#20 Vols Dominant in 6-1 Win Over Texas A&M

Sunday, March 26

Knoxville, TN

1 PM

University of Tennessee

Texas A&M

March 26, 2023 | Men's Tennis

Box Score Box Score

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The 20th-ranked Tennessee men's tennis team used an all-around effort Sunday to earn its fifth consecutive home win with an impressive, 6-1, victory over Texas A&M at Barksdale Stadium.

The Vols used strong doubles play to earn a 1-0 advantage for the 18th time in 20 matches this year, with wins on courts one and two. Five straight-set singles victories eventually pushed Tennessee (14-6, 4-2 SEC) to the dominant win Sunday. Sophomore standout and 122nd-ranked Shunsuke Mitsui clinched Tennessee's win for the second time this weekend, defeating Giulio Perego on court four, 6-4, 6-2.

Mitsui trailed by a break at 2-4 in the first set, before rallying and winning four consecutive games for the 6-4 first-set win. Mitsui won both of his break points in set two to earn his third clinch of the spring, which ties him for the team high.

"Once again, we relied on playing solid doubles," head coach Chris Woodruff said. "That's been a good spot for us all year. When that goes well, it kind of takes momentum into the singles. I think for me, as a coach, it's nice to see that we're seemingly trending in a very positive direction. I feel that we're starting to play better as a group. We're putting a lot of emphasis on being positive, so things are starting to go in the right direction."

The first win of the day came on court one of doubles, as the second-ranked duo of Pat Harper and Johannus Monday defeated #39 Noah Schachter and Trey Hilderbrand, 6-4. The UT pairing broke the Aggies on a decider to go up a break at 3-2.

The clinch came at the No. 2 spot, with Tennessee's 60th-ranked pairing of Emile Hudd and Shunsuke Mitsui taking down Texas A&M's (11-8, 4-3 SEC) Pierce Rollins and Kenner Taylor in 6-4 fashion. Down a break at 1-3, Hudd and Mitsui got back on serve at 3-4 and later used a deuce-point break to take a 5-4 lead before serving out the doubles clinch.

Tennessee's Angel Diaz was the first court to finish in singles play, blanking the Aggies' Guido Marson in the first set for a 6-0, 6-4 decision. Diaz won 69 percent of the total points in set one en route to giving UT a 2-0 lead.

Tomas Rodriguez was soon to follow on court six, taking down Matthis Ross of Texas A&M, 6-1, 6-1. The final game of the first set and five of the first six games in set two were decided by a deuce point, with Rodriguez winning each of those games.

"Overall, you want good depth down there at the bottom of the lineup," Woodruff said. "We were able to get that today. That's going to be a big key. Most importantly, it's going to be a key that everybody pulls their weight. If we can get that down at the bottom, then things are going to come together. The more we have everybody playing as a whole and as one unit, the better we're going to be."

After Mitsui's clinch, UT's Blaise Bicknell recorded his second ranked singles victory in as many matches, overpowering #104 Pierce Rollins at the No. 3 lineup spot, 6-4, 7-6(6). Then, second-ranked Johannus Monday put the Vols up 6-0 with a straight-set, 6-4, 6-3 win at his No. 1 singles position over 38th-ranked Noah Schachter. The Aggies took a tiebreaker on court two to tally their lone point of the day.

UP NEXT
Tennessee completes the back half of its four-match homestand next weekend, facing No. 12 Mississippi State Friday at 4 p.m. ET and sixth-ranked Kentucky Sunday for Senior Day at 1 p.m. ET.

RESULTS: Tennessee 6, Texas A&M 1
Doubles

1. #2 Pat Harper/Johannus Monday (UT) def. #39 Noah Schachter/Trey Hilderbrand (TAM) 6-4
2. #60 Emile Hudd/Shunsuke Mitsui (UT) def. Pierce Rollins/Kenner Taylor (TAM) 6-4
3. Angel Diaz/Martim Prata (UT) vs. Giulio Perego/Raphael Perot (TAM) 3-5, unfinished

Order of Finish: (1,2)

Singles

1. #2 Johannus Monday (UT) def. #38 Noah Schachter (TAM) 6-4, 6-3
2. #65 Raphael Perot (TAM) def. #57 Emile Hudd (UT) 6-2, 7-6 (7-5)
3. Blaise Bicknell (UT) def. #104 Pierce Rollins (TAM) 6-4, 7-6 (8-6)
4. #122 Shunsuke Mitsui (UT) def. Giulio Perego (TAM) 6-4, 6-2
5. Angel Diaz (UT) def. Guido Marson (TAM) 6-0, 6-4
6. Tomas Rodriguez (UT) def. Matthis Ross (TAM) 6-1, 6-1

Order of Finish: (5,6,4,3,1,2)