Texas A&M
Virginia
Texas A&M Takes on Virginia in Quarterfinals
May 15, 2015 | Men's Tennis
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The sixth-seeded Texas A&M men's tennis team will take part in the national quarterfinals for the second time in program history as they take on No. 3 Virginia Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Hurd Tennis Center in Waco. The 2015 Aggies (24-4) look to make the program's first appearance in the semifinals with a win Saturday afternoon.
Match times have been moved up Saturday in an attempt to avoid inclement weather in the forecast Saturday evening in Waco. The matches between Oklahoma-Georgia and TCU-North Carolina will begin at 10 a.m. while the quarterfinal matches between Virginia-Texas A&M and Baylor-USC will begin at 2 p.m.
Due to expected congestion around the Ferrell Center/Turner Riverfront Complex on Saturday due to the NCAA Tennis Championships (10 am and 2 pm), commencement (2:30 pm) and baseball vs. Texas (3 pm) a shuttle system has been initiated. Shuttles will run from 8:30 am – 7 pm from the East Campus garage to Ferrell Center/Turner Riverfront Complex.
The maroon and white clinched their second appearance in the Round of 8 with a 4-3 victory over No. 11 Ohio State (27-9) Thursday evening at the Ann and Brad Brookshire Family Pavilion in Dallas. The maroon and white capitalized on capturing the doubles point in addition to singles wins from Jeremy Efferding, Shane Vinsant and Arthur Rinderknech to dispatch of the Buckeyes. Inclement weather in the Waco area forced the change of venue for the round of 16 match, Thursday's early matches endured multiple delays. In order to keep the tournament on schedule the decision was made to move the matches north.
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 has tallied 12 dual wins this spring in singles competition to bring his career wins total to 92, the most on the Aggie roster. The Boca Raton, Fla. native teamed with senior Jordan Szabo and stand at 17-6 in doubles matches.
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 Saturday's match with a 17-4 mark including the match clinching victory in both of the matchups this season against Ohio State.
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 37-10 overall, 20-5 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 stands at third 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 8-3 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 Elite 8 with seven wins over ranked opponents. The junior ranks No. 10 alongside classmate Harrison Adams in the latest ITA doubles rankings, going 12-4 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. 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 maroon and white doubles teams.
No. 3 Virginia (26-3) booked a trip to the quarterfinals with a trio of 4-0 victories, defeating St. John's, Minnesota and Columbia. The Cavaliers are led by four players who were selected to compete in the NCAA Individual Championships later this month. Junior Ryan Shane is the No. 8 seed in the singles draw and the No. 3 seed in the doubles draw with sophomore Luca Corinteli. Senior Mitchell Frank was selected for his fourth NCAA Singles Championship, while sophomore Thai-Son Kwiatkowski will make his debut in the singles draw.
The winner of the matchup between the Aggies and Cavaliers will take on the winner between Southern Cal and Baylor on Monday at 1 p.m. for a place in the national championship match. To learn more about the men's tennis program, visit 12thMan.com and follow @AggieMTEN on Twitter.
NCAA Notes:
- The Aggies are 34-23 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 two times (2015 & 2001)
- Texas A&M Head Coach Steve Denton is 14-9 all-time in the NCAA Tournament
- Texas A&M is 0-4 all-time vs. Virginia (last met March 13, 2013 in College Station, L 6-1)
Tournament Website
http://www.baylorbears.com/sports/w-tennis/2015ncaa.html
2015 NCAA Men's Tennis Championship Information
- Hurd Tennis Center, Waco, Texas, Baylor University host
- Quarterfinal, Saturday, May 16, 4 p.m.: Texas A&M vs. Virginia
- Semifinals, Monday, May 18, 1 p.m.
- Championship, Tuesday, May 19, 1 p.m.
Texas A&M
Record: 24-4
Ranking/Seed: 5/6
Conference: SEC
Conf. Record (Finish): 11-1 (T-1st)
NCAA Appearance: 24th
Last Appearance/Finish: 2014/Round of 32
NCAA Championship Record: 34-23
2015 NCAA Results: 1st Round: def. Eastern Kentucky, 4-0; 2nd Round: def. Oklahoma State, 4-2; Round of 16: def. Ohio State, 4-3
NCAA Best Finish: Round of 8, 2001
All-Time Series vs. Virginia: UVa leads 4-0
Last meeting: Virginia won 6-1, March 13, 2013
Players Mentioned
