Texas A&M
Florida
SEC Leading Aggies Sweep Gators
Apr 05, 2015 | Men's Tennis
COLLEGE STATION – The SEC-leading No. 8 Texas A&M men's tennis team swept No. 16 Florida 4-0 in Gainesville on a Easter Sunday afternoon in Gainesville at the Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex. The surging Aggies have won nine straight matches and eight in conference play to move to 17-3 overall and conference-best 10-1 in league matches.
“Proud of the team win today and very excited to get our first road win against Florida,” Texas A&M men's tennis head coach Steve Denton said. “Gainesville is a tough place to play. With six three setters today, the final score was not indicative of how exciting and close this match really was.”
For the seventh straight match the maroon and white opened play capturing the doubles point. Freshman phenoms AJ Catanzariti and Arthur Rinderknech continues their stellar doubles play, improving to 14-2 overall and 9-2 in SEC play. The duo topped No. 62 Oliver Landert and Joshua Wardell 6-0 in just over 20 minutes. Juniors Harrison Adams and Shane Vinsant clinched the match's first point, topping No. 42 Diego Hidalgo and Gordon Watson 6-4 on court one. The nation's 13th-ranked pair improved to 8-2 versus ranked pairs.
The match tightened up as play moved to singles competition, the two teams split first and second sets on all six courts. No. 79 Catanzariti stayed hot winning his 11th straight match and improving to 9-1 in SEC action. The Pittsburgh native took a three-setter from Chase Perez-Blanco on court five to give the Aggies a 2-0 lead.
Just one court over on court four, No. 51 Adams mounted an epic comeback in the third-set. The junior struggled after winning the first set, dropping 11 of 13 games to fall behind 5-2. The New Braunfels native took the wind out of the Gators' sail winning five straight points to win 7-5 in the deciding third-set and put A&M ahead 3-0 on the team scoreboard.
“Our freshmen keep coming up big, but Harry coming back from 5-2 down in the third was the game changer today,” Denton said. “Harry won three deuce points in a row. We are all so proud of his fight today. He is gaining momentum with every match and so is the rest of this Aggie team.”
With the matches on the first three courts still in the balance, freshman Jordi Arconada slammed the door shut on Florida. The Puerto Rico native won his fifth straight match and improved to 4-1 against conference opponents, defeating Wardell 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 on court three.
With the win, the Aggies improved to 6-3 all-time against the Gators including the last three straight. During the maroon and white's current nine-match win streak A&M freshman have been a perfect 15-0 in singles play. Texas A&M holds a win-percentage advantage over No. 6 Georgia (17-3, 9-1) in the league standings, the Aggies have one conference match remaining while the Bulldogs have a pair.
“We will enjoy this one today and begin getting ready for LSU starting tomorrow,” Denton added. “The mantra of this team is hungry and humble and not getting ahead of ourselves. We will enjoy this one today and begin getting ready for LSU starting tomorrow.”
The Aggies will keep to the road for their final two regular season matches, facing 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, #16 Florida 0
Apr 05, 2015 at Gainesville, FL (Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex)
Singles - Order of finish: (5, 4, 6)
1. #71 Diego Hidalgo (UF) vs. #59 Jeremy Efferding (TAMU) 3-6, 7-5, unfinished
2. #115 Elliott Orkin (UF) vs. #67 Shane Vinsant (TAMU) 4-6, 7-5, 2-2, unfinished
3. Gordon Watson (UF) vs. Arthur Rinderknech (TAMU) 7-5, 4-6, 2-3, unfinished
4. #51 Harrison Adams (TAMU) def. #118 Maxx Lipman (UF) 6-4, 0-6, 7-5
5. #79 AJ Catanzariti (TAMU) def. Chase Perez-Blanco (UF) 4-6, 6-4, 6-2
6. Jordi Arconada (TAMU) def. Joshua Wardell (UF) 5-7, 6-3, 6-3
Doubles - Order of finish (3, 1)
1. #13 Harrison Adams/Shane Vinsant (TAMU) def. #42 Diego Hidalgo/Gordon Watson (UF) 6-4
2. Maxx Lipman/Elliott Orkin (UF) vs. #33 Jeremy Efferding/Jordan Szabo (TAMU) 6-5, unfinished
3. AJ Catanzariti/Arthur Rinderknech (TAMU) def. #62 Oliver Landert/Joshua Wardell (UF) 6-0
Players Mentioned
