Perot Propels Aggies Past Crimson Tide – Texas A&M Athletics

BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The No. 29 Texas A&M men’s tennis team outlasted No. 48 Alabama, 4-3, through Raphael Perot’s third set masterclass Thursday evening at the Mitchell Tennis Center.
 
The Aggies (11-7, 4-2 SEC) opened the match hot, as they claimed the doubles point. No. 39 Noah Schachter/Trey Hilderbrand dominated the Crimson Tides’ (9-10, 1-5 SEC) Filip Planinsek/German Samofalov on court 1 (6-2), as they increased their winning streak to nine straight. Pierce Rollins/Kenner Taylor left no doubt as they outlasted Enzo Aguiard/Zachery Foster on court 3 (7-5), claiming the point.
 
The teams traded points early in singles, as Giulio Perego doubled the lead for A&M on court 4 crushing Samofalov in straight sets (6-2, 6-2), but Alabama responded a minute later with a point of its own on court 3. Extending the lead for the Maroon & White was Guido Marson, as he battled Roan Jones on court 5 (6-4, 6-4). The Tide knotted the teams at three, when they won back-to-back matches on courts 1 and 6. The result fell on the back of No. 65 Perot, as he was locked into a three-set clash on court 2 with No. 83 Aguiard. With the pair trading games to four-all in the third set, Perot won on his serve to take the 5-4 advantage, and then proceeded to break Aguiard’s serve at deuce point to clinch the set 6-4 and overall match (3-6, 6-2, 6-4).
 
COACHES QUOTES
Head coach Steve Denton on today’s match…
“That was just a really good college tennis match. I thought we played an excellent doubles point, especially on court 1 which gave us the advantage. Then in singles we won a couple of matches through Giulio [Perego] and Guido [Marson], but Alabama kept coming and applied a ton of pressure, but we knew they would as they’re a very talented team. I’m really proud of Rapha [Raphael Perot], as he had a lot of close games and kept pushing, eventually managing to break through and win the match for us.”
 
PLAYERS QUOTES
Raphael Perot on clinching the match…
“It was a lot of pressure on me, but the feeling to clinch was unreal. I was dealing with a lot of cramping in my legs, so being able to get the win was great. And then my teammates running over after was definitely the best feeling in my college career.”
 
UP NEXT
The Aggies head to Knoxville for a conference match with the No. 20 Volunteers, Sunday, March 26, with first…