Saturday, April 23
Columbia, S.C.
1:00 PM
Texas A&M
0
vs
4
Florida
Texas A&M Falls to Florida in SEC Semifinals
Apr 23, 2016 | Men's Tennis
COLUMBIA, S.C. – The No. 13 Texas A&M men's tennis team suffered a 4-0 setback to No. 11 Florida in the SEC Tournament Semifinals Saturday afternoon at Carolina Tennis Center in Columbia, SC. With the loss the Aggies fall to 26-9 on the season and will await the NCAA Selection Show on May 3, the Gators improve to 17-6 and will take on No. 6 Georgia Sunday for the SEC Tournament Championship.
The maroon and white dropped the doubles point for the third straight match, losing the point in both SEC Tournament matches this weekend. Sophomore Arthur Rinderknech and junior Max Lunkin were the first off the courts, falling 6-3 to Chase Perez-Blanco and Alfredo Perez.
Freshman Aleksandre Bakshi and senior Jackson Withrow gave the nation's number one duo all they could handle, holding serve until Diego Hidalgo and Gordon Watson claimed the 6-4 decision on the top-court. The senior pair of Harrison Adams and Shane Vinsant nearly picked up their third ranked win this season, but play was halted up 5-4 against No. 68 Maxx Lipman and Elliott Orkin.
Texas A&M took four of six first sets, but could not turn those into straight set wins on any of the four courts in which they held an early advantage. Florida charged out to a 3-0 lead as No. 83 Perez defeated No. 53 Vinsant on court two and No. 36 Orkin topped Arconada on court three.
Florida forced third sets on all four courts still in action, eventually clinching the match 4-0 through a 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 win by No. 123 Perez-Blanco on court four over sophomore AJ Catanzariti.
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.
Results
#11 Florida 4, #13 Texas A&M 0
Singles competition
1. No. 18 Arthur Rinderknech (TAMU) vs. No. 11 Diego Hidalgo (UF) 6-2, 2-6, 5-1, unf.
2. No. 83 Alfredo Perez (UF) def. No. 53 Shane Vinsant (TAMU) 6-1, 6-2
3. No. 36 Elliott Orkin (UF) def. Jordi Arconada (TAMU) 7-6(3), 6-1
4. No. 123 Chase Perez-Blanco (UF) def. AJ Catanzariti (TAMU) 4-6, 6-2, 6-2
5. Harrison Adams (TAMU) vs. Gordon Watson (UF) 6-4, 3-6, 3-4, unf.
6. Jackson Withrow (TAMU) vs. McClain Kessler (UF) 6-4, 5-7, 1-1
Doubles competition
1. No. 1 Gordon Watson/Diego Hidalgo (UF) def. Aleksandre Bakshi/Jackson Withrow (TAMU) 6-4
2. Harrison Adams/Shane Vinsant (TAMU) vs. No. 68 Maxx Lipman/Elliott Orkin (UF) 5-4, unf.
3. Chase Perez-Blanco/Aflredo Perez (UF) def. Max Lunkin/Arthur Rinderknech (TAMU) 6-3
Match Notes:
Florida 17-6, 10-2; National ranking #11
Texas A&M 26-9, 8-4; National ranking #13
Order of finish: Doubles (3, 1); Singles (2, 3, 4)
Quotes
Steve Denton, Texas A&M Head Coach
On Rinderknech's tournament …
"One of the things we learned this weekend is that Arthur is one of the best players in the country and he showed that again today. How he has been playing in singles especially, after winning that emotional match yesterday and then turning around and playing well again today against another highly ranked singles player shows that he is playing at a really high level right now. It shows that he is playing with a lot of confidence and that is the biggest positive out of this tournament."
On bouncing back from dropping doubles point...
"Our guys did a good job coming back and winning those first sets. Now what we as a coaching staff need to work on is getting the guys to press the issue and play aggressive in those situations. Give Florida a lot of credit, they came back and won all those second sets and put some scoreboard pressure on us. After we win a first set, let's apply pressure and not allow them to get back into the match."
