Aggies and Commodores Set to Duel in College Station
Mar 12, 2015 | Men's Tennis
COLLEGE STATION – No. 9 Texas A&M men's tennis is set to host No. 11 Vanderbilt Friday at 6 p.m. at the George P Mitchell Tennis Center. The Commodores will be the third top-15 team to travel to Aggieland, with then top-ranked Oklahoma and fifth-ranked Ohio State returning home with a defeat.
Setting the Scene
The Aggies bring in a 7-2 overall record while the Commodore come to town sporting a 13-3 mark, both teams are 3-1 in league play tying for third place behind No. 3 Georgia (4-0) and No. 42 Mississippi State (2-0). A&M is 6-1 at home this season, while Vanderbilt is 2-1 in road matches.
Players in the ITA Rankings
Texas A&M is paced by a quartet of ranked-singles players, leading the way is No. 48 Harrison Adams, the New Braunfels native sports a trio of wins this year against ranked opponents. No. 65 Jeremy Efferding follows Adams in the rankings; the senior is 18-6 this year with a 5-3 record against top-100 opposition. No. 65 Shane Vinsant returns from an All-American junior campaign and is 11-8 this season with all eight losses coming against ranked foes. No. 89 AJ Catanzariti rounds out A&M's ranked singles players, the freshman is off to an impressive freshman campaign at 22-8 entering Friday's matches, including going 4-2 against ranked opponents.
In doubles the Aggies have a pair of ranked teams, led by No. 9 Adams and Vinsant having played the one-line for the Aggies in every dual match this season, 5-2 in dual matches and 11-5 overall. The junior tandem is an impressive 7-1 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. 26 Efferding and Jordan Szabo fell a couple spots in the rankings after dropping their second match of the spring. The seniors are 17-7 on the year and 7-3 against top-100 opponents on the year.
The Commodores enter Friday's pivotal SEC match with No. 10 Gonzales Austin as their only ranked singles player. The Nashville squad boasts the country's top-ranked doubles team of Austin and Rhys Johnson.
Last Time Out
The 10th-ranked Texas A&M men's tennis team fended off a valiant upset effort by South Carolina Sunday afternoon, winning 4-2 at the Carolina Tennis Center in Columbia. The Aggies improved to 7-2 on the year and 3-1 in SEC play, the Gamecocks fell to 9-8 overall and 1-3 in league action.
The maroon and white opened the scoring with the doubles point for the eighth time in nine matches this spring. The Aggies carried the point despite Kyle Koch and Thiago Pinheiro upsetting No. 8 Harrison Adams and Shane Vinsant. A&M's freshman duo of AJ Catanzariti and Arthur Rinderknech moved to 6-0 in dual matches, defeating Andrew Adams and Andrew Schafer 6-3 on court three.
The crucial doubles point was riding on the tightly contested second doubles court. The A&M senior pair of Jeremy Efferding and Jordan Szabo did not disappoint as they bested the 44th-ranked duo of Thomas Maryonne and Harrison O'Keefe. The 22nd-ranked A&M tandem moved to 6-2 in duals and 2-1 in SEC play.
As play transitioned to singles play, the Gamecocks controlled much of the action across all six courts as the home team claimed the four first sets. The Aggies found themselves in a 2-1 hole as South Carolina won points from Adams and Schafer over Vinsant and Jordi Arconada, respectively.
Despite the 2-1 deficit, the Aggies regained control winning the next three points. Catanzariti continued his impressive freshman campaign winning 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-0 on court five over O'Keefe to tie the match at two points apiece.
The Aggies regained their one point advantage as Rinderknech came out on top of a third-set tiebreaker over Pinheiro on court three. The Frenchman improved to 7-1 in dual matches and 3-0 in SEC play.
The clinch point came from No. 66 Efferding on court two over Koch. The Boca Raton native bounced back from dropping the first set 6-2 to win 6-4, 6-4 in set two and three and clinch the win for his team.
History Against Vanderbilt
The Aggies and Commodores have faced off five times previously, with the maroon and white holding a 4-1 advantage in the all-time series, going 2-0 since joining the SEC. Last season the Aggies posted a 4-0 win in Nashville, collecting wins from Efferding, Jackson Withrow and Szabo in just over two hours of play. The match started with A&M quickly collecting the doubles point with commanding wins from Vinsant and Adams along with Szabo and Efferding 8-1 and 8-0, respectively. In last season's match up the Aggies featured the nation's number one ranked doubles squad of Junior Ore and Withrow, leading then No. 5 Austin and Ryan Lipman 4-3 when the doubles point was clinched.
Up Next
The Aggies will finish out the weekend within the friendly confines hosting No. 4 Illinois at noon on Sunday, followed by a 4 p.m. appointment with Abilene Christian.
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.
Players Mentioned
