Saturday, January 28
College Station
2:00 PM
Texas A&M
3
vs
4
Baylor
Texas A&M’s Late Charge Falls Short Against Baylor
Jan 28, 2017 | Men's Tennis
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The No. 15 Texas A&M men's tennis team fought back from deficits on multiple occasions, but could not overcome No. 21 Baylor's advantage Saturday evening at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend first round, falling 4-3. The Aggies will take on Ole Miss in the ITA Kick-Off Consolation match Sunday at 11 a.m.
The Maroon & White faced early deficits in all three doubles matches, eventually missing out on the match's first point. The visitors claimed the doubles point with a 6-1 victory on doubles court three by Johannes Schretter and Jimmy Bendeck over Jordi Arconada and James Martell along with a 7-5 win by Juan Benitez and Constantin Frantzen over Aleksandre Bakshi and AJ Catanzariti on the second doubles court.
"We just got off to a really bad start in the doubles and didn't hold serve. Give Baylor credit they jumped on us in the early parts of doubles," Texas A&M men's tennis head coach Steve Denton said. "On court one we gave ourselves a chance to get back in it, but you can't afford to give a good team that kind of lead and we did in the doubles. We were fighting an uphill battle all-day and you saw all the matches were going to be close all day, just a couple points here and there and they were able to hold on and get three singles wins."
Texas A&M gave themselves a chance to win the match in singles play, winning three of six first sets and forcing a third set on two of the three courts they did not win the first set on. The Bears were able to double their advantage with a 6-3, 6-4 win by Schretter over Max Lunkin on court three.
The Aggies stormed back into the match with two straight wins to even the match at two-all. The first point for the home team was claimed by Bakshi over No. 81 Bendeck, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4. The win for the Tbilisi, Georgia native, was the first ranked victory in the sophomore's collegiate career. Following Bakshi's win, Texas A&M leveled the score as No. 16 Arthur Rinderknech topped Benitez 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 on the top court.
The Bears regained the advantage a few minutes later as No. 44 Max Tchoutakian bested Catanzariti 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 on court two. The match lingered in the balance as both matches still on court were deep in the third set, but the Aggies did not back down as Arconada proved his mettle in a three set victory over Bjoern Petersen, 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 on court five. Freshman Valentin Vacherot attempted to clinch the match for the Aggies, but a late break doomed the Frenchman as he ran out of time against Frantzen on court six.
"Jordy did a good job there in the second set coming back late and winning and then got up petty big in the third and was able to hold on." Denton added "Obviously Arthur's match was up and down a little bit, but he came through and played well for us. I was really proud of Alex [Bakshi]. He split his first two sets and early in the third he was down a break. He came out of that and was able to pull that match out against a really feisty positive player. I think Alex showed a lot of resilience being able to come back and win that match. We were pleased with his performance in that situation."
The Aggies look to get back into the win column Sunday morning as Ole Miss awaits at 11 a.m. The Rebels fell 4-3 to No. 23 SMU in Saturday's morning match, the Mustangs and Bears will face off at 2 p.m. for the opportunity to advance to the 2017 ITA National Team Indoor Championship in Charlottesville, Virginia next month.
Visit 12thMan.com for more information on Texas A&M men's tennis. Aggie fans also can keep up to date with the A&M men's tennis team on Twitter by following @AggieMTEN or on Facebook at Facebook.com/AggieMensTennis.
Tennis Match Results
Baylor vs Texas A&M
Jan 28, 2017 at College Station, TX
(George P Mitchell Tennis Center)
#21 Baylor 4, #15 Texas A&M 3
Singles competition
1. #16 Arthur Rinderknech (TAMU) def. Juan Benitez (BU) 6-2, 2-6, 6-3
2. #44 Max Tchoutakian (BU) def. AJ Catanzariti (TAMU) 5-7, 6-2, 6-4
3. Johannes Schretter (BU) def. Max Lunkin (TAMU) 6-3, 6-4
4. Aleksandre Bakshi (TAMU) def. #81 Jimmy Bendeck (BU) 6-1, 3-6, 6-4
5. Jordi Arconada (TAMU) def. Bjoern Petersen (BU) 3-6, 7-5, 6-4
6. Constantin Frantzen (BU) def. Valentin Vacherot (TAMU) 7-6 (7-1), 3-6, 6-3
Doubles competition
1. #7 Max Lunkin/Arthur Rinderknech (TAMU) vs. Max Tchoutakian/Bjoern Petersen (BU) 5-5, unfinished
2. Juan Benitez/Constantin Frantzen (BU) def. Aleksandre Bakshi/AJ Catanzariti (TAMU) 7-5
3. Johannes Schretter/Jimmy Bendeck (BU) def. Jordi Arconada/James Martell (TAMU) 6-1
Match Notes:
Baylor 2-1; National ranking #21
Texas A&M 1-1; National ranking #15
Order of finish: Doubles (3, 2); Singles (3,4,1,2,5,6)
ITA Kick-Off Weekend
T-3:02
The Maroon & White faced early deficits in all three doubles matches, eventually missing out on the match's first point. The visitors claimed the doubles point with a 6-1 victory on doubles court three by Johannes Schretter and Jimmy Bendeck over Jordi Arconada and James Martell along with a 7-5 win by Juan Benitez and Constantin Frantzen over Aleksandre Bakshi and AJ Catanzariti on the second doubles court.
