Men's Tennis: No. 9 Texas A&M defeats No. 13 Ole Miss, UTSA
COLLEGE STATION — While doubleheaders are common in collegiate tennis, having two matches against ITA-ranked opponents in the same day is not. That's what the Aggie men's tennis team faced against No. 13 Ole Miss and No. 74 UTSA on Sunday.
Though the Ags were clearly running on fumes to finish the arduous day, they walked away with two solid wins.
With Harrison Adams out of action, Shane Vinsant took the court with Max Lunkin for doubles on court three. In their second match together Vinsant and Lunkin rolled to another win, dropping Ole Miss' Gustav Hansson and Stefan Lindmark, 6-2.
Mississippi evened it up a few minutes later. Rebels William Kallberg and Grey Hamilton defeated A&M's A.J. Catanzariti and Arthur Rinderknech, 6-3, on court five. It came down to Jeremy Efferding and Jordan Szabo to close it out.
The 32nd-ranked duo did not disappoint, taking out Ole Miss' best doubles team, Nik Scholtz and Zvonimir Babic, 6-2 on court one. That gave the Aggies the early advantage, and they made sure to capitalize on the momentum.
Texas A&M won the first set on four of six courts, starting singles play with relative ease. Things tightened up considerably in the second set, but gutsy performances by a couple freshman kept the score from doing the same.
Jordi Arconada flew through most of his match against Ole Miss' William Kallberg. After taking the first set, 6-3, Arconada went up 4-0 in the second. The freshman began to run out of steam, however, dropping four games in a row.
Rather than attempt to regroup in a third set, Arconada forced a tiebreak, and after taking it 7-1, brought home the Ags' second point of the day with a 6-3, 7-6, victory.
Similarly, freshman A.J. Catanzariti made quick work of his opponent in set one, but fell behind after holding a 5-1 lead in the second frame. Not to be outdone by his counterpart, Catanzariti forced a tiebreak, eventually winning 6-1, 7-6.
Texas A&M needed to win just one more match, and though Jeremy Efferding had a 6-3, 5-3, lead on reigning SEC Player of the Year and three-time All-American Nik Scholtz on court one, it was the bottom of the line-up that provided the clincher.
After his doubles victory with Vinsant, Max Lunkin took on Mississippi's Vinod Gowda on court six. Lunkin took the first set easily, and after a late break in the second, locked up a 6-3, 6-4, win for himself.
He also locked up a 4-0 win for Texas A&M. With wins at the 4-, 5-, and 6-spots, the Ags utilized their depth to secure their fourth top-15 win of the year and the first victory of the day. That is to say, they weren't done yet.
The Aggies put their collective nose back to the grindstone as four o'clock rolled around. Shane Vinsant and Max Lunkin started the second match in the same manner as the first, taking their doubles bout, 6-3.
Jeremy Efferding and Jordan Szabo were unable to continue their momentum from the match against the Rebels, and were the first Aggies to fall to the Roadrunners, losing 3-6 on court one.
A.J. Catanzariti and Arthur Rinderknech faced UTSA's Yannick Junger and Diogo Casa in the swing match, and it was as close as they come. The set was hotly contested from the get-go and eventually came down to a tiebreak.
The Aggies went up early in the tiebreak, but came back down to earth as the Roadrunners tied it at 6-6. Rinderknech and Catanzariti went on to win the next two points, taking the match, 7-6, and giving Texas A&M a 1-0 lead.
Vinsant was pulled out of the singles lineup against the Roadrunners, leaving the Ags without two of their top three players. In a harrowing round of matches, the Ags squeaked by to secure the win.
Arthur Rinderknech was the first Aggie to finish. After struggling against Ole Miss earlier in the day, the Frenchman steamrolled his second opponent en route to a 6-3, 6-2, win.
Jordi Arconada followed him immediately, securing another point for the Maroon and White, 6-4, 6-4. That put the Aggies up 3-0 and in need of just one more win. While that seemed like a simple task, it wasn't anything close to easy.
Losses by Frankie Colunga, Jordan Szabo and Jeremy Efferding, who crumbled after leading 6-0, 1-0, in the second set, tied the match, and the home team was left relying on A.J. Catanzariti on court two to pull out the match.
Catanzariti worked his opponent in the first set, but hit a wall in the second. Getting an early break in the second, the freshman held serve for the rest of the frame, and won 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. Texas A&M took the match, 4-3, and moved to 14-3 and 8-1 in SEC play on Sunday.
Head Coach Steve Denton was happy with the day's results, praising the play of his young players.
"Pleased with the effort, especially having to change a little bit of our doubles lineup," he said. "That kind of made a difference for us. Our doubles was pretty good today. Obviously, we needed it.
"Our freshman came through for us pretty well. I thought with Jordi and A.J. both winning the tiebreakers in the second set of that first match, that really helped us solidify that victory."
