Tulane University
Texas A&M-CC (Blue-Gray Invit.)
![Sophomore Alberto Sottocorno clinched Tulane's first Blue-Gray Classic Championship on Sunday. [File photo by Ned Dishman]](https://images.sidearmdev.com/resize?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdxbhsrqyrr690.cloudfront.net%2Fsidearm.nextgen.sites%2Ftulanegreenwave.com%2Fimages%2F2005%2F3%2F13%2F129227.jpeg&height=300&type=webp)
Tulane Tennis Captures Blue-Gray Classic Title
Mar 13, 2005 | Men's Tennis
March 13, 2005
MONTGOMERY, Ala. - The Tulane men's tennis team has enjoyed much success under head coach Robert Klein over the past 10 years, including eight straight NCAA Tournament appearances. However, one thing had eluded the Green Wave during that time - a championship at the prestigious Blue-Gray Tennis Classic. On Sunday, for the first time in 10 trips to the event, 25th-ranked Tulane captured the title, defeating No. 44 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 4-2, in the 55th annual competition.
"I am very proud of the guys," Klein said. "We have come here and done well before, but we have never won and I am proud of the way we competed this weekend. We played some strong tennis and gave a full team effort all week and beat four very good teams in four days. We showed a lot of heart and guts, but I still don't think we maxed out our abilities."
Tulane defeated Brown, Rice and Boise State, all ranked opponents in the first three rounds before upending the red-hot Texas A&M-Corpus Christi squad in the finals.
With the Wave holding a 3-2 lead, sophomore Alberto Sottocorno provided the clincher, defeating Maxime Godin, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 at No. 5 singles. It was Sottocorno's team-leading 13th singles victory this fall.
The Green Wave got on the board first by winning the doubles point, but it didn't come easy as freshman Jonah Kane-West and sophomore David Goulet came back from a 5-3 deficit to overtake TAMUCC's Raul Morant-Rivas and Oscar Roman, 8-6 at No. 3 doubles. That win clinched the doubles point as sophomore Ted Angelinos and junior Jacobo Hernandez had defeated Jeremy Blandin and Maxime Godin, 8-6.
The Islanders evened the match at one with a victory at the No. 2 position, but the Wave took the lead once again when Hernandez upended Andrey Kumantsov, 6-2, 6-3 at the No. 3 seed. TAMUCC kept the match close, evening the score at two with a 6-4, 7-6 win at No. 1 singles.
However, Kane-West posted a 6-1, 6-7, 6-4 victory at No. 6 singles to set up Sottocorno for his clincher at No. 5.
"I have to give credit to Jacobo," Klein said. "He has given us great leadership and he has our guys inspired and playing hard. I am very excited, this gives us a lot of momentum going forward. This will help us in many different ways."
Tulane returns to action next Saturday, March 19th, hosting Tulsa at the Goldring Tennis Center at 12 noon.
March 12, 2005
Blue-Gray Invitational
Montgomery, Ala.
No. 25 Tulane 4, No. 55 Boise State 2
Doubles:
1. Koch/ Sottocorno (TU) v. Blandin/Godin (TAMUCC): Did not finish
2. Angelinos/Hernandez (TU) def. Figueiredo/Kumantsov (TAMUCC): 8-6
3. Goulet/Kane-West (TU) def. Morant-Rivas/Oscar Roman (TAMUCC): 8-6
Singles:
1. Jeremy Blandin (TAMUCC) def. #59 Dmitriy Koch (TU): 6-4, 7-6
2. Raul Morant-Rivas (TAMUCC) def. #81 David Goulet (TU): 6-1, 6-2
3. Jacobo Hernandez (TU) def. Andrey Kumantsox (TAMUCC): 6-2, 6-3
4. Ted Angelinos (TU) v. Goncalo Figueiredo (TAMUCC): Did not finish
5. Alberto Sottocorno (TU) def. Maxime Godin (TAMUCC): 7-5, 3-6, 6-4
6. Jonah Kane-West (TU) def. David Plasencia (TAMUCC): 6-1, 6-7, 6-4
Players Mentioned
