Texas A&M
Ohio State
Texas A&M Squares Off Against Ohio State in Round of 16
May 14, 2015 | Men's Tennis
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The sixth-seeded Texas A&M men's tennis team is set to square off against 11th-seeded Ohio State in the Round of 16 Thursday 4 p.m. (CT) at the Hurd Tennis Center in Waco. The 2015 Aggies (23-4) look to make the program's second appearance in the Round of Eight with a win Thursday afternoon.
Texas A&M is one of just seven schools to advance both the men's and women's teams to the Round of 16 in Waco (Baylor, Virginia, Southern Cal, UCLA, Georgia, North Carolina). Live stats and video will be available on Baylor's tournament central page for all matches taking place in Waco throughout the tournament.
The maroon and white clinched their 13th appearance in the Round of 16 with a 4-2 victory over Oklahoma State last Saturday at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center in College Station. After dropping the doubles point for just the fifth time this season, the Steve Denton coached squad stamped out a quartet of singles victories to advance to Waco. Junior Harrison Adams even the match's score at one-all with a straight set victory on court four, moments later the Aggies took their first lead of the day as freshman AJ Catanzariti took a straight set victory over Lukas Finzelberg. A&M pushed the Cowboys to the brink of elimination as junior Shane Vinsant defeated No. 115 Lucas Gerch in straight-sets on court two. After the Cowboys inched back into the match with a win on court three the Aggies punched their ticket to Waco with a three-set victory from freshman Jordi Arconada on court six. The host-Aggies advanced to the second round with a 4-0 sweep over Easter Kentucky on Friday.
The back-to-back SEC Tournament champions are led in singles by the 47th-ranked player in the country in All-SEC and Tournament MVP senior Jeremy Efferding. The senior tallied 11 dual wins this spring in singles competition to bring his career wins total to 95, the most on the Aggie roster. The Boca Raton, Fla. native teamed with senior Jordan Szabo and stand at 16-6 in doubles matches and 7-2 in SEC action.
Freshman Arthur Rinderknech joined Efferding on the SEC All-Tournament Team after tallying his first two wins over ranked opponents; the victories boosted the Paris, France native to No. 84 in the ITA singles rankings. The stringy right-hander was named to the All-SEC Second Team earlier this month, fellow freshman and doubles partner AJ Catanzariti and junior Shane Vinsant also represented the maroon and white on the SEC Second Team. Rinderknech enters Thursday's match with a 16-4 mark including the match clinching victory in the regular season match-up between Ohio State and Texas A&M on January 31 in College Station. The freshman's clinch victory was the first of his career in just his third dual match in the maroon and white, a three-set thriller in the last match standing over Kevin Metka on court five.
Catanzariti, the nation's 92nd ranked singles player, is in the midst of a banner freshman season. The Pittsburgh native advanced to the ITA All-American main draw in Tulsa with seven straight victories to advance through both the pre-qualification and qualification draw. The pace of play fanatic finished matches left and right throughout the season, going 37-9 overall, 20-4 in duals and 10-1 in SEC play. With his 20th win of the season Catanzariti became just the 34th player in program history to reach 20 dual victories in a season. The first year collegian finished second on the team with six wins over ranked opponents. For his efforts this season the league's coaches named Catanzariti to the All-SEC Second team and All-Freshman Team.
Vinsant stands at 7-3 in dual matches this season, including a 5-1 record against SEC foes to land on the All-SEC Second Team. The Keller, Texas native has played all of his matches as the one or two line for the Aggies heading into the Round of 16 with five wins over ranked opponents. The junior ranks No. 10 alongside classmate Harrison Adams in the latest ITA doubles rankings, going 11-4 against ranked duos, including an unheard of 4-1 ledger against top-5 tandems.
Doubles has been a strong suit for the Aggies this season, having claimed the point in all but five matches this season including Sunday's second round match against Oklahoma State. Leading the way for the team is the 10th-ranked duo of Adams and Vinsant. Joining the junior pair in the double's rankings are seniors Efferding and Szabo at No. 56 in the latest poll. The freshman duo of Catanzariti and Rinderknech round out the A&M doubles teams heading into the tournament.
The No. 11 Buckeyes (27-8) booked a trip to the Round of 16 with a pair of 4-0 victories in Columbus, defeating Buffalo and Vanderbilt in consecutive days last weekend. Ohio State boasts two ranked doubles pairs (No. 7 Kevin Metka & Ralf Steinbach and No. 88 Hunter Callahan & Chris Diaz) and three ranked singles players (No. 50 Diaz, No. 55 Mikael Torpegaard, No. 104 Steinbach).
The winner of the matchup between the Aggies and Buckeyes will take on the winner between Virginia and Columbia on Saturday at 4 p.m. for a place in the Final Four. To learn more about the men's tennis program, visit 12thMan.com and follow @AggieMTEN on Twitter.
NCAA Notes:
- The Aggies are 33-24 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, with the 2015 appearance A&M has reached the Round of Sixteen 13 times. The maroon and white have reached the Round of Eight one time (2001)
- Texas A&M Head Coach Steve Denton is 13-9 all-time in the NCAA Tournament
- Texas A&M is 5-5 all-time vs. Ohio State (last met Jan. 31, 2015 in College Station, W 4-3)
Tournament Website
http://www.baylorbears.com/sports/w-tennis/2015ncaa.html
Players Mentioned
