COLLEGE STATION – The No. 7 Texas A&M men's tennis team travelled to take on No. 24 LSU Thursday afternoon at 3 p.m. at the final SEC match for the Tiger's historic W.T "Dub" Robinson Stadium.
Setting the Scene
The Aggies (17-3, 10-1) look to clinch their first SEC regular-season championship Thursday afternoon, No. 8 Georgia (17-3, 9-1) can clinch a share of the regular season title with wins against No. 71 Arkansas (15-15, 3-8) and No. 14 Ole Miss (15-6, 7-3) on the weekend. Last spring the maroon and white captured their first SEC Tournament championship, defeating South Carolina, Kentucky and Florida in Nashville.
The Aggies are looking stay hot as they aim to win their 10th straight match, winning eight straight in league play. The Tigers (16-5, 6-4) have won five of their last seven matches, including a 4-3 win at Auburn last time out.
Inside the Numbers
17 – The Aggies have claimed the doubles point in 17 of their 20 duals this spring
15 – During A&M's current win streak, Aggie rookies (Arconada, Catanzariti, Rinderknech) have gone a perfect 15-0
11 – Freshman AJ Catanzariti has won 11 straight singles matches
9 – The Aggies are on an eight-match winning streak overall
8 – A&M has won seven straight SEC matches
7 – The maroon and white have won seven straight doubles points
5 – Senior Jeremy Efferding is a perfect 5-0 in SEC matches
5 – Sophomore Max Lunkin is riding a five-match win streak in singles play
5 – Catanzariti and Rinderknech have teamed up to win five SEC Freshman of the Week Honors this spring
Players in the ITA Rankings
The maroon and white are one of just eight teams to boast four or more ranked singles players, joining No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 Baylor, No. 3 Illinois, No. 4 Virginia, No. 5 Southern Cal, No. 12 Virginia Tech and No. 16 North Carolina. Junior Harrison Adams continues to pace the Aggie attack, ranking No. 55 in the latest ITA ranking. Rounding out the Aggie contingent are senior Jeremy Efferding, junior Shane Vinsant and freshman AJ Catanzariti at 60th, 64th and 78th respectively.
In addition to the four ranked singles players, the Aggies enlist a pair of ranked doubles teams in this week's poll. No. 13 Adams and Vinsant have been ranked within the top-25 every poll this season. Efferding partners with fellow Senior Jordan Szabo to rank 41st, the senior duo are 7-3 against ranked pairs this year.
The Tigers counter the Aggie lineup with a couple of ranked singles players and a ranked doubles pair.
Leading the charge for the bunch out of the swamp is No. 76 Jordan Daigle, with No. 121 Chris Simpson rounding out the ranked Tigers. Daigle and Boris Arias come in at No. 23 in the latest doubles poll.
Last Week
Texas A&M men's tennis played a nearly perfect week of tennis last week, sweeping Rice, Auburn and Florida 4-0. Freshman AJ Catanzariti turned in a perfect 3-0 week, while junior Harrison Adams tallied his first two wins this spring with a 2-0 week. Aggies also adding wins were Jordi Arconada, Max Lunkin, Arthur Rinderknech and Shane Vinsant.
A&M freshman continue to put forward strong performances, during the Aggies current nine-match win streak freshman (Arconada, Catanzariti and Rinderknech) are a perfect 15-0 in singles play. Catanzariti and Rinderknech partnered to go a perfect 3-0 on the week, including a win over No. 62 Landert and Wardell of Florida, the freshman duo's first win over a ranked pair in their collegiate career.
History Against LSU
In 28 all-time meetings between the two schools each team has come away the victor 14 times. The Aggies evened the all-time ledger with a 4-0 win last season in Baton Rouge. After the Aggies claimed the doubles point to open the match, Harrison Adams, Jordan Szabo and Shane Vinsant took singles wins to defeat the Bayou Bengals.
Up Next
The Aggies will stay on the road for their final regular season match, against No. 10 TCU Saturday at 1 p.m. in Fort Worth. The top-10 showdown will be a rematch of the season opened for the Aggies, a 4-3 defeat at the Mitchell Tennis Center.
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.