COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The No. 16 Texas A&M men's tennis team was picked fourth in the 2017 SEC Coaches' Poll announced Wednesday afternoon by the league office, the league's coaches pegged No. 5 Georgia as the conference champion.
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The 2017 Aggies return eight players off of last season's team (No. 14; 27-10, 8-4), including All-American Arthur Rinderknech. In the individual rankings, Rinderknech begins the spring season ranked No. 16 in the singles poll and No. 7 alongside senior Max Lunkin in the doubles poll. Rinderknech earned All-America honors after appearing in the NCAA Doubles Championship match alongside Jackson Withrow last summer. Juniors AJ Catanzariti and Jordi Arconada along with sophomore Aleksandre Bakshi are coming off an impressive fall season and look to feature in the Maroon & White. A pair of newcomers, Hady Habib and Valentin Vacherot, are looking forward to their first collegiate dual season.
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"It is always exciting to begin a new season," Texas A&M head coach Steve Denton said. "The SEC will be stronger this year from top to bottom with more teams in the rankings and a tremendous amount of parity in the league. Our preseason training has gone very well and we will need to hit the ground running as our early schedule is very difficult."
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The Georgia Bulldogs were picked as the overall champion. Last season, the Bulldogs went 24-5, 12-0 in the SEC. The preseason poll is voted on by the men's tennis head coach at each institution and is based on a 13-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 vote.
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Texas A&M began spring practice this week and opens the dual match season on Saturday, Jan. 21 at Rice before hosting the ITA Kick-Off Weekend January 28-29 at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center. The complete season schedule is available at http://12thman.com/schedule.aspx?path=mten
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Season tickets to all home matches are available for purchase online at http://12thmanfoundation.com/ticket-center/tennis.aspx
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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.
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Team                                    Points
1. Georgia                          168
2. Florida                             151
3. Kentucky                       133
4. Texas A&MÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 127
5. Arkansas                        120
6. Mississippi State         110
7. Ole Miss                         86
8. South Carolina             61
9. Alabama                         59
10. LSUÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 56
11. Vanderbilt                   51
12. Tennessee                  37
13. Auburn                         18
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The 2017 Aggies return eight players off of last season's team (No. 14; 27-10, 8-4), including All-American Arthur Rinderknech. In the individual rankings, Rinderknech begins the spring season ranked No. 16 in the singles poll and No. 7 alongside senior Max Lunkin in the doubles poll. Rinderknech earned All-America honors after appearing in the NCAA Doubles Championship match alongside Jackson Withrow last summer. Juniors AJ Catanzariti and Jordi Arconada along with sophomore Aleksandre Bakshi are coming off an impressive fall season and look to feature in the Maroon & White. A pair of newcomers, Hady Habib and Valentin Vacherot, are looking forward to their first collegiate dual season.
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"It is always exciting to begin a new season," Texas A&M head coach Steve Denton said. "The SEC will be stronger this year from top to bottom with more teams in the rankings and a tremendous amount of parity in the league. Our preseason training has gone very well and we will need to hit the ground running as our early schedule is very difficult."
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The Georgia Bulldogs were picked as the overall champion. Last season, the Bulldogs went 24-5, 12-0 in the SEC. The preseason poll is voted on by the men's tennis head coach at each institution and is based on a 13-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 vote.
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Texas A&M began spring practice this week and opens the dual match season on Saturday, Jan. 21 at Rice before hosting the ITA Kick-Off Weekend January 28-29 at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center. The complete season schedule is available at http://12thman.com/schedule.aspx?path=mten
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Season tickets to all home matches are available for purchase online at http://12thmanfoundation.com/ticket-center/tennis.aspx
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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.
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Team                                    Points
1. Georgia                          168
2. Florida                             151
3. Kentucky                       133
4. Texas A&MÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 127
5. Arkansas                        120
6. Mississippi State         110
7. Ole Miss                         86
8. South Carolina             61
9. Alabama                         59
10. LSUÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 56
11. Vanderbilt                   51
12. Tennessee                  37
13. Auburn                         18