COLLEGE STATION – Texas A&M's 9th-ranked men's tennis team is set to host the No. 13 Ole Miss Rebels and No. 74 UTSA Roadrunners at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center Sunday afternoon. The Aggies and Rebels SEC match-up is scheduled for noon with the nightcap against UTSA set to begin at 4 p.m.
Setting the Scene
The Aggies (12-3, 7-1 SEC) look to maintain a stronghold on second-place in the SEC standings with four conference matches remaining prior to hosting the SEC Tournament beginning April 15. The Rebels (13-5, 5-2) are looking to move ahead of No. 34 Mississippi State (14-5, 5-2) into sole possession of third in the SEC standings. The Roadrunners (12-6) are coming off a pair of home wins against UAB (7-0) and New Mexico State (6-1) and they have been victorious in 10 of their last 12 contests overall.
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 rankings. 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 four-match win streak.
The Rebels come to town with a pair of ranked singles players, No. 15 Nik Scholtz and No. 84 Stefan Lindmark. Scholtz comes to College Station as the reigning SEC Player of the Week. In the doubles rankings, senior William Kallberg and freshman Gustav Hansson are ranked No. 45 for the Rebels.
The Roadrunners enlist the services of 82nd-ranked Tomas Stillman, most recently Stillman advanced his team-best singles record to 15-3 by dispatching Strahinja Trecakov (6-3, 6-4) of New Mexico State, marking the senior from Harlingen's 13th win in his last 14 contests.
Last Time Out
The 9th-ranked Texas A&M men's tennis team defeated the Arkansas Razorbacks 4-0 in front of a season-high 405 fans at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center Friday evening.
The maroon and white captured the doubles point to open the match for the 12th time this season, moving to 10-2 when starting matches up 1-0. The senior duo of Jeremy Efferding and Jordan Szabo wasted little time winning on court one, the nation's 32nd-ranked duo swept Jovan Parlic and Giammarco Micolani 6-0 in just under 20 minutes. The win was the senior pair's fourth in a row and 10th this spring.
A&M's remarkable freshman tandem of AJ Catanzariti and Arthur Rinderknech clinched the point, 6-4 over David Herrerias and Juan Marino. The youthful duo improved to 10-1 in dual matches and an impressive 7-1 against league opponents.
The maroon and white carried momentum into singles play, taking the first set on five of six courts. Junior Shane Vinsant worked quickly to double the A&M point total, winning 6-0, 6-2 on court one. Vinsant, ranked No. 67, improved to 4-4 against ranked opponents this year, besting No. 81 Micolani. The Keller native captured his third straight win, improving to 4-2 in SEC action.
Freshman Jordi Arconada secured the Aggies third point of the night, outdueling Johan den Toom 6-4, 7-5 on court four. Friday's win was the third this spring for the Puerto Rico native, improving to 2-1 against conference opposition.
As play wound down the race was on to secure the fourth and final point of the evening. Szabo, Catanzariti and sophomore Max Lunkin were all on match point, but Lunkin edged in front of his teammates to clinch the team victory. The Moscow native improved to 6-1 in duals and 3-1 in the SEC, defeating Herrerias 6-4, 6-3 on court five.
History Against Ole Miss/UTSA
The Aggies and Rebels have met on the courts eight times, playing four times in the last six seasons. The College Station based squad holds a 5-3 advantage all-time, but the two teams have split two match-ups since the Aggies joined the SEC. A&M is a perfect 15-0 against UTSA, the Aggies have taken all nine match-ups since 2000 including 6-1 victory last season in College Station.
Up Next
The Aggies will return to the road with a midweek contest at former SWC-foe Rice at the George R. Brown Tennis Center in Houston Wednesday evening at 5 p.m.
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.