COLLEGE STATION – Texas A&M's 9th-ranked men's tennis team is set to host the No. 53 Arkansas Razorbacks at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center Friday evening at 6 p.m.
Setting the Scene
The Aggies (11-3, 6-1 SEC) look to maintain a stronghold on second-place in the SEC standings with five conference matches remaining prior to hosting the SEC Tournament beginning April 15. The Razorbacks (11-9, 1-5) are looking to rebound from a four-match losing streak dropping a pair of home matches last week against Auburn and Florida.
Promotions
The first 150 Texas A&M students at the Mitchell Tennis Center will receive a Texas A&M bandana.
Players in the ITA Rankings
The maroon and white are one of just seven teams to boast four or more ranked singles players, joining No. 2 Baylor, No. 3 Illinois, No. 6 Southern Cal, No. 8 Virginia, No. 11 Ohio State and No. 14 North Carolina. Junior Harrison Adams continues to pace the Aggie attack, ranking No. 51 in the latest ITA ranking. Rounding out the Aggie contingent are senior Jeremy Efferding, junior Shane Vinsant and freshman AJ Catanzariti at 59th, 67th and 79th respectively.
In addition to the four ranked singles players, the Aggies enlist a pair of ranked doubles teams in this week's poll. No. 9 Adams and Vinsant remain in the top-10 after dropping a match last Friday to No. 46 Julian Cash and Florian Lakat of Mississippi State. Efferding partners with fellow Senior Jordan Szabo to rank 32nd riding a three-match win streak.
The Razorbacks come to town with a lone ranked player, No. 81 Giammarco Micolani. The junior has won seven of his last nine completed matches in the No. 1 position. Most notably, Micolani defeated reigning SEC Player of the Year and No. 23 ITA-ranked Nik Scholtz (Ole Miss) on March 12.
Last Time Out
Texas A&M collected a pair of road SEC wins last weekend, defeating Mississippi State 4-1 on Friday and Alabama 4-1 on Sunday. Catanzariti was named SEC Freshman of the Week after collecting a trio of wins. After Catanzariti dropped his first set Friday evening against No. 105 Tassilo Schmid of Mississippi State, the Pittsburgh native won 24 of the next 31 games to defeat Schmid and Stuart Kenyon of Alabama. Friday's win was Catanzariti's first at the four-line for the maroon and white, moving to 2-0 against ranked opponents this spring. With the wins Catanzariti moves to 10-3 in dual matches and 6-1 in SEC play.
Vinsant, Efferding and Max Lunkin claimed points for the Aggies, along with Catanzariti to defeat Mississippi State on Friday. Sunday's victory over the Tide came from the doubles point and wins from Catanzariti, Vinsant and Efferding.
History Against Arkansas
The Aggies and Razorbacks have met on the courts 30 times, playing at least yearly from 1978 through 1995 when both were members of the Southwest Conference. The Fayetteville bunch hold a 20-10 advantage in the all-time series, but the Aggies have won five straight and eight of the last 12 match-ups.
Up Next
The Aggies will finish out the weekend within the friendly confines of the Mitchell Tennis Center hosting No. 13 Ole Miss at noon on Sunday, followed by a 4 p.m. appointment with No. 74 UTSA.
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.