No. 2 Islanders Sweep No. 3 Privateers to Reach Championship Match
Southland Conference
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NACOGDOCHES, Texas – No. 2 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (16-8) began its defense of the Southland Men's Tennis Tournament title with a 4-0 sweep over No. 3 New Orleans (8-9) Saturday morning at the Schlief Tennis Center in Nacogdoches, Texas. With the semifinal win, the Islanders advance to their fourth straight tournament championship match, where they have claimed the title the previous three years.
A&M-Corpus Christi got wins at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles to clinch the doubles point as the doubles team of Guillaume Rauseo and Paul Cook earned a 6-4 victory over the Privateers duo of Giacomo Adoncecchi and Karim Shokeir at the second spot while the No. 3 duo of Ricardo Mayagoitia and Javier Pujol topped UNO’s pair of Gonzalo Garcia and Nicolas Kramer 6-3 to give the Islanders a 1-0 lead.
In singles action, the Islanders claimed singles wins at the number No. 4 and No. 6 positions before clinching the sweep with a win at No. 2. Islanders netter Carlos Pedrosa defeated Shokeir 6-0, 6-1 at the sixth spot just before Rauseo beat UNO’s Luis Albuquerque 6-3, 6-4 at No. 4. Mayagoitia clinched the match for the Islanders with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Adoncecchi. Cook, Pujol, and Bettendroffer had not finished their singles matches when the match was clinched.
The Islanders will now face No. 1 seed Lamar tomorrow morning in the championship match of the tournament, which is slated for 11 a.m. in Nacogdoches. The Cardinals swept fourth-seeded Nicholls, 4-0, earlier this morning.
The championship match will be rematch of the recent regular season contest that determined both team's seeding and the regular season title. During that match the Cardinals swept the Islanders 4-0 in Beaumont.
A&M-Corpus Christi is looking to win a Southland-record eighth tournament championship after claiming the title four out of the past five years. The Islanders are a perfect 7-0 in Southland tournament finals and have won the championship in 2004, 2008-09, 2011 and 2013-15. A&M-Corpus Christi's tournament wins in 2005 and 2007 were later vacated by NCAA action.
The winner of the Southland tournament will receive the league's automatic bid to the NCAA championship.
Admission is free to all matches of the 2016 Southland Conference Women's Tennis Tournament, for more information regarding results, records and more please visit Southland.org.