No. 7 Texas A&M Dominates No. 16 UCLA at ITA Indoors

Saturday, February 15

Madison, Wis.

9:00 AM

Texas A&M

UCLA

Photo by: Jacob Dye / ITA

Feb 15, 2020 | Men's Tennis

Box Score

By: Matt Callaway, Texas A&M Athletics Communications

MADISON, Wisc. – The No. 7 Texas A&M men's tennis team (5-2) posted an dominating 4-1 victory over No. 16 UCLA (4-4) in the first round of the consolation draw of the ITA Indoor Team Championships on Saturday. ITA Indoors runs thru Monday hosted by the University of Wisconsin at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium.

"I saw a bunch of fighters out there on the courts today," Texas A&M men's tennis head coach Steve Denton said. "We showed a lot of courage after we let that match slip away yesterday. I was really pleased with the way we played in the doubles and that carried on into the singles. I was pleased with the effort and I know the guys played very hard."

The Aggies got off to a great start in doubles action, securing the point through wins on courts one and three. A&M's Carlos Aguilar and Barnaby Smith were the first off the court with a 6-3 win over Govind Nanda and Keegan Smith. The Aggie freshman duo of Stefan Storch and Pierce Rollins clinched the doubles with a 6-4 triumph on court three over Patrick Zahraj and Bryce Pereira.

In singles action, A&M maintained the momentum by securing first sets on courts two, three, four and five. Smith followed up his stellar doubles play with a straight-set singles victory over Zahraj on court five to double A&M's advantage, 2-0. The Bruins picked up their only point of the day with a straight set win on court six.

No. 3 Valentin Vacherot won his sixth straight match to push A&M ahead 3-1. On court three, Vacherot bested Drew Baird 7-5, 6-3 to earn his 63rd dual match victory in the Maroon & White, the 20th most in program history.

Aguilar, ranked No. 34, bounced back from a defeat on Friday with a top-10 win on court two to clinch A&M's first ever win over UCLA.

The Aggies are back in action against No. 11 TCU Sunday at 9 a.m. to wrap up play at the ITA Indoors.

Visit 12thMan.com for more information on Texas A&M men's tennis. Aggie fans also can keep up to date with the A&M men's tennis team on Twitter by following @AggieMTEN or on Facebook at Facebook.com/AggieMensTennis.

Tennis Match Results
Michigan vs Texas A&M
2/15/2020 at Madison, Wisc.
(Nielsen Tennis Stadium)

#7 Texas A&M 4, #16 UCLA 1

Singles competition
1. #14 Hady Habib (TAMU) vs. #6 Keegan Smith (UCLA) 6-7 (6-8), 6-6 (3-6), unfinished
2. #34 Juan Carlos Aguilar (TAMU) def. #10 Govind Nanda (UCLA) 6-4, 7-5
3. #3 Valentin Vacherot (TAMU) def. Drew Baird (UCLA) 7-5, 6-3
4. Noah Schachter (TAMU) vs. Ben Goldberg (UCLA) 7-5, 6-6 (0-1), unfinished
5. Barnaby Smith (TAMU) def. Patrick Zahraj (UCLA) 6-4, 6-2
6. Mathew Tsolakyan (UCLA) def. Guido Marson (TAMU) 6-4, 6-3

Doubles competition
1. Juan Carlos Aguilar/Barnaby Smith (TAMU) def. Govind Nanda/Keegan Smith (UCLA) 6-3
2. Valentin Vacherot/Noah Schachter (TAMU) vs. Connor Rapp/Drew Baird (UCLA) 6-5, unfinished
3. Stefan Storch/Pierce Rollins (TAMU) def. Patrick Zahraj/Bryce Pereira (UCLA) 6-4

Match Notes:
UCLA 4-4; National ranking #16
Texas A&M 5-2; National ranking #7
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (5,6,3,2)