SMU Tennis Defeats TAMUCC

DALLAS (SMU) – The No. 51 SMU men’s tennis team picked up its fourth victory of season, besting No. 65 Texas A&M University Corpus Christi (TAMUCC) 4-1 inside the Ann and Brad Brookshire Family Pavilion.

In doubles action Hunter and Yates Johnson made light of Ricardo Mayagoitia and Guillaume Rauseo of TAMUCC on court two, sweeping them 6-0. The win makes it five straight for duo, including a 14-4 overall doubles mark. The Mustangs fell short on courts one and three, giving the Islanders their only point of the match.

“It was a really hard fought match and Corpus Christi has won their conference tournament nine years in a row and they’ve consistently ranked in the top 60 over those nine years and they came out firing today,” said Head Coach Carl Neufeld. “I thought we actually played pretty good doubles but in a six game set anything can happen, we lost a couple of no-ad points and next thing you know we’re down a doubles point which we aren’t used to.”

Junior Markus Kerner began the scoring for SMU on court four, defeating Javier Pujol 6-2, 6-1. The win gives the Viljandi, Estonia native his fifth singles victory on the year and his

third straight. Senior Nate Lammons gave the Mustangs their first lead of the match after he took down Rauseo 6-3, 6-2 on court three. Sophomore Samm Butler upped SMU’s lead to 3-1 after his eighth singles win of the year, 6-2, 6-2 against Mayagoitia on court two. Hunter decided the match for the Mustangs with his 6-4, 6-1 win over Kevin Bettendroffer on court one.

“I told the guys that it was a blessing, last year we lost a couple of doubles point and when it happened it’s such a big shock because we aren’t used to it,” said Neufeld. “We came back and fought so well and I thought all the guys played well and I’m really proud of the team with their fantastic effort and a great win.”

SMU will be back in action Sunday, February 14, when they take on No. 64 Arkansas Razorbacks. Doubles play is set to begin at 4:30 p.m. CT.