Texas A&M Men’s Tennis Defeats Incarnate Word

Monday, March 28

College Station

12:00 PM

Texas A&M

Incarnate Word

Photo by: Sam Craft/Texas A&M Athletics

Mar 28, 2016 | Men's Tennis

By: Texas A&M Media Relations

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The No. 7 Texas A&M men's tennis team defeated Incarnate Word, 6-1, Monday afternoon at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center. With the win the Aggies improved to 20-5 on the season, while the Cardinals fell to 7-10 on the year.

The Aggies opened play collecting the doubles point through wins from Aleksandre Bakshi/Jackson Withrow and Jordi Arconada/Shane Vinsant. Bakshi/Withrow defeated Francisco Bendana and Josip Smolian 6-2 on court one while Arconada/Vinsant bested Tucker Brown and Ryan Hoverson, 6-3, on court three.

The maroon and white maintained the momentum moving into singles play, winning four of six first sets. Sophomore AJ Catanzariti made quick work of Smoljan on court one, giving A&M a 2-0 advantage. The Pittsburgh native topped Smoljan 6-3, 6-2 to improve to 10-7 in dual matches this spring. Not too long afterwards Henry Gordon increased the A&M lead to 3-0 with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Sebastian Mortier on court five. Gordon, a freshman from New Braunfels, remained perfect in the maroon and white at 5-0.

Junior James Martell clinched the victory for the Aggies with a 6-3, 6-3 triumph over Brown on court four. The left-hander improved to 16-9 this year. Junior Frankie Colunga pushed A&M ahead 5-0 with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Francisco Bendana 6-4, 6-2 on court three. The College Station native improved to 6-0 this spring and 16-9 overall this season.

The Cardinals claimed their only point of the day with a 7-5, 6-4 victory on court two by Joey Vatanadilok over Oscar Janglin. Freshman Sam Giammalva nailed down the final point of the match with a 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 win on court six over Ryan Hoverson to post the final score of 6-1 in A&M's favor. The win pushed Giammalva to 10-5 in the maroon and white and 3-0 in dual matches.

The Aggies return to the court Monday at 6 p.m. against No. 3 TCU at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center. A&M will return to SEC play this weekend at home as No. 11 Georgia and No. 65 South Carolina come to town. The Aggies and Bulldogs will face off at 6 p.m. Friday, April 1, followed by a Sunday 11 a.m. showdown with the Gamecocks. UT-Arlington and A&M will face off at 4:30 p.m. Sunday as well.

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 6, Incarnate Word 1

Singles competition
1. AJ Catanzariti (TAMU) def. Josip Smolian (UIW) 6-3, 6-2
2. Joey Vatanadilok (UIW) def. Oscar Janglin (TAMU) 7-5, 6-4
3. Frankie Colunga (TAMU) def. Francisco Bendana (UIW) 6-4, 6-2
4. James Martell (TAMU) def. Tucker Brown (UIW) 6-3, 6-3
5. Henry Gordon (TAMU) def. Sebastian Mortier (UIW) 6-3, 6-2
6. Sam Giammalva (TAMU) def. Ryan Hoverson (UIW) 3-6, 6-1, 6-1

Doubles competition
1. Aleksandre Bakshi/Jackson Withrow (TAMU) def. Francisco Bendana/Josip Smolian (UIW) 6-2
2. Max Lunkin/Arthur Rinderknech (TAMU) vs. Sebastian Mortier/Joey Vatanadilok (UIW) 4-4, unfinished
3. Jordi Arconada/Shane Vinsant (TAMU) def. Tucker Brown/Ryan Hoverson (UIW) 6-3

Order of finish: Doubles (1, 3); Singles (1, 5, 4, 3, 2, 6)