Aggie Men’s Tennis Takes On South Carolina at SEC Tournament

Friday, April 22

Columbia, S.C.

8:00 AM

Texas A&M

South Carolina

Photo by: Sam Craft/Texas A&M Athletics

Apr 21, 2016 | Men's Tennis

By: Texas A&M Media Relations

No. 13 Texas A&M (26-8, 8-4 SEC) vs. No. 50 South Carolina (14-14, 4-8 SEC)
Friday, April 22, 9 a.m. (CT)
Carolina Tennis Center; Columbia, South Carolina
Live Stats & Video

COLUMBIA, S.C. - The back-to-back SEC Tournament Champion No. 13 Texas A&M men's tennis team looks to start off the 2016 SEC Men's Tennis Tournament on the right foot against South Carolina (14-14, 4-8) Friday at 9 a.m. (CT) at the Carolina Tennis Center. The Aggies earned the third seed in the SEC Tournament, finishing 8-4 in league play and 25-8 overall this spring.

The maroon and white return to action after claiming a pair of matches on Senior Day at the Mitchell Tennis Center last Friday. A&M opened the day with a 5-1 triumph over Abilene Christian, taking the doubles point along with wins from freshman Aleksandre Bakshi, senior Jackson Withrow, junior Frankie Colunga and freshman Sam Giammalva. A trio of special seniors; All-Americans Withrow, Shane Vinsant and Harrison Adams; were honored prior to the night cap against LSU. The Aggies sent the seniors out in style, topping LSU 5-2 under the lights. Arthur Rinderknech, Jordi Arconada, AJ Catanzariti, Max Lunkin and Adams picked up wins against the Tigers.

The Aggies will feature a pair of ranked singles players against the Vols, led by No. 18 Rinderknech. The Paris, France native has been ranked in the top-25 all spring after turning in an impressive fall campaign. The right-hander leads A&M with a 25-11 record this season, including a team-high 13 wins over ITA ranked players. Vinsant moved to No. 53 in the latest ITA poll, the Keller native has an impressive 14-9 dual record, going 12-7 on court two and 2-1 on the top court. The senior is second on the squad with nine wins over ranked opponents this year.

In doubles action, Rinderknech and Withrow lead the charge with a 12-5 record, going 8-5 on the top court and 4-0 on court two. The pair are an impressive 5-5 against ranked teams, pushing them into the Top-10 in this week's poll at No. 10. Rinderknech ranks No. 49 alongside Vinsant, despite the fact that the two have not featured since the calendar turned to 2016. Arconada partners with Lunkin to rank No. 62 this week, the pair are 9-3 this season, including a 6-2 mark in duals and a 1-1 mark against ranked pairs. Vinsant and Catanzariti remained in the latest poll at No. 82, the pair are 4-0 this year and 1-0 against ranked duos.

South Carolina enters the match winning two straight matches against No. 18 Arkansas, first a 4-3 triumph to conclude the regular season then a 4-1 upset in Thursday's matchup. The Gamecocks are represented by No. 58 Gabriel Friedrich in the ITA rankings. Friedrich went 9-11 this season, including a 5-7 in SEC regular season matchups. Harrison O'Keefe paced the Palmetto state squad with a 31-12 record this season, including a team-best 8-4 SEC mark.

A&M and South Carolina faced off on April 3 in College Station, with the home team winning convincingly 6-1. The maroon and white opened the match winning the doubles point behind wins from Bakshi / Withrow and Lunkin / Rinderknech. The Aggies picked up wins from Vinsant, Arconada, Withrow, Catanzariti and Lunkin in singles play.

The winner of Friday's match will face off against the winner of 2^nd-seeded Florida and 7^th-seeded Vanderbilt at 11 a.m. (CT) Saturday for a place in the SEC Tournament Semifinals. The Aggies have won six straight SEC Tournament matches winning both the 2014 and 2015 SEC titles, dating back to the 2013 tournament, falling 4-3 to eventual champion Georgia in Oxford, Miss.

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.