COLLEGE STATION – The No. 13 Texas A&M Men's Tennis team will face No. 1 Oklahoma Friday at 6 p.m. at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Complex.
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Promotions
The first 200 fans through the turnstiles at the Mitchell Tennis Center will receive a #12thMan T-shirt. Additionally the first 50 students will receive a Raising Cane's gift card. The highly anticipated return of Chuck-a-Tennis Ball at Halftime happens this Friday evening.
Texas A&M senior Jackson Withrow will take part in a twitter takeover beginning Friday morning, fans are encouraged to follow @AggieMTEN and see game day through the All-American's eyes.
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Aggies and Sooners in the Rankings
Texas A&M is paced by a quartet of ranked-singles players, leading the way is No. 36 Harrison Adams, the New Braunfels native is 8-8 this year with a 3-5 record against ranked opponents. No. 43 Jeremy Efferding follows Adams in the rankings; the senior is 15-5 this year with a 4-2 record against top-100 opposition. No. 45 Shane Vinsant returns from an All-American junior campaign and is 10-6 this season with a 3-3 ledger against ranked foes. No. 51 AJ Catanzariti rounds out A&M's ranked singles players, the freshman is off to an impressive freshman campaign at 18-7 entering Friday's match, including going 3-2 record against ranked opponents.
In doubles the Aggies have a pair of ranked teams, led by No. 8 Adams and Vinsant having played the one-line for the Aggies in every dual match this season, 2-0 in dual matches and 8-3 overall. The junior tandem is an unblemished 5-0 against ranked pairs on the year coming off a victory over the No. 5 duo Kevin Metka and Ralf Steinbach of Ohio State. No. 13 Efferding and Jordan Szabo moved up a couple spots in the rankings after going 3-0 in dual matches this spring, the seniors enter the weekend 14-5 on the year and 6-3 against top-100 opponents
The Sooners counter with a quarter of their own ranked singles players; No. 11 Axel Alvarez Llamas, No. 26 Andrew Harris, No. 31 Dane Webb and No. 63 Alexandru Ghilea. Oklahoma also boasts the No. 5 duo of Llamas.
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Last Time Out
The No. 15 Texas A&M men's tennis team prevailed over two days of action and a trio of rain delays to defeat No. 5 Ohio State at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center Sunday afternoon. The Aggies claimed a pair of must-win three set wins from No. 45 Shane Vinsant and freshman Arthur Rinderknech to dispatch the Buckeyes. The Aggies improved to 2-1 this spring with the 4-3 win over the 8-1 Buckeyes.
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History Against Oklahoma
The maroon and white faced the crimson and cream last year in Norman, the home team prevailed in the top-10 matchup a season ago 5-2. Adams and Withrow claimed wins a year ago in the Sooner State. The Aggies are 24-6 all-time against the Sooners.
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Highly Ranked Teams at Mitchell
The Sooner' visit marks the second straight top-10 opponent to visit the Mitchell Tennis Center, the Aggies have won the previous two matches against top-10 teams (4-3 vs. No. 5 Ohio State this year and 4-1 vs. No. 7 Georgia last year). Two seasons ago the Aggies hosted a pair of top five teams, splitting the matches against No. 1 Virginia (L, 6-1) and No. 4 Ohio State (W, 4-3).
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Up Next
The Aggies will continue their nine match home stand with a double header against No. 37 Tulsa and Incarnate Word on Sunday.
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Keep Up With the Aggies
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.