Texas A&M
LSU
Texas A&M Men's Tennis Wins SEC Title
Apr 09, 2015 | Men's Tennis
COLLEGE STATION – Thursday afternoon the No. 7 Texas A&M men's tennis team captured the third conference championship in program history, defeating No. 25 LSU 4-0 in the final match at the Tiger's historic W.T. 'Dub' Robinson Stadium.
“It feels great for our team to have this type of success,” Texas A&M men's tennis head coach Steve Denton said. “Our team really pulled together and is playing with a lot of confidence at the moment. The best thing about this team is that they are really hungry for more. I cannot give enough credit to our senior leadership as well as Assistant Coaches Bob McKinley and Kevin O'Shea along with all of our support staff that make our team success possible.”
The Aggies (18-3, 11-1 SEC) added the 2015 Southeastern Conference trophy to regular-season crowns from the 1994 Southwest Conference and 2001 Big 12. Last spring A&M captured their first SEC trophy winning the conference tournament in Nashville. Thursday's win was the10th straight for Denton's squad and ninth straight in SEC play.
For the 18th time this season the Aggies opened play capturing the doubles point, improving to 16-2 in those matches. The senior duo of Jordan Szabo and Jeremy Efferding opened play with a 6-2 victory on the second doubles court over Tam Trinh and Eric Perez. The nation's 41st-ranked duo improved to 14-4 this spring and 7-2 in SEC matches. No. 13 Harrison Adams and Shane Vinsant clinched the point for the maroon and white with a 6-4 victory on doubles court one over No. 23 Boris Arias and Jordan Daigle. The junior pair is a team-best 9-2 against ranked duos this year.
As play transitioned to singles play the Aggies maintained the pressure on Bayou Bengals, winning the first set on all six courts. In a complete change of pace from upper classmen winning points for the maroon and white in doubles action, freshman ruled the roost and claimed all three singles points for the SEC Championship squad.
“We just continue to get off to good starts in matches and today was no exception,” Denton said. “We had great doubles today and obviously winning first sets kept the pressure on LSU.”
Freshman Jordi Arconada cruised through a straight set victory on court six putting the Aggies ahead 2-0 on the team scoreboard. The Puerto Rico native topped Justin Butsch 6-2, 6-1 to improve to 7-2 this spring and 5-1 in SEC competition.
The College Station crew piled up an insurmountable 3-0 lead as Rinderknech defeated Arias 6-0, 6-4 on court three. The Frenchman won his third straight match moving to 11-2 overall and 6-0 against conference foes.
“Jordi is really making significant strides for us,” Denton added. “He played great today and Arthur beating Arias today in convincing fashion was huge. Arias has been one of their hottest players coming into the match and we were all really impressed with Arthur's play today.”
The championship clinching point was secured by No. 78 Catanzariti on court five, defeating Andrew Korinek 7-5, 6-2. The back-to-back-to-back SEC freshman of the week won his 12th straight match as the right-hander now stands at team-best 16-3 in dual matches and 10-1 in SEC play.
During A&M's current 10-match win streak, Aggie freshman have gone a perfect 18-0. The maroon and white finished their daunting conference slate with a 36-7 singles record and a 20-9 doubles ledger. 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) this weekend.
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 opener for the Aggies, a 4-3 defeat at the Mitchell Tennis Center on January 24.
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.
#7 Texas A&M 4, #24 LSU 0
Singles – Order of Finish (6, 3, 5)
1. #121 Chris Simpson (LSU) vs. #60 Jeremy Efferding (TAMU) 6-7, 1-1, unfinished
2. #76 Jordan Daigle (LSU) vs. #64 Shane Vinsant (TAMU) 4-6, 5-5, unfinished
3. Arthur Rinderknech (TAMU) def. Boris Arias (LSU) 6-0, 6-4
4. Tam Trinh (LSU) vs. #55 Harrison Adams (TAMU) 6-7, 3-3, unfinished
5. #78 AJ Catanzariti (TAMU) def. Andrew Korinek (LSU) 7-5, 6-2
6. Jordi Arconada (TAMU) def. Justin Butsch (LSU) 6-2, 6-1
Doubles – Order of Finish (2, 1)
1. #13 Harrison Adams/Shane Vinsant (TAMU) def. #23 Boris Arias/Jordan Daigle (LSU) 6-4
2. #41 Jordan Szabo/Jeremy Efferding (TAMU) def. Tam Trinh/Eric Perez (LSU) 6-2
3. Chris Simpson/Justin Butsch (LSU) vs. AJ Catanzariti/Arthur Rinderknech (TAMU) 5-6, unfinished
Players Mentioned
