No. 7 Men’s Tennis Advances to ITA Indoor Championships

Sunday, January 28

College Station

10 a.m.

Texas A&M

LSU

Juan Carlos Aguilar - 2018_01_28_LSU_TAMU_093

Jan 28, 2018 | Men's Tennis

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Photos vs. LSU

By: Texas A&M Media Relations

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The No. 7 Texas A&M men's tennis team cruised through matches against LSU and Cal Poly Sunday at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center in College Station, Texas to secure their place at the ITA Indoor Team National Championships next month in Seattle, Wash. The Aggies claimed 4-0 victories over both the Tigers (5-1) and Mustangs (3-1) to claim the ITA Kick Off Weekend Championship.

The Maroon & White will await their seed at the ITA Indoor National Championships to take place in Seattle, Wash. hosted by the University of Washington Feb. 16-18 at the Nordstrom Tennis Center. The Indoor National Championships is regarded as one of the premier collegiate tennis events, with 15 teams advancing through the Kick Off Weekend events around the country to join host-Washington.

Due to inclement weather in College Station throughout the day on Saturday, both rounds were played Sunday with singles play first and doubles matches only being played if necessary. The Aggies were up to the task of two matches in a day as they dropped only two sets.

Freshman Juan Carlos Aguilar secured the first point of the day with a 6-0, 6-1 triumph over LSU's Julian Saborio, followed shortly by No. 41 Jordi Arconada's 6-3, 6-2 win over Rafael Wagner. Freshman Patrick Kypson posted win number three for the Aggies as he ousted Shane Monroe 6-2, 6-1 on court one, followed by senior Arthur Rinderknech's 7-5, 6-2 clinch victory over Gabor Csonka.

After a nearly two hour intermission the Aggies maintained momentum by capturing all six first sets against Cal Poly. Arconada picked up his second win of the day with a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Dominic Bechard followed by Rinderknech's 6-3, 6-1 win over Josh Ortlip. Aguilar backed up his strong morning play with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Antoine Noel to win his second match of the day. The trip to Seattle was booked by freshman Barnaby Smith as the Brit topped Alexander Stater 6-2, 6-2 to secure the Texas A&M victory.

Following the ITA Kick Off Weekend, the Aggies will head to the Sooner State to take on Tulsa at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center Wednesday at 6 p.m. The Case Tennis Center is the site of the fall ITA All-American.

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.

Post Match Quotes
Texas A&M Head Coach Steve Denton
On his team's play today…
"We were very pleased with the way our guys came out and competed. We were disappointed about not making it to the indoors last year and I know these guys were fired up and ready to play. We had a great opportunity and we needed to hold serve at home and our guys did a good job of making it happen."
On what playing at the National Indoors means…
"We are going to get to play the best team in the country. It's going to be interesting. We got some really good servers on this team, so typically we have been an outdoor team because we play outdoor tennis a majority of the year. I think with these guys the opportunity of playing a little better indoor tennis is there for us. This will be a good gauge for us because we will play some indoor teams when we get there. Obviously I think it will make us better."

Texas A&M Senior Arthur Rinderknech
On his play today…
"I've improved personally. I wasn't playing very good on the first set this morning, but after the first set I was feeling better and getting some rhythm and I played much better this afternoon and I was able to finish second my match and give us a 2-0 lead."

On what playing at the National Indoors means…
"We know what national indoor is, the top 16 teams in the country so we are going to face some big adversity there. Everyone is going to be playing matches day after day so our fitness is going to be important to make sure we recover well, but we are excited to go there and compete against the best in the country."

Tennis Match Results
LSU vs Texas A&M
Jan 28, 2018 at College Station, TX
(George P Mitchell Tennis Center)

#7 Texas A&M 4, LSU 0

Singles competition
1. Patrick Kypson (TAMU) def. Shane Monroe (LSU) 6-2, 6-1
2. Arthur Rinderknech (TAMU) def. Gabor Csonka (LSU) 7-5, 6-2
3. #41 Jordi Arconada (TAMU) def. Rafael Wagner (LSU) 6-3, 6-2
4. #10 Valentin Vacherot (TAMU) vs. Nikola Samardzic (LSU) 6-3, 5-7, 0-0, unfinished
5. Juan Carlos Aguilar (TAMU) def. Julian Saborio (LSU) 6-0, 6-1
6. Barnaby Smith (TAMU) vs. Agie Moreno (LSU) 7-5, 4-2, unfinished

Match Notes:
LSU 5-1
Texas A&M 2-0; National ranking #7
Order of finish: Singles (5, 3, 1, 2*)
ITA Kick Off Weekend, First Round
* - Clinched win

Tennis Match Results
Cal Poly vs Texas A&M
Jan 28, 2018 at College Station, TX
(George P Mitchell Tennis Center)

#7 Texas A&M 4, Cal Poly 0

Singles competition
1. Arthur Rinderknech (TAMU) def. Josh Ortlip (CP) 6-3, 6-1
2. #41 Jordi Arconada (TAMU) def. Dominic Bechard (CP) 6-3, 6-0
3. #10 Valentin Vacherot (TAMU) vs. Axel Damiens (CP) 6-2, 5-4, unfinished
4. Juan Carlos Aguilar (TAMU) def. Antoine Noel (CP) 6-2, 6-2
5. Barnaby Smith (TAMU) def. Alexander Stater (CP) 6-2, 6-2
6. #53 AJ Catanzariti (TAMU) vs. Roman Shenkiryk (CP) 6-3, 4-6, 0-0, unfinished

Match Notes:
Cal Poly 3-1
Texas A&M 3-0; National ranking #7
Order of finish: Singles (2, 1 ,4 ,5*)
ITA Kick Off Weekend, Championship Match
* - Clinched win