Aggies Sweep Double Header Friday in College Station

Friday, March 18

College Station

3:00 PM

Texas A&M

Tyler JC

Catanzariti Named SEC Freshman of the Week

Mar 18, 2016 | Men's Tennis

COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The No. 9 Texas A&M men's tennis team (17-4) won both of ends of a double header on a loaded Friday afternoon. The Aggies opened the day with a 5-2 victory over No. 25 Mississippi State at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center, followed by a 6-1 triumph over Tyler Junior College.

The Bulldogs came in on the day with a three match SEC winning streak, having won 11 of their last 12 matches, deadlocked with the Aggies at second place in the league standings.

The maroon and white's No. 25^th-ranked doubles partnership of Arthur Rinderknech and Jackson Withrow made quick work of Mississippi State's top-line doubles tandem of Nuno Borges and Niclas Braum, 6-2. Seniors Harrison Adams and Shane Vinsant clinched the first point of the day, defeating Mate Cutura and Luka Sucevic, 6-3, on the second doubles court.

Sophomore AJ Catanzariti's decisive 6-1, 6-4 win was the first singles point won, pushing the A&M lead to 2-0. Jackson Withrow kept his undefeated streak in SEC play alive with a 6-1, 6-4 win on court number six, granting the Aggies their third point against the Bulldogs.

Adams and No. 14 Rinderknech dropped the only points of the day for A&M. Rinderknech's loss came at the hands of No. 36 Cutura, 6-2, 6-4 on the top court. Adams fell 6-4, 6-0 to Braum on court four. No. 34 Vinsant's 6-4, 6-3 victory over Mississippi State's 77^th-ranked Rishab Agarwal clinched the 4^th point and victory for the Aggies.

After the match was decided, No. 67 Jordi Arconada grabbed a three-set win over Borges, 6-3, 1-6, and 6-3 on court three. The win moved the Aggies to 4-1 in SEC play just a half-game out of the first place and marked their second SEC home win against top 30 foe.

In the second match of the day, the Aggies faced the Tyler Junior College Apaches and took a 6-1 victory only failing to win two sets in the matchup.

The Maroon and White took the doubles point with a 6-3, and 6-1 victory that gave them the edge heading into singles. Aleksandre Bakshi and Max Lunkin partnered to best Ferran Calvo and Enrique Padro, while James Martell and Frankie Colunga topped Phillip Franken and Ciro Lampasas.

Kevin Lam, Frankie Colunga, Aleksandre Bakshi and Oscar Janglin all took their matchups in straight sets along with Henry Gordon who had claimed a hard-fought first set tiebreaker before finishing up the 6-2 in the final match left on the court.

Junior James Martell, getting a chance to play against his former school, helped secure the doubles point for the Aggies, but dropped the only point of the match in singles to Logan Powell of Amarillo.

The Aggies will be back in action at the Mitchell Tennis Center on Sunday for another doubleheader. Play will begin with a conference showdown with Alabama at noon and concluded with a matchup against Rice at 6 p.m.

#9 Texas A&M 5, #25 Mississippi State 2
Singles competition
1. #36 Mate Cutura (MSU) def. #14 Arthur Rinderknech (TAMU) 6-2, 6-4
2. #34 Shane Vinsant (TAMU) def. #77 Rishab Agarwal (MSU) 6-4, 6-3
3. #67 Jordi Arconada (TAMU) def. Nuno Borges (MSU) 6-3, 1-6, 6-3
4. Niclas Braum (MSU) def. Harrison Adams (TAMU) 6-4, 6-0
5. AJ Catanzariti (TAMU) def. Trevor Foshey (MSU) 6-1, 6-4
6. Jackson Withrow (TAMU) def. Strahinja Rakic (MSU) 6-1, 6-4
Doubles competition
1. #25 Arthur Rinderknech/Jackson Withrow (TAMU) def. Nuno Borges/Niclas Braum (MSU) 6-2
2. Harrison Adams/Shane Vinsant (TAMU) def. Mate Cutura/Luka Sucevic (MSU) 6-3
3. #57 Jordi Arconada/Max Lunkin (TAMU) vs. Strahinja Rakic/Trevor Foshey (MSU) 5-4, unfinished

Match Notes:
Mississippi State 11-4, 3-2; National ranking #25
Texas A&M 16-4, 4-1; National ranking #9
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (5,6,4,1,2,3)

#9 Texas A&M 6, Tyler Junior College 1
Singles competition
1. Aleksandre Bakshi (TAMU) def. Ferran Calvo (TJC) 6-2, 6-3
2. Oscar Janglin (TAMU) def. Ciro Lampasas (TJC) 6-3, 7-5
3. Enrique Padro (TJC) def. James Martell (TAMU) 6-4, 6-3
4. Frankie Colunga (TAMU) def. Jonah Candelario (TJC) 6-4, 6-3
5. Henry Gordon (TAMU) def. Philip Franken (TJC) 7-6 (7-2), 6-2
6. Kevin Lam (TAMU) def. Chris Anders (TJC) 6-0, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. Aleksandre Bakshi/Max Lunkin (TAMU) def. Ferran Calvo/Enrique Padro (TJC) 6-3
2. James Martell/Frankie Colunga (TAMU) def. Philip Franken/Ciro Lampasas (TJC) 6-1
3. Oscar Janglin/Kevin Lam (TAMU) vs. Logan Powell/Chris Anders (TJC) 4-5, unfinished

Match Notes:
Tyler Junior College 10-3
Texas A&M 17-4, 4-1; National ranking #9
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1); Singles (6,1,3,2,4,5)

Texas A&M Head Coach Steve Denton
On today's performance…

"It was another really tough SEC battle. I thought we did a great job in the doubles to secure that point. Down at the back of the line-up we were able to put three points on the board pretty quickly, which put a lot of pressure on Mississippi State. I was really pleased with that. The matches we were ahead in we were able to finish. I knew Mississippi State was going to be really good and I was really pleased with how well our guys performed. The motivation has to be internal and I thought our guys did a good job being internally motivated to play against a really tough Mississippi State team."