Rinderknech and Withrow Advance to NCAA Finals

TULSA, Olka. – Texas A&M Men's Tennis' Jackson Withrow and Arthur Rinderknech continued their impressive run at the 2016 NCAA Doubles Championship Sunday evening in Tulsa, Okla. The A&M tandem topped No. No. 63 Rogerio Ribiero and David Biosca of East Tennessee State in their fourth match in as many days to advance to the NCAA Doubles Final.
 
The top-10 duo will be the second team to represent Texas A&M in the doubles championship match, in 2011 Austin Krajicek and Jeff Dadamo claimed the National Championship. Krajicek was also a member of the 2008 Doubles Semifinalist team alongside Connor Pollock.
 
Monday's final will be available to watch online at NCAA.com. The singles and doubles competition is being held May 25-30 at the Case Tennis Center, hosted by the University of Tulsa.
 
No. 8 Rinderknech and Withrow advanced to face No. 2 Mackenzie McDonald and Martin Redlicki of UCLA Monday. The Maroon & White clad duo improved to 16-5 on the season following Sunday's 6-2, 5-7, 1-0 (7) victory and are now a team-best 9-5 against ranked foes. The Aggie pair have claimed back-to-back-to-back three set victories in Tulsa, the two are the only doubles team to have claimed more than one third set triumph in the Sooner State.
 
The win was Rinderknech and Withrow's fourth-straight ranked victory following their highest-ranked career triumph in Thursday's opening round, having defeated No. 4 Lucas Corinteli and Ryan Shane of Virginia in the opening round. The second round saw the A&M pair best No. 12 Hugo Dojas and Felipe Soares of Texas Tech in three sets.

The duo earned All-America status for advancing to the NCAA Doubles Quarterfinals. The honor is the first of Rinderknech's collegiate career and the third for Withrow. The Nebraskan earned doubles honors alongside Junior Ore during his sophomore and junior campaigns. 
 
Visit 12thMan.com for more information on Texas A&M men's tennis. Aggie fans also can keep up to date with the Texas A&M tennis teams on Twitter by following @AggieMTEN.
 
Complete NCAA tournament brackets, schedules, results and links to live scoring and video are available on the Championship Central page: http://tulsahurricane.com/sports/2016/3/25/2016-ncaa-mens-and-womens-tennis-championships-schedule.aspx
 

2016 NCAA Doubles Championships Quotes
 Arthur Rinderknech, Texas A&M Sophomore
On the first set and how easy it seemed…
"We played a really solid first set, which was our first indoor match of the tournament. We broke them twice in the first set. In the second set we kind of had the match in our hands and kind of slid away from us. We made one or two mistakes in that set (second) that we didn't in the first. It was just a 50/50 chance for the tiebreaker, and once again we were lucky to play well and finish this match."
 
On the score tied at 7-7 in the tiebreaker before going on to score the final three points to win the set and match…
"I think we just tried to keep playing our tactic, which was working. We just tried to organize our game before each point, which ended up working. We were happy to finish the three final points."
 
On coming in the tournament under the radar and making it to the national championship…
"We were ranked No. 8 in the country before this tournament, and we didn't get seeded. We knew that we had to deliver to do something in this tournament. The first two rounds were pretty tough for us, and they were against two really good teams and we kind of survived. Now we are just trying to enjoy every moment and play match after match, and represent our university the best way we can."
 
On his mentality when it was tied 5-5 in the tie breaker and he executed a great backhand to take the lead…
"I would say that was a little bit lucky, because that was not an easy shot. I saw the ball coming pretty high over my head and I decided to take it as a backhand volley and not let it bounce and try to play it. I was lucky to make that volley, and then I went up to the net to finish the point. It was one of the turning points in the tiebreaker on our side, and it helped us a lot for sure."
 
On being under the radar and now being in the National Championship match…
"I think the break definitely helped. We didn't play with each other for about two months, came back, and this is our first tournament back since we last started playing with each other. We're playing pretty well."
 
Jackson Withrow, Texas A&M Senior
On first set…
"Yea, it seemed pretty routine for us. We had two breaks a serve. We were controlling the match, playing the way we wanted to, and it worked out that we played an almost perfect set in our mind and made them play. The second set came a little different, you know we had to make it a little more interesting."
 
On second set and winning tiebreaker…
"We were at 5-3 and I think we had a look at possibly making the game kind of close and then 5-4 were on our serve and have a match point to advance, but they just didn't go away. They fought until the bitter end. Hats off to them. They stepped up and played pretty big tennis there at the end. We had to regroup after the set and get ready for the tiebreaker."
 
On winning the last 3 points in the tiebreaker…
"I think being in the match tiebreaker the previous two matches that we've had gave us a little bit more experience and confidence that if we're in that situation we can prevail whenever it happens and we ended up making it 3-3 today."
 
On playing for a National Champion and what it's like for them and the university…
"It's huge. It's a goal that we talk about every single year, more of a team aspect out of it. This is for everyone back at home at [Texas] A&M. We just have to represent well. I don't think we've been here for a while the last couple of years, not since Austin Krajicek and Jeff Dadamo won a national championship, so we are trying to follow in their footsteps and hopefully bring the title back to College Station."

 
2016 NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships Results
Singles First Round
No. 52 Shane Vinsant (TAMU) def. No. 7 Christopher Eubanks (GT), 6-4, 4-6, 6-4
 
Singles Second Round
No. 16 Jaren Hiltzik (ILL) def. No. 52 Shane Vinsant (TAMU) 6-4, 6-2
 
Doubles First Round
No. 8 Jackson Withrow & Arthur Rinderknech (TAMU) def. No. 4 Ryan Shane & Luca Corinteli (UVA) 6-2, 6-4
 
Doubles Second Round
No. 8 Jackson Withrow & Arthur Rinderknech (TAMU) def. No 12 Hugo Dojas & Felipe Soared (TT) 5-7, 6-3, 1-0 (11)

Doubles Quarterfinal
No. 8 Arthur Rinderknech-Jackson Withrow (TAMU) def. No13 Skander Mansouri-Christian Seraphim (WF), 3-6, 6-3, 1-0 (6) 
 
NCAA Doubles Semifinals
No. 8 Arthur Rinderknech-Jackson Withrow (TAMU) def. No. 63 Rogerio Ribiero-David Biosca (ETSU) 6-2, 5-7, 1-0 (7)
 
NCAA Doubles Finals
No. 8 Arthur Rinderknech-Jackson Withrow (TAMU) vs. No. 2 Mackenzie McDonald-Martin Redlicki (UCLA)
Monday, TBA