COLLEGE STATION — The UTSA men's tennis team took an early 1-0 lead by winning the doubles point, but it was not enough in a 6-1 loss at No. 11 Texas A&M on Saturday afternoon at the Mitchell Tennis Center.
Facing their second consecutive nationally-ranked opponent to start the season, the Roadrunners (0-2) claimed two of the three doubles matches to win the first point, but they dropped all six singles contests to the Aggies (3-0).
The doubles point came down to the wire on the third court.
UTSA juniors Joel Rubio and Tomas Stillman pulled off a 6-4 upset against Texas A&M's No. 20-ranked duo of Jeremy Efferding and Jordan Szabo at No. 2, but Diogo Casa and Yannick Junger dropped a 6-0 decision to Harrison Adams and Shane Vinsant at the top spot to send the doubles portion to the third court for the decisive point.
Kolby Kilgo and Boburjon Kamiljanov went toe-to-toe with Tito Moreiras and Frankie Colunga at No. 3, as the match went to the tiebreaker after the duos battled to a 5-5 tie. The Roadrunners rallied from a 4-2 deficit to take a 6-5 lead, only to see the Aggies go back out in front by a 7-6 count. Kilgo and Kamiljanov responded by winning the next three points to clinch the point and give UTSA a 1-0 lead.
Featuring three top-40 players, Texas A&M took care of UTSA in straight sets in all six singles matches.
No. 19 Adams dispatched Casa, 6-3, 6-3, on court one. No. 13 Efferding defeated Junger, 6-1, 6-1, at the second position and No 38 Vinsant beat Rubio, 6-4, 6-2, at No. 3 in what turned out to be the match-cllnching contest.
Stillman fell to Junior Ore, 6-5 (5), 6-4, on court four, Eric Buchalter lost to Max Lunkin, 6-4, 6-1, at No. 5 and Kamiljanov dropped a 6-2, 6-1 decision to Jackson Withrow at the sixth spot.
The Roadrunners return to action at SMU (2-2) at 2:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 31.
#11 Texas A&M 6, UTSA 1
Doubles
1. Adams/Vinsant (TAMU) def. Casa/Junger (UTSA) 6-0
2. Rubio/Stillman (UTSA) def. #20 Efferding/Szabo (TAMU) 6-4
3. Kamiljanov/Kilgo (UTSA) def. Colunga/Moreiras (TAMU) 6-5 (9-7)
Singles
1. #19 Harrison Adams (TAMU) def. Diogo Casa (UTSA) 6-3, 6-3
2. #13 Jeremy Efferding (TAMU) def. Yannick Junger (UTSA) 6-1, 6-1
3. #38 Shane Vinsant (TAMU) def. Joel Rubio (UTSA) 6-4, 6-2
4. Junior Ore (TAMU) def. Tomas Stillman (UTSA) 6-5 (7-5), 6-4
5. Max Lunkin (TAMU) def. Eric Buchalter (UTSA) 6-4, 6-1
6. Jackson Withrow (TAMU) def. Boburjon Kamiljanov (UTSA) 6-2, 6-1
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (2,6,1,3,5,4)