COLLEGE STATION – The No. 9 Texas A&M Men's Tennis team will host No. 56 Tennessee and Nicholls State Sunday at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Complex for a doubleheader, scheduled for noon and 4 p.m. respectively.
With inclement weather in the forecast fans are encouraged to stay tuned to 12thMan.com and to @AggieMTEN on twitter for any schedule updates. As of now no time changes have been made, coaches will convene early Sunday to determine if any changes are required.
Players in the ITA Rankings
Texas A&M is paced by a quartet of ranked-singles players, leading the way is No. 39 Harrison Adams, the New Braunfels native is a trio of wins this year against ranked opponents. No. 65 Shane Vinsant returns from an All-American junior campaign and is 10-7 this season with all seven losses coming against ranked foes. No. 66 Jeremy Efferding follows Vinsant in the rankings; the senior is 17-6 this year with a 5-3 record against top-100 opposition. No. 88 AJ Catanzariti rounds out A&M's ranked singles players, the freshman is off to an impressive freshman campaign at 20-7 entering Sunday's matches, including going 4-2 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, 4-0 in dual matches and 10-3 overall. The junior tandem is an unblemished 6-0 against ranked pairs on the year including victories over the then ranked No. 5 duo Kevin Metka and Ralf Steinbach of Ohio State and No. 5 Dane Webb and Axel Alvarez Llamas of Oklahoma. No. 22 Efferding and Jordan Szabo fell a couple spots in the rankings after dropping their first match of the spring to Andrew Harris and Alex Ghilea of OU last Friday. The seniors are 16-6 on the year and 6-3 against top-100 opponents on the year.
The Volunteers come to town with one singles and one doubles tandem in the ITA rankings. No. 15 Mikelis Libetis carries the torch for the Volunteers, the senior enters Sunday's match at 15-2 on the season and 9-0 in dual matches. The Prievuli, Latvia native is 9-2 against ranked-opponents this year and is slated to play the one line again this Sunday. Libetis partners with Hunter Reese to rank No. 3 in the latest doubles poll, the reigning NCAA Doubles Champions are 15-2 on the year and 7-2 in duals.
Last Time Out
The No. 9 Texas A&M men's tennis played through frigid temperatures and chilling wind to defeat Kentucky 4-0 in the first match of conference season Friday afternoon at the George P Mitchell Tennis Center. The Aggies improved to 5-1 overall while the Wildcats fell to 6-7 on the season.
The Aggies opened the scoring by claiming the doubles point for the sixth straight match. No. 22 Jeremy Efferding and Jordan Szabo broke the seal with the 6-2 win over Jerry Lopez and William Bushamuka on doubles court two. The maroon and white clinched the day's first point as freshman AJ Catanzariti and Arthur Rinderknech bested Nils Ellefsen and Jake Stefanik on the third doubles court.
The Aggies maintained momentum as play switched to singles, the home team took the first set on all six courts. No. 88 Catanzariti continued his impressive freshman campaign capturing the second A&M point with a straight-set victory over Trey Yates on court five. The win was the 20th on the season for the Pennsylvania native.
A short time later No. 66 Efferding stake the home team to a 3-0 lead. The senior claimed his fifth win over a ranked opponent with a straight-set win over 83rd ranked Beck Pennington. The Floridian is 5-1 in dual matches this Spring and 2-0 when playing on court one.
The clinch win came on court six from Max Lunkin, just an hour after singles play began. The Moscow, Russia native worked quickly to defeat Ellefsen 6-4, 6-0. The sophomore is 3-0 in duals and has won his last eight matches.
Projected SEC Match Lineups
#9 Texas A&M vs Tennessee
George P Mitchell Tennis Center
March 1, 2015
Singles
1. #66 Jeremy Efferding (TAMU) vs #15 Mikelis Libetis (UT)
2. #65 Shane Vinsant (TAMU) vs Hunter Reese (UT)
3. #39 Harrison Adams (TAMU) vs Jack Schipanski (UT)
4. Arthur Rinderknech (TAMU) vs Luis Valero (UT)
5. #88 AJ Catanzariti (TAMU) vs Jess Jones (UT)
6. Max Lunkin (TAMU) vs Bartosz Sawicki (UT)
Doubles
1. #8 Shane Vinsant & Harrison Adams (TAMU) vs #3 Mikelis Libetis & Hunter Reese (UT)
2. #22 Jeremy Efferding & Jordan Szabo (TAMU) vs Luis Valero & Bartosz Sawicki (UT)
3. AJ Catanzariti & Arthur Rinderknech (TAMU) vs Jack Schipanski & Andrew Dromsky (UT)
History Against Tennessee
The maroon and white faced Tennessee twice last, the Aggies prevailed 4-1 in Houston at the ITA National Indoor Championships and 4-0 in College Station in league play. Efferding was a perfect 4-0 across singles and doubles against the orange and white last season, including the clinch win in the second matchup. Aggies also tallying wins against the Vols included Szabo, Jackson Withrow, Max Lunkin in singles and Adams and Vinsant in doubles. The Aggies are 3-4 all-time against the Volunteers.
Up Next
The Aggies will hit the road for the first time this season SEC road trip at No. 7 Georgia on Friday followed by a Sunday match up with No. 34 South Carolina Sunday.
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.