On the break before the NCAA Tournament starts…
"First we need to get the guys a couple days rest and get home, but then we have a chance to work really hard for a couple weeks and prep for the tournament. It is both a positive and negative, we have to wait three weeks to play again, but we get three weeks to put in a training block and work with the guys and get better. It can propel us into something special and let us get ready to play our best tennis heading into the NCAA Tournament."
The maroon and white dropped the doubles point for the third straight match, losing the point in both SEC Tournament matches this weekend. Sophomore Arthur Rinderknech and junior Max Lunkin were the first off the courts, falling 6-3 to Chase Perez-Blanco and Alfredo Perez.
Freshman Aleksandre Bakshi and senior Jackson Withrow gave the nation's number one duo all they could handle, holding serve until Diego Hidalgo and Gordon Watson claimed the 6-4 decision on the top-court. The senior pair of Harrison Adams and Shane Vinsant nearly picked up their third ranked win this season, but play was halted up 5-4 against No. 68 Maxx Lipman and Elliott Orkin.
Texas A&M took four of six first sets, but could not turn those into straight set wins on any of the four courts in which they held an early advantage. Florida charged out to a 3-0 lead as No. 83 Perez defeated No. 53 Vinsant on court two and No. 36 Orkin topped Arconada on court three.
Florida forced third sets on all four courts still in action, eventually clinching the match 4-0 through a 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 win by No. 123 Perez-Blanco on court four over sophomore AJ Catanzariti.
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.
Results
#11 Florida 4, #13 Texas A&M 0
Singles competition
1. No. 18 Arthur Rinderknech (TAMU) vs. No. 11 Diego Hidalgo (UF) 6-2, 2-6, 5-1, unf.
2. No. 83 Alfredo Perez (UF) def. No. 53 Shane Vinsant (TAMU) 6-1, 6-2
3. No. 36 Elliott Orkin (UF) def. Jordi Arconada (TAMU) 7-6(3), 6-1
4. No. 123 Chase Perez-Blanco (UF) def. AJ Catanzariti (TAMU) 4-6, 6-2, 6-2
5. Harrison Adams (TAMU) vs. Gordon Watson (UF) 6-4, 3-6, 3-4, unf.
6. Jackson Withrow (TAMU) vs. McClain Kessler (UF) 6-4, 5-7, 1-1
Doubles competition
1. No. 1 Gordon Watson/Diego Hidalgo (UF) def. Aleksandre Bakshi/Jackson Withrow (TAMU) 6-4
2. Harrison Adams/Shane Vinsant (TAMU) vs. No. 68 Maxx Lipman/Elliott Orkin (UF) 5-4, unf.
3. Chase Perez-Blanco/Aflredo Perez (UF) def. Max Lunkin/Arthur Rinderknech (TAMU) 6-3
Match Notes:
Florida 17-6, 10-2; National ranking #11
Texas A&M 26-9, 8-4; National ranking #13
Order of finish: Doubles (3, 1); Singles (2, 3, 4)
Quotes
Steve Denton, Texas A&M Head Coach
On Rinderknech's tournament …
"One of the things we learned this weekend is that Arthur is one of the best players in the country and he showed that again today. How he has been playing in singles especially, after winning that emotional match yesterday and then turning around and playing well again today against another highly ranked singles player shows that he is playing at a really high level right now. It shows that he is playing with a lot of confidence and that is the biggest positive out of this tournament."
On bouncing back from dropping doubles point...
"Our guys did a good job coming back and winning those first sets. Now what we as a coaching staff need to work on is getting the guys to press the issue and play aggressive in those situations. Give Florida a lot of credit, they came back and won all those second sets and put some scoreboard pressure on us. After we win a first set, let's apply pressure and not allow them to get back into the match."
On the break before the NCAA Tournament starts…
"First we need to get the guys a couple days rest and get home, but then we have a chance to work really hard for a couple weeks and prep for the tournament. It is both a positive and negative, we have to wait three weeks to play again, but we get three weeks to put in a training block and work with the guys and get better. It can propel us into something special and let us get ready to play our best tennis heading into the NCAA Tournament."
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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