Texas A&M will travel down the road to Houston on Wednesday to take on the Rice Owls in a midweek match.
Though the Ags were clearly running on fumes to finish the arduous day, they walked away with two solid wins.
With Harrison Adams out of action, Shane Vinsant took the court with Max Lunkin for doubles on court three. In their second match together Vinsant and Lunkin rolled to another win, dropping Ole Miss' Gustav Hansson and Stefan Lindmark, 6-2.
Mississippi evened it up a few minutes later. Rebels William Kallberg and Grey Hamilton defeated A&M's A.J. Catanzariti and Arthur Rinderknech, 6-3, on court five. It came down to Jeremy Efferding and Jordan Szabo to close it out.
The 32nd-ranked duo did not disappoint, taking out Ole Miss' best doubles team, Nik Scholtz and Zvonimir Babic, 6-2 on court one. That gave the Aggies the early advantage, and they made sure to capitalize on the momentum.
Texas A&M won the first set on four of six courts, starting singles play with relative ease. Things tightened up considerably in the second set, but gutsy performances by a couple freshman kept the score from doing the same.
Jordi Arconada flew through most of his match against Ole Miss' William Kallberg. After taking the first set, 6-3, Arconada went up 4-0 in the second. The freshman began to run out of steam, however, dropping four games in a row.
Rather than attempt to regroup in a third set, Arconada forced a tiebreak, and after taking it 7-1, brought home the Ags' second point of the day with a 6-3, 7-6, victory.
Similarly, freshman A.J. Catanzariti made quick work of his opponent in set one, but fell behind after holding a 5-1 lead in the second frame. Not to be outdone by his counterpart, Catanzariti forced a tiebreak, eventually winning 6-1, 7-6.
Texas A&M needed to win just one more match, and though Jeremy Efferding had a 6-3, 5-3, lead on reigning SEC Player of the Year and three-time All-American Nik Scholtz on court one, it was the bottom of the line-up that provided the clincher.
After his doubles victory with Vinsant, Max Lunkin took on Mississippi's Vinod Gowda on court six. Lunkin took the first set easily, and after a late break in the second, locked up a 6-3, 6-4, win for himself.
He also locked up a 4-0 win for Texas A&M. With wins at the 4-, 5-, and 6-spots, the Ags utilized their depth to secure their fourth top-15 win of the year and the first victory of the day. That is to say, they weren't done yet.
The Aggies put their collective nose back to the grindstone as four o'clock rolled around. Shane Vinsant and Max Lunkin started the second match in the same manner as the first, taking their doubles bout, 6-3.
Jeremy Efferding and Jordan Szabo were unable to continue their momentum from the match against the Rebels, and were the first Aggies to fall to the Roadrunners, losing 3-6 on court one.
A.J. Catanzariti and Arthur Rinderknech faced UTSA's Yannick Junger and Diogo Casa in the swing match, and it was as close as they come. The set was hotly contested from the get-go and eventually came down to a tiebreak.
The Aggies went up early in the tiebreak, but came back down to earth as the Roadrunners tied it at 6-6. Rinderknech and Catanzariti went on to win the next two points, taking the match, 7-6, and giving Texas A&M a 1-0 lead.
Vinsant was pulled out of the singles lineup against the Roadrunners, leaving the Ags without two of their top three players. In a harrowing round of matches, the Ags squeaked by to secure the win.
Arthur Rinderknech was the first Aggie to finish. After struggling against Ole Miss earlier in the day, the Frenchman steamrolled his second opponent en route to a 6-3, 6-2, win.
Jordi Arconada followed him immediately, securing another point for the Maroon and White, 6-4, 6-4. That put the Aggies up 3-0 and in need of just one more win. While that seemed like a simple task, it wasn't anything close to easy.
Losses by Frankie Colunga, Jordan Szabo and Jeremy Efferding, who crumbled after leading 6-0, 1-0, in the second set, tied the match, and the home team was left relying on A.J. Catanzariti on court two to pull out the match.
Catanzariti worked his opponent in the first set, but hit a wall in the second. Getting an early break in the second, the freshman held serve for the rest of the frame, and won 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. Texas A&M took the match, 4-3, and moved to 14-3 and 8-1 in SEC play on Sunday.
Head Coach Steve Denton was happy with the day's results, praising the play of his young players.
"Pleased with the effort, especially having to change a little bit of our doubles lineup," he said. "That kind of made a difference for us. Our doubles was pretty good today. Obviously, we needed it.
"Our freshman came through for us pretty well. I thought with Jordi and A.J. both winning the tiebreakers in the second set of that first match, that really helped us solidify that victory."
Texas A&M will travel down the road to Houston on Wednesday to take on the Rice Owls in a midweek match.
Never miss the latest news from TexAgs!
Join our free email list
