COLLEGE STATION – The No. 10 Texas A&M Men's Tennis team will play away from home for the first time this spring, travelling to take on No. 4 Georgia Friday at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex at 1:30 p.m. (CT) in Athens. Both teams enter Friday's clash at 2-0 in SEC play, the Aggies enter at 6-1 overall while the Bulldogs are 9-2 this spring.
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 sports a trio of wins this year against ranked opponents. No. 65 Shane Vinsant returns from an All-American junior campaign and is 11-7 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 21-7 entering Friday'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, 5-0 in dual matches and 11-3 overall. The junior tandem is an unblemished 7-0 against ranked pairs on the year including victories over the then ranked No. 3 Mikelis Libietis and Hunter Reese of Tennessee, No. 5 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 two weeks ago, but rebounded to defeat Jerry Lopez and William Bushamuka of Kentucky last Friday. The seniors are 16-6 on the year and 6-3 against top-100 opponents on the year.
The Bulldogs enter Friday's top-10 match-up with trio of ranked players. Nathan Pasha leads the charge for Georgie at 16th, the senior enters the match at 18-8 on the season and 6-2 in dual matches. Freshman Wayne Montgomery follows Pasha in the ITA rankings at No. 17 in the country. The South Africa native is 24-5 on the year, 6-2 in dual matches with a 4-2 record on court one for Georgia. Rounding out the red and black contingent in the rankings is No. 25 Austin Smith. The junior is 16-7 on the year and 6-3 in duals. In doubles the Athens squad boasts the No. 10 doubles partnership in the country. Smith and Ben Wagland are 5-0 on the year and 4-0 against ranked teams.
Last Time Out
The 12th-ranked Texas A&M men's tennis team kept seventh-ranked Georgia on a short leash, 4-1, on Friday evening in front of 686 fans at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center last season. The win marked the first victory for A&M in the all-time series, Georgia holds a 5-1 record all-time against the maroon and white.
Despite early rain the Aggies and Bulldogs played an exceptional match on a beautiful evening. A&M improved to 17-5, 6-1 in conference play while UGA suffered its first setback in SEC action, moving to 12-6 overall and 7-1 in conference play.
As play resumed Monday morning the Aggies were staked to a 1-0 lead after yesterday's doubles results. The home team took the lead through wins from freshmen duo AJ Catanzariti and Arthur Rinderknech and juniors Harrison Adams and Shane Vinsant. The junior duo tallied their third win over a top-5 opponent this spring defeating No. 3 and NCAA Doubles Champions Mikelis Libietis and Hunter Reese.
No. 65 Vinsant translated the doubles momentum onto the singles court claiming a win over Reese 6-3, 6-1 on court two. The A&M junior claimed his first win on court two and improved to 2-1 in dual matches this season.
Reigning SEC Freshman of the Week Rinderknech continued his torrid play with his fifth straight win this spring, defeating Luis Valero 6-1, 6-3 on court four. The Frenchman is now 8-1 in the maroon and white and 1-0 in SEC play.
The Aggies clinched the win with No. 88 Catanzariti's straight-set win on court five over Jess Jones. The A&M freshman paces the Aggies with 21 wins this year against just seven losses. The Pennsylvania native is now 2-0 SEC matches and 4-1 on court five.
History Against Georgia
The 12th-ranked Texas A&M men's tennis team kept seventh-ranked Georgia on a short leash, 4-1, on Friday evening in front of 686 fans at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center last season. Despite early rain the Aggies and Bulldogs played an exceptional match on a beautiful evening. A&M improved to 17-5, 6-1 in conference play while UGA suffered its first setback in SEC action, moving to 12-6 overall and 7-1 in conference play.
The match was played singles first and broadcast live on espn3.com as part of USTA match day, as the Aggies clinched the match the doubles point was not contested.
Georgia claimed a 1-0 advantage after Jordan Szabo fell to Hernus Pieters, 6-2, 7-5, on court six. Both sides held serve through the entirety of the second set before Pieters broke the junior from Australia to clinch the match.
Harrison Adams quickly evened the match for the Aggies at the No. 1 line after he knocked off 18th-ranked Austin Smith 6-3, 7-6 (5). The sophomore claimed the final three games in the first set and the tiebreaker en-route to the victory.
Jeremy Efferding expanded the Aggies lead to 2-1 after holding off 72nd-ranked Ben Wagland, 7-5, 6-4, at the No. 3 line. The 52nd-ranked player from Boca Raton jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the first set and broke Wagland to claim the final point.
Shane Vinsant, the nation's 26th-ranked player, ousted 39th-ranked Nathan Pasha in two tiebreakers, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3) at the No. 2 line to put A&M ahead 3-1. The sophomore built a 4-1 lead in the first-set tiebreaker while claiming the final four points in the second-set tiebreaker.
Jackson Withrow secured the upset for the Maroon and White despite dropping the first set at the No. 5 line. The junior claimed a tiebreaker victory in the second set before cruising through the third set for the 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-3, win.
Up Next
The Aggies stay on the road to face No. 34 South Carolina Sunday at 10 a.m. (CT).
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.