to a program-best 27-4 record in 2001. The Aggies will face the winner of either No. 7 Baylor or Rice (who play each other on Sunday, May 16 at 2 p.m. (CT) in Waco, Texas) in the Round of 16 scheduled for Friday, May 21 at 2 p.m. (CT) at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Ga.
The Aggies fought through close matches for the doubles point as Bautista and sophomore Marcus Lunt (San Antonio, Texas) and junior Alexey Grigorov (Moscow, Russia) sealed the win with an identical result over Jonas Lutjen and Tucker Vorster at No. 2. They are currently on an eight-match win streak which is tops on the team.
In singles play, A&M won four of the first six sets and seemed to have the match under control, but Ole Miss rallied to split sets and force a third set on all four of the Aggie-led courts. Ole Miss' Tucker Vorster, ranked No. 97 nationally, defeated No. 39-ranked junior Jeff Dadamo (Tampa, Fla.), 6-3, 6-4, at the No. 2 line, to the level the playing field at one-all.
Marcus Lunt breezed through his first set against Harry Fowler, but split the second and broke at four-all in the third to help the Aggies regain the lead with a 6-0, 3-6, 6-4 victory at No. 6 singles. No. 33-ranked Marcel Thiemann of Ole Miss answered with a 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 decision over sixth-ranked junior All-American Austin Krajicek at the No. 1 line to tie things up again at two-all.
Alexey Grigorov placed A&M right back on top by gaining a break at three-all in the third set and holding serve including two service aces in the deciding game versus Jonas Lutjen, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4, at No. 3 singles.
With two courts remaining in play and the Aggies needing one more win to keep their postseason run alive, Bautista broke at five-all in the second set and served for match point in the third set as Adrian Forberg Skogeng hit the ball into the net on his second return. Bautista has compiled an impressive 19-8 record in dual matches and clinched both of A&M's first-and second-round victories including a 4-0 rout of Prairie View A&M on Friday night.
"It was a tough match today," said Texas A&M head coach Steve Denton after the four-hour and 10-minute battle with the Rebels. "We came out and won the doubles. Then, it looked like we were in control, ahead in three or four singles matches, and then things started going Ole Miss' way. They fought us well and for a moment, it looked like we weren't going to win the match. Our guys did a good job of coming back.
"I thought Marcus (Lunt) was key for us at No. 6. He was down 4-2 in the third set and came back and won. That was a huge momentum swing for us. This is the first match this year where we've lost No. 1 and No. 2 singles and still won the match. That just shows we have a lot of guys contributing on this team. We wanted to go to Athens so badly. As a result, we got a little tight there for awhile in the match, but then the guys relaxed and played good tennis towards the end. I'm so proud of this team and what we've accomplished so far this year."
With the victory, A&M also closed out its season at home with a school-record 19-1 mark at the Mitchell Tennis Center surpassing the previous best of 18-1 in 2003.
"Congratulations to Texas A&M," Ole Miss head coach Billy Chadwick said. "They have a great team and a great program. We fought hard. It was a great college match. We just came up short today."
Live scoring and results for the Round of 16 will be posted on the internet on host University of Georgia's official website at: www.georgiadogs.com or the NCAA website at: www.NCAA.com.
(10) TEXAS A&M 4, (18) MISSISSIPPI 2
NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Championship
Second Round
May 15, 2010
George P. Mitchell Tennis Center
at College Station, Texas
Attendance: 226
SINGLES
No. 1 - (33) Marcel Thiemann (Ole Miss) def. (6) Austin Krajicek (Texas A&M), 2-6, 6-2, 6-3.
No. 2 - (97) Tucker Vorster (Ole Miss) def. (39) Jeff Dadamo (Texas A&M), 6-3, 6-4.
No. 3 - Alexey Grigorov (Texas A&M) def. Jonas Lutjen (Ole Miss), 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.
No. 4 - Alexis Klegou (Texas A&M) vs. Chris Thiemann (Ole Miss), 6-3, 4-6, 5-4, DNF.
No. 5 - Alberto Bautista (Texas A&M) def. Adrian Forberg Skogeng (Ole Miss), 5-7, 7-5, 6-4.
No. 6 - Marcus Lunt (Texas A&M) def. Harry Fowler (Ole Miss), 6-0, 3-6, 6-4.
DOUBLES
No. 1 - (5) Dadamo-Krajicek (Texas A&M) vs. (20) C. Thiemann-M. Thiemann (Ole Miss), 7-6, DNF.
No. 2 - (34) Grigorov-Lunt (Texas A&M) def. (61) Lutjen-Vorster (Ole Miss), 8-6.
No. 3 - Bautista-Colin Hoover (Texas A&M) def. Forberg Skogeng-Fowler (Ole Miss), 8-6.
ORDER OF FINISH
Singles: 2, 6, 1, 3, 5*
Doubles: 2, 3
Players Mentioned
