The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Texas A&M
No. 12 Men's Tennis falls to No. 6 Texas A&M, 5-2 in State Farm Lone Star Showdown
04.23.2011 | Men's Tennis
April 23, 2011
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - No. 12 Texas (17-7, 3-3 Big 12) picked up singles victories from sophomores Vasko Mladenov and Daniel Whitehead, but No. 6 Texas A&M (24-5, 5-1 Big 12) emerged with a 5-2 victory in the State Farm Lone Star Showdown Saturday afternoon at A&M's Mitchell Tennis Center.
With the win, the Aggies earn one point in the standings of the State Farm Lone Star Showdown, the annual all-sports series between the two schools. Texas holds a 7.5-6.0 lead in the 2010-11 standings with 5.5 points yet to be awarded this season.
Texas A&M opened the match by clinching the doubles point with victories at the first and second doubles slots. UT's eighth-ranked duo of senior Ed Corrie and junior Jean Andersen suffered an 8-3 defeat to the Aggies' fourth-ranked tandem of Austin Krajicek and Jeff Dadamo at first doubles. The Aggies' 48th-ranked duo of Alexey Grigorov and Junior Ore held on for an 8-6 win over UT senior Kellen Damico and freshman David Holiner at second doubles to clinch the doubles point. Sophomore Ben Chen and Mladenov closed out the doubles session with an 8-5 win over the Aggies' 68th-ranked tandem of Alberto Bautista and Colin Hoover at third doubles.
Texas A&M pushed its lead to 2-0 at third singles, where Grigorov defeated UT's Andersen by a 6-4, 6-2 count. The Aggies extended their lead to 3-0 at second singles, as A&M's 40th-ranked Dadamo scored a 6-0, 7-6 (4) win over UT's 33rd-ranked Corrie. The Horns got on the board at fifth singles with a win from Mladenov, as he held on for a 6-4, 6-4 win over A&M's Hoover. But, the Aggies would clinch the win at first singles, as A&M's 19th-ranked Krajicek defeated UT's 49th-ranked Damico, 6-4, 7-6 (3).
At sixth singles, UT's Whitehead took the first set off of A&M's Bautista, 6-3, before surrendering the second set, 7-5. With the match's outcome decided, a match tiebreak was played in lieu of a full third set. Whitehead prevailed in the match tiebreak, 10-8 to slice the A&M lead to 4-2. At fourth singles, UT's Chen took the first set off of A&M's 94th-ranked Alexis Klegou, 6-4. Chen held match points in the following set but surrendered the set in a tiebreaker, 8-6. A match tiebreak was played to decide the match, and Klegou managed to edge Chen, 13-11, to close out the match.
With the regular season behind it, Texas will turn its attention to next week's Big 12 Championship at the Baylor Tennis Center in Waco. The Longhorns will open play on Friday, April 29 with their opening-round opponent to be announced later this weekend.
#6 Texas A&M 5, #12 Texas 2
Doubles - Order of Finish - 1, 2, 3
1 #4 Austin Krajicek/Jeff Dadamo (TAMU) def. #8 Ed Corrie/Jean Andersen (UT) - 8-3
2 #48 Alexey Grigorov/Junior Ore (TAMU) def. #50 Kellen Damico/David Holiner (UT) - 8-6
3 Ben Chen/Vasko Mladenov (UT) def. #68 Alberto Bautista/Colin Hoover (TAMU) - 8-5
Singles - Order of Finish - 3, 2, 5, 1, 6, 4
1 #19 Austin Krajicek (TAMU) def. #49 Kellen Damico (UT) - 6-4, 7-6 (3)
2 #40 Jeff Dadamo (TAMU) def. #33 Ed Corrie (UT) - 6-0, 7-6 (4)
3 Alexey Grigorov (TAMU) def. Jean Andersen (UT) - 6-4, 6-2
4 #94 Alexis Klegou (TAMU) def. Ben Chen (UT) - 4-6, 7-6 (6), 1-0 (13-11)
5 Vasko Mladenov (UT) def. Colin Hoover (TAMU) - 6-4, 6-4
6 Daniel Whitehead (UT) def. Alberto Bautista (TAMU) - 6-3, 5-7, 1-0 (10-8)
POST-MATCH COMMENTS
Texas head coach Michael Center
On the match
"Texas A&M got to us early in doubles. It was very similar to the first match we played (in February) where we had won the doubles. But the Aggies got the point today. We have not scored against them at one, two or three singles this season, and we had match points at No. 4 and could not get the win. A&M kept the pressure on us today, and we came up short. A&M has a very good team and we knew it would be a tough match.
On UT's singles winners, Vasko Mladenov and Daniel Whitehead
"Vasko was under control today. He handled his emotions well. He served the ball well, considering the conditions, and did a really nice job in singles and doubles. Daniel was very good today. He lost a tough second set and fought back to win the match tiebreak. Ben Chen played well and had a chance to serve for the match, had match point. I am very encouraged by what I am seeing from Ben."
