CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - The NM State men's tennis team staked itself to a 2-0 lead early, but Troy came roaring back by winning four of six singles matches in order to claim a 4-3 victory Saturday morning at the Thomas J. Henry Tennis Center. The Aggies and Trojans are two of the five competing teams at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi's two-day H-E-B- Tournament of Champions.

DOUBLES
• Martin Simecek and Corey Clarke helped the Aggies get started on the right foot with their 6-2 win on line three of tandem play.
• The Trojans came back when Louis Menard and Gijs Akkermans fell 6-2 in top-flight play, but Jordy Visser and Nicolas Buitrago finished off the Trojans to put NM State up 1-0.
• NM State's second-flight doubles pairing took down Amer Bedwan and Manuel Bernard 6-2 in order to hand the Aggies the doubles point.

SINGLES
• Simecek was a winner in his fourth-line matchup against Vito Llinares, defeating Troy's competitor by a 6-4, 6-4 score.
• Troy's comeback began on lines five and six of singles play. Clarke was on the wrong end of a 7-5, 6-4 match against Christopher Tasker in sixth-flight play while Akkermans fell 6-4, 7-6 to Nicolas Simkins on line five.
• With things all knotted at two, the Trojans took their first lead of the match when Buitrago was outplayed 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 in second-line play.
• Menard managed to pull the Aggies even with his 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 victory against Carles Anton in top-flight action.
• Troy, unfortunately, was able to make all the right moves down the stretch in its third-flight singles match. Visser dropped a 6-7, 6-4, 6-4 match to Bedwan which allowed the Trojans to clinch the match.

COMING UP NEXT
• The Aggies will have two opportunities to bounce back Sunday at the Thomas J. Henry Tennis Center. NM State is scheduled to duke it out with UTSA at 9:00 a.m. before closing out its three-match weekend with a 3:00 p.m. showdown with H-E-B Tournament of Champions host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. 

Troy vs New Mexico State
Feb 20, 2021 at Corpus Christi, Texas
(Thomas J. Henry Tennis Center)
Troy 4, New Mexico State 3

Singles competition
1. Louis Menard (NMSU) def. Anton, Carles (TROY) 6-2, 5-7, 6-2
2. Bernard, Manuel (TROY) def. Nicolas Buitrago (NMSU) 2-6, 6-2, 6-4
3. Bedwan, Amer (TROY) def. Jordy Visser (NMSU) 6-7, 6-4, 6-4
4. Martin Simecek (NMSU) def. Llinares, Vito (TROY) 6-4, 6-4
5. Simkin, Nicolas (TROY) def. Gijs Akkermans (NMSU) 6-4, 7-6
6. Tasker, Christopher (TROY) def. Corey Clarke (NMSU) 7-5, 6-4

Doubles competition
1. Simkin, Nicolas/Tasker, Christopher (TROY) def. Louis Menard/Gijs Akkermans (NMSU) 6-2
2. Jordy Visser/Nicolas Buitrago (NMSU) def. Bedwan, Amer/Bernard, Manuel (TROY) 6-2
3. Martin Simecek/Corey Clarke (NMSU) def. Anton, Carles/Llinares, Vito (TROY) 6-2

Match Notes:
Troy 10-1
New Mexico State 1-6
Doubles order of finish | 3,1,2
Singles order of finish | 4,6,5,2,1,3 T-3:32

++NM State++