"We just got off to a really bad start in the doubles and didn't hold serve. Give Baylor credit they jumped on us in the early parts of doubles," Texas A&M men's tennis head coach Steve Denton said. "On court one we gave ourselves a chance to get back in it, but you can't afford to give a good team that kind of lead and we did in the doubles. We were fighting an uphill battle all-day and you saw all the matches were going to be close all day, just a couple points here and there and they were able to hold on and get three singles wins."
Texas A&M gave themselves a chance to win the match in singles play, winning three of six first sets and forcing a third set on two of the three courts they did not win the first set on. The Bears were able to double their advantage with a 6-3, 6-4 win by Schretter over Max Lunkin on court three.
The Aggies stormed back into the match with two straight wins to even the match at two-all. The first point for the home team was claimed by Bakshi over No. 81 Bendeck, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4. The win for the Tbilisi, Georgia native, was the first ranked victory in the sophomore's collegiate career. Following Bakshi's win, Texas A&M leveled the score as No. 16 Arthur Rinderknech topped Benitez 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 on the top court.
The Bears regained the advantage a few minutes later as No. 44 Max Tchoutakian bested Catanzariti 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 on court two. The match lingered in the balance as both matches still on court were deep in the third set, but the Aggies did not back down as Arconada proved his mettle in a three set victory over Bjoern Petersen, 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 on court five. Freshman Valentin Vacherot attempted to clinch the match for the Aggies, but a late break doomed the Frenchman as he ran out of time against Frantzen on court six.
"Jordy did a good job there in the second set coming back late and winning and then got up petty big in the third and was able to hold on." Denton added "Obviously Arthur's match was up and down a little bit, but he came through and played well for us. I was really proud of Alex [Bakshi]. He split his first two sets and early in the third he was down a break. He came out of that and was able to pull that match out against a really feisty positive player. I think Alex showed a lot of resilience being able to come back and win that match. We were pleased with his performance in that situation."
The Aggies look to get back into the win column Sunday morning as Ole Miss awaits at 11 a.m. The Rebels fell 4-3 to No. 23 SMU in Saturday's morning match, the Mustangs and Bears will face off at 2 p.m. for the opportunity to advance to the 2017 ITA National Team Indoor Championship in Charlottesville, Virginia next month.
Visit 12thMan.com for more information on Texas A&M men's tennis. Aggie fans also can keep up to date with the A&M men's tennis team on Twitter by following @AggieMTEN or on Facebook at Facebook.com/AggieMensTennis.
Tennis Match Results
Baylor vs Texas A&M
Jan 28, 2017 at College Station, TX
(George P Mitchell Tennis Center)
#21 Baylor 4, #15 Texas A&M 3
Singles competition
1. #16 Arthur Rinderknech (TAMU) def. Juan Benitez (BU) 6-2, 2-6, 6-3
2. #44 Max Tchoutakian (BU) def. AJ Catanzariti (TAMU) 5-7, 6-2, 6-4
3. Johannes Schretter (BU) def. Max Lunkin (TAMU) 6-3, 6-4
4. Aleksandre Bakshi (TAMU) def. #81 Jimmy Bendeck (BU) 6-1, 3-6, 6-4
5. Jordi Arconada (TAMU) def. Bjoern Petersen (BU) 3-6, 7-5, 6-4
6. Constantin Frantzen (BU) def. Valentin Vacherot (TAMU) 7-6 (7-1), 3-6, 6-3
Doubles competition
1. #7 Max Lunkin/Arthur Rinderknech (TAMU) vs. Max Tchoutakian/Bjoern Petersen (BU) 5-5, unfinished
2. Juan Benitez/Constantin Frantzen (BU) def. Aleksandre Bakshi/AJ Catanzariti (TAMU) 7-5
3. Johannes Schretter/Jimmy Bendeck (BU) def. Jordi Arconada/James Martell (TAMU) 6-1
Match Notes:
Baylor 2-1; National ranking #21
Texas A&M 1-1; National ranking #15
Order of finish: Doubles (3, 2); Singles (3,4,1,2,5,6)
ITA Kick-Off Weekend
T-3:02
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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