No. 12 Men’s Tennis Takes on No. 2 Tennessee at ITA Indoors

Friday, February 18

Seattle, Wash.

2:00 PM

Texas A&M

Tennessee

Photo by: Sydney Morriss/Texas A&M Athletics

Feb 17, 2022 | Men's Tennis

By: Matt Callaway, Texas A&M Athletics Communications

SEATTLE – The No. 12 Texas A&M men's tennis team is set to take on No. 2 Tennessee at the Seattle Tennis Club to open the ITA National Indoor Championships on Friday at 2 p.m. (CT). The Aggies (6-0) and Volunteers (8-1) are set to face off for the 16th time as A&M holds a 10-5 lead in the all-time series.

"There has been a nice progression in the level of our competition thus far this season and we have met every challenge," Texas A&M Head Coach Steve Denton said. "We take another step tomorrow when we face Tennessee in the round of 16 in the ITA National Indoors, a veteran team that is well coached and plays hard. We will need to match that intensity as we transition to indoor tennis. The team is in good spirits and I expect us to play well."

LAST TIME OUT
The Aggies are fresh off a 6-1 win against Texas Tech in Dallas before departing for the Pacific Northwest. After claiming the doubles point against the Red Raiders, A&M saw Noah Schachter, Raphael Perot, Matthis Ross, Guido Marson and Luke Casper earn straight set victories.

HOW THEY GOT THERE
Texas A&M advanced to the ITA Indoors after defeating No. 23 UCLA and No. 12 Arizona in Bryan-College Station on ITA Kickoff Weekend. The Volunteers swept Old Dominion and Memphis in Knoxville to advance.

RANKINGS UPDATE
A trio of Aggies are listed in the latest ITA singles rankings while Noah Schachter and Austin Abbrat were at No. 33 in the doubles poll. Leading the charge in for A&M was No. 89 Ross, the sophomore rattled off three straight wins to open the dual season including a straight-set thrashing of No. 53 Herman Hoeyeraall of Arizona. Marson and Perot came in at No. 105 and No. 116, respectively, to round out the trio of ranked Aggies.

Tennessee landed six student-athletes in the latest singles poll and No. 13 Emile Hudd and Shunsuke Mitsui placed 13th in the doubles rankings. No. 10 Johannus Monday leads the charge for the Vols followed by No. 21 Adam Walton, No. 78 Mark Wallner, No. 100 Hudd, No. 114 Mitsui and No. 122 Angel Diaz.

SCOUTING TENNESSEE
The Volunteers opened the season with seven straight wins before dropping a 4-0 match at then-No. 5 Ohio State. After dropping the match to the Buckeyes, Tennessee rebounded with a 4-3 win against Columbia at home. Mitsui and Monday lead the Vols with seven dual match wins apiece, while Hudd and Mitsui pace the team with five dual match doubles victories together.

UP NEXT
Following ITA Indoors, the Aggies travel north of the Red River to take on No. 19 Oklahoma on Friday, Feb. 25 at 6 p.m. (CT) at the Headington Family Tennis Center.

FOLLOW THE AGGIES
Visit 12thMan.com for more information on Texas A&M men's tennis. Aggie fans can also keep up to date with the A&M men's tennis team on Facebook or on Twitter by following @AggieMTEN.