COLLEGE STATION – Two Texas A&M men's tennis players advanced to the third round of the ITA Pre-Qualifying draw as part of the first men's national title of the fall season at the 2014 Saint Francis Health System ITA Men's All-American Championships. For the 10th straight year, the University of Tulsa will host the Saint Francis Health System ITA Men's All-American Championships at the state-of-the-art Michael D. Case Tennis Center.
Freshman AJ Catanzariti collected wins over players from Wichita State and LSU on Saturday. The blue-chipper defeated Sergio de Vilchez in straight sets before besting Simon Freund of LSU. The Pittsburgh native is set to face Matt Frost of Drake University at 10 a.m. Sunday, the winner will return to the court at 2 p.m. with a spot in the qualifying draw on the line.
Sophomore Frankie Colunga joined Catanzariti in the third round with wins over Alberto Reyes of Oregon and Matt Cowley of Utah. The College Station native prevailed in three sets over Cowley to advance to face Brett Forman of Michigan State at 11 a.m. The match's winner will play again at 2 p.m., attempting to move on to the qualifying draw.
Senior Jordan Szabo faced stiff competition in the first round in Paul Oosterbarhn of Georgia. The Australian Aggie was defeated 6-4, 6-2. Sophomore Max Lunkin did not go down without a fight, pushing his opening round match to a third set, but ultimately was eliminated by Peter Bertram, also of Georgia. The Russian claimed the second set 6-1, but lost 6-3 in the first and 6-1 in the third.
To see the full draw of the ITA All-American pre-qualifying draw log on to 12thMan. com. Follow @AggieMTEN on twitter to stay up to date with the Aggies.
ITA All-American Pre-Qualifying
Tulsa, Oklahoma
First Round
AJ Catanzariti, Texas A&M def. Sergio de Vilchez, Wichita State. 6-0, 6-4
Frankie Colunga, Texas A&M def. Alberto Reyes, Oregon. 6-2, 6-1
Paul Oosterbaan, Georgia def. Jordan Szabo, Texas A&M. 6-4, 6-2
Peter Bertram, Georgia def. Max Lunkin, Texas A&M. 6-3, 1-6, 6-1
Second Round
AJ Catanziriti, Texas A&M def. Simon Freund, LSU. 6-2, 6-3
Frankie Colunga, Texas A&M def. Matt Cowley, Utah. 6-4, 3-6, 6-1
Third Round
AJ Catanziriti, Texas A&M vs. Matt Frost, Drake
Frankie Colunga, Texas A&M vs. Brett Forman, Michigan State