by Colin DuRant
Cameron Aggie tennis continued their early spring success this past week with the men picking up three victories at home and the women two on the road in Edmond, Oklahoma.
The men took on and secured a win against three different opponents at home, Colorado State-Pueblo and Southwest Baptist University on Friday, March 2, then former conference rival East Central on Saturday, March 3.
The Aggies defeated the Colorado State-Pueblo Thunderwolves in a 9-0 sweep to start the weekend. In doubles action, the No. 2 team of Nicolai Ferrigno and Angelo Lencioni and the No. 3 pair of Gonzalo Garzon and Jorge Gerosi defeated their opponents without losing a single game, taking the their matches 8-0. The No. 1 doubles team for Cameron, Thomas Peixoto and Duje Janjic also secured a victory, 8-2.
In singles play against the Thunderwolves, the Aggies didn’t drop a single set as all six singles matches came up as victories. The undefeated freshman Ferrigno earned a particularly strong victory against Anthony Breitenbach 6-1, 6-1.
The men continued their play on Friday against the nationally ranked Southwest Baptist Bearcats of Bolivar, Missouri.
Cameron dropped two doubles matches against Southwest Baptist at both the No. 1 and 2 slots. Garzon and Gerosi at the No. 3 position picked up a win, 8-3, against Jorge Palacios and Tyler Welch.
Going into singles trailing 2-1, Cameron once again swept singles, picking up all six matches. At the No. 4 position, Garzon came back from a 1-6 defeat in the first set to achieve victory in the next two sets 6-3, 6-1. In a long, hard-fought match at the No. 1 position, Peixoto overcame nationally ranked Carrissmos in a 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (8-6) win.
The men picked up their third win of the weekend on Saturday morning as they took on the East Central Tigers of Ada, Oklahoma.
The Aggies achieved a doubles sweep again with all three pairs earning victories, with Peixoto and Janjic winning 8-6 at No. 1, Ferrigno and Lencioni winning 8-6 at No. 2 and Garzon and Gerosi completing the trifecta at No. 3 with a score of 8-3.
For the third time, the Aggies won in all six singles spots completing the 9-0 rout of the Tigers.
The women continued their season on the road in Edmond, taking on University of Central Oklahoma and Southwest Baptist on Friday March 2, and East Central on Saturday March 3.
The Lady Aggies opened up against the University of Central Oklahoma Broncos at their home court in Edmond with a 6-3 victory.
In doubles play, the number 25 nationally ranked pair of Julia Puckhaber and Amanda Moberg defeated their opponents, 8-3, and Antonia Moberg and Elvira Sholles won 8-4 at the No. 3 position.
In singles, the women claimed victories at the No. 2, 3, 4, and 6 slots to secure the win. Amanda Moberg had a commanding win at No. 2, only dropping four games to win 6-2, 6-2.
For the next match on Friday against the Southwest Baptist Lady Bearcats, the women fell short 4-5 in what would be their only loss in the weekend and first loss of the season so far.
In doubles, only the team of Sara Londono and Florencia Tornero in the No. 2 position achieved victory against Adrienn Kovacs and Faiga Schmidt with a score of 8-2.
For singles play, Cameron continued to struggle, splitting 3-3 with Southern Baptist with Londono, Sholles, and Antonia Moberg achieving wins at the No. 3, 4, and 6 position respectively.
Head Coach James Helvey said he felt that his women would defeat Southwest Baptist in a rematch.
“If we get the chance to play them again, I think it’ll go our way,” Helvey said.
The women came back on Saturday to shutout the East Central Lady Tigers to bring their record for the weekend to 2-1, 4-1 on the season.
All three doubles teams achieved victory with both the No. 2 pair of Londono and Tornero and No. 3 pair of Moberg and Sholles not dropping and single game winning their sets 8-0.
In singles the women completed the sweep picking up all six matches with Amanda Moberg, Elvira Sholles and Antonia Moberg all achieving 6-0, 6-0 victories.
Coach Helvey said he was encouraged by the way his teams performed in the matches.
“I was very pleased,” Helvey said. “It was a great weekend.”
Looking towards the matches ahead, Coach Helvey said he likes the Aggie’s chances.
“We’ve got five matches in three days,” Helvey said, “it looks good.”