Aggie men's tennis sweeps EKU, advances to NCAA's second round
COLLEGE STATION - With both the SEC regular season and tournament championships in the books this season, the Texas A&M men's tennis team has already proven itself to be one of the best in the nation.
The Aggies aren't resting on their laurels, however.
With an effortless 4-0 victory over the Eastern Kentucky Colonels, Texas A&M began the long march through the NCAA Tournament in search of yet another 2015 title.
Texas A&M, the nation's 6th-seeded team, jumped all over the Colonels from the beginning, taking the doubles point with ease.
Jeremy Efferding and Jordan Szabo were the first duo off the court, beating EKU's Alex Alvaro and Diego Asis, 8-2. Freshmen Arthur Rinderknech and A.J. Catanzariti followed close behind. Moments after the first victory, they put down their opponents on court five, 8-2, as well.
With the doubles point in hand, Texas A&M took an early lead into the singles matches. Even though Shane Vinsant, one of the Aggies' top players, was resting, A&M had little trouble with the Colonels.
Senior Jeremy Efferding was the first to score a point for the hosts. After a quick, 6-0 victory in the first set, the SEC Tournament MVP won three straight games to cap of a 6-3 win in the second.
Every Aggie on the court seemed to follow his lead, and Texas A&M won the first set on every court to start singles play. Max Lunkin, in the line-up due to Vinsant's absence, put another point on the board with a 6-4, 6-2, win on court six a few minutes later.
Up 3-0, the Maroon and White needed just one more point to advance to the second round. Though freshmen Rinderknech, Jordi Arconada and A.J. Catanzariti were close to clinching the match, it was junior Harrison Adams that locked things up with a 6-2, 6-4 victory on court three.
Happy that he got the win, Adams felt that any of the remaining Ags could have clinched the match.
"We're so deep," he said. "We have eight guys who are all really, really good players and have been good all the way through juniors. It takes a lot of pressure off of everybody else when you can do that; whenever you don't have to worry about winning every match."
With the win, Texas A&M advances to the second round against former conference foe Oklahoma State. Head Coach Steve Denton knows the challenge the Cowboys pose.
"They're not going to be scared of us at all," he said. "Our guys are going to have to go out and take it from them, because they certainly aren't going to give it to us. I feel that we match up pretty well, but we'll see. We'll see how our guys come out tomorrow."
Texas A&M and Oklahoma State will hit the courts at 3 o'clock tomorrow afternoon to battle for a place in the Sweet 16.
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