Match Seven
NM State (1-5) vs. Troy (8-1)
Saturday, Feb. 20 | 10:00 a.m. | Thomas J. Henry Tennis Center | Corpus Christi, Texas
Match Eight
NM State vs. UTSA
Sunday, Feb. 21 | 9:00 a.m. | Thomas J. Henry Tennis Center | Corpus Christi, Texas
Match Nine
NM State at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Sunday, Feb. 21 | 3:00 p.m. | Thomas J. Henry Tennis Center | Corpus Christi, Texas
THE FIRST SERVE
• This weekend, the NM State men's tennis team will be one of five teams who travel to Corpus Christi, Texas, to take part in Texas A&M-Corpus Christi's H-E-B Tournament of Champions. NM State joins host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi as well as Troy, UTRGV and UTSA in the five-team tournament.
• The Aggies will play three matches in Corpus Christi, starting their weekend with a Saturday morning matchup against Sun Belt Conference foe Troy. Sunday the Aggies are scheduled to play two matches, beginning the day with a morning matchup against UTSA before wrapping up the weekend with an afternoon showdown with the host Islanders.
• Last season the Aggies went 2-1 at the H-E-B Tournament of Champions, taking down Troy 4-3 and defeating Eastern Washington 4-1.
• NM State head to coastal Texas hoping to put an end to a three-match losing skid. Last week the Aggies traveled to Arizona and took on rv Arizona State as well as 24th-ranked Arizona twice.
• Louis Menard and Petr Stavrovskij have each generated two singles wins for the Aggies so far this season. Stavrovskij's singles win against rv Arizona State last Saturday represented NM State's lone team point over its three-match swing in Arizona.
• Two of NM State's three doubles wins have come courtesy of the tandem of Menard and Jordy Visser. That duo has posted a 2-1 (.667) record in doubles action thus far in 2021.
SCOUTING TROY | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS
• Following their first setback of the season on Monday, Feb. 8 at North Florida, the Trojans have bounced back and won their last two matches heading into this weekend's H-E-B Tournament of Champions.
• Owning an impressive cumulative singles record of 45-9 (.833) in dual matches, Troy is led by Vito Llinares who has posted an 8-1 record in one-on-one bouts this season. Carles Anton is a perfect 7-0 in singles play during the 2021 season while Amer Bedwan (6-2), Nicolas Simkin (6-2) and Christopher Tasker (5-1) have all won five or more singles matches.
• Anton and Pelayo Antuna come into this weekend's matches as the Trojans' best doubles pairing. The duo has compiled a 6-1 record through dual matches in 2021 and as a whole Troy is 17-8 (.680) in dual meet doubles play.
SCOUTING UTSA | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS
• With just three matches under its belt so far in 2021, UTSA heads to Corpus Christi, Texas, for its first action since Saturday, Jan. 23.
• After opening the season with a 5-2 victory over in-state rival Rice, the Roadrunners have dropped two straight matches to Tulane (4-0) and LSU (5-2).
• Seven players have seen singles action for UTSA so far this spring and each has a win to their credit. Slava Gulin (1-0) is the only one who has not suffered a one-on-one setback thus far.
• UTSA boasts a 3-6 (.333) showing in doubles matches during its dual matches so far with the tandem of Gulin and Sebastian Rodriguez (1-0) being the only duo with a perfect record.
• Rodriguez was named the C-USA's Men's Tennis Athlete of the Week on Jan. 20. The reigning C-USA Freshman of the Year took down 2019 C-USA Player of the Year Sumit Sarkar out of Rice by a 6-4, 6-4 tally in singles action to claim the award.
SCOUTING TEXAS A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS
• Few teams in the nation have played more matches than the Southland Conference power this season. The Islanders head into the weekend owners of a 10-1 record which includes wins over Louisiana (4-1) and UTRGV (7-0).
• Four Islanders have yet to drop a singles match this year and as a whole the squad is 50-8 (.862) in dual match singles action in 2021. Leading the way in the wins category for Texas A&M-Corpus Christi is Carlos Berna Ruiz who has compiled an 8-0 record while competing on lines two, three, four and five.
• Other undefeated Islanders include Pascal Lorieul (6-0), Ernesto Mealla (4-0) and Chad Nguyen (5-0).
• The Islanders' doubles team have been just as successful, posting a 26-5 (.839) record throughout the spring thus far. Berna Ruiz and Lorieul have gone 8-1 while splitting time on lines one and two while Nguyen has teamed with Nathan Schwartz to post an identical doubles mark while playing on lines two and three.
COMING UP NEXT
• The Aggies will continue their three-match swing in the Lone Star State on Saturday, March 6, when they head to Lubbock to tangle with Big 12 foe Texas Tech. First serve is set for 3:00 p.m.
++NM State++
