Texas A&M
Auburn
Texas A&M Sweeps Auburn on Senior Day
Apr 03, 2015 | Men's Tennis
COLLEGE STATION – The No. 8 Texas A&M men's tennis team took care of business Friday afternoon winning their eighth straight match sweeping Auburn 4-0 at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center. The Aggies improved to 16-3 on the year and 9-1 in Southeastern Conference play, while the Tigers fell to 14-9 and 2-7 against league opponents.
For the sixth straight match the maroon and white kicked off play capturing the doubles point. Marko Krickovic and Lukas Ollert struck first defeating No. 13 Harrison Adams and Shane Vinsant on court one. Just moments later freshman AJ Catanzariti and Arthur Rinderknech outplayed Oliver Plaskett and Petar Tomic 6-3 on court three. The A&M freshman duo improved to 13-2 this spring and 8-2 in SEC play.
Seniors Jeremy Efferding and Jordan Szabo took advantage of being the last doubles court on, putting on a show breaking Maxime Hinnisdaels and Joseph Van Dooren in their final two serves to capture the match's first point. The nation's 33rd-ranked doubles team improved to 13-4 on the season and 6-2 against league opposition.
“Today was a lot like Wednesday night's match against Rice, the doubles point came down to Jeremy and Jordan,” Texas A&M men's tennis head coach Steve Denton said. “Wednesday they had to win a tie-breaker to get the point and even though they lost serve late in the match today I was still confident in them. They were able to put that behind them and finish strong breaking serve to win us the point.”
In between doubles and singles play, A&M honored the four seniors on this year's roster. Efferding, Szabo, Max Montague and Jackson Withrow were presented with a framed jersey as a token of appreciation for representing the Aggies so well in their time in Aggieland.
Following the ceremony, the Aggies were back on the offensive taking the first set on four courts in rapid succession. The race was on to capture the final three points and clinch the team victory.
Rinderknech raced through his opposition winning for 10th time this spring, dispatching of Hinnisdaels 6-3, 6-2 on court three. The French freshman remained a perfect 5-0 against SEC opponents. Moments later his classmate and doubles partner, No. 79 Catanzariti, pushed the A&M lead to 3-0 with a 6-3, 6-3 victory on court five over Van Dooren. The back-to-back SEC Freshman of the week is on a 10 match win streak, going 8-1 in the SEC and 14-3 in dual matches.
“Arthur played really well today,” Denton added. “I think that was the best I have seen him play in about three weeks. I was really happy to see him be back on form. He was serving really well all day today. AJ started out a little shaky in the first match, but because of his confidence level he was able to right the ship. He has a really good belief system right now and we were happy that they were able to take the pressure off the rest of the lineup.”
No. 67 Vinsant clinched the match for Texas A&M, winning 6-2, 6-4 on court two over Krickovic. The All-American from a season ago improved to 6-2 in duals and 5-1 in league play with his fourth straight victory.
The Aggies will hit the road for their final three regular season matches, facing No. 16 Florida in Gainesville Sunday at 11 a.m. (CT). Next week, the College Station crew will take on No. 25 LSU in Baton Rouge Thursday at 3 p.m. followed a trip to Fort Worth to take on No. 10 TCU Saturday at 1 p.m.
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.
#8 Texas A&M 4, #46 Auburn 0
Singles competition
1. #59 Jeremy Efferding (TAMU) vs. #78 Lukas Ollert (AU) 6-6 (7-7), unfinished
2. #67 Shane Vinsant (TAMU) def. Marko Krickovic (AU) 6-2, 6-4
3. Arthur Rinderknech (TAMU) def. Maxime Hinnisdaels (AU) 6-3, 6-2
4. #51 Harrison Adams (TAMU) vs. Dante Saleh (AU) 6-3, 3-6, unfinished
5. #79 AJ Catanzariti (TAMU) def. Joseph Van Dooren (AU) 6-3, 6-3
6. Max Lunkin (TAMU) vs. Petar Tomic (AU) 6-7 (4-7), 2-2, unfinished
Doubles competition
1. Marko Krickovic/Lukas Ollert (AU) def. #13 Harrison Adams/Shane Vinsant (TAMU) 6-0
2. #33 Jeremy Efferding/Jordan Szabo (TAMU) def. Maxime Hinnisdaels/Joseph Van Dooren (AU) 6-4
3. AJ Catanzariti/Arthur Rinderknech (TAMU) def. Oliver Plaskett/Petar Tomic (AU) 6-3
Match Notes:
Auburn 14-9, 2-7; National ranking #46
Texas A&M 16-3, 9-1; National ranking #8
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (3,5,2)
T-2:17 A-210
Players Mentioned
