Men's Tennis: #9 A&M falls to #4 Illinois, beats ACU in doubleheader
COLLEGE STATION - Any hockey player can tell you how difficult it is to pull off a hat trick. Scoring three goals in one game is a tough task. The Texas A&M men's tennis team is finding out that hat tricks are hard to come by.
On Sunday, the Aggies (9-3) played host to #4 Illinois and Abilene Christian, searching for their second and third wins of the week and their third win over a top-5 team this season. The Aggies did manage to take a 6-1 decision over ACU, but were stopped short of the hat tricks by the Illini, 2-4.
The doubles matches led the day off, and the Aggies looked fantastic out of the gates. Harrison Adams and Shane Vinsant, the nation's #9 tandem, beat Illinois' Tim Kopinski and Jared Hiltzik 6-2 on court one.
The country's #26 pair, Jeremy Efferding and Jordan Szabo, won their own match 6-2 moments later, clinching the doubles point and putting Texas A&M on top 1-0.
The celebration was short-lived, however. In a reversal of the scene that played out against #11 Vanderbilt on Thursday, the Ags lost four of the day's six singles matches.
A.J. Catanzariti provided the lone bright spot on court 5. He handled his opponent easily, winning 6-2, 6-1, and finishing before the guys on court four even started their second set. He put A&M up 2-0 early, but Illinois was making a push on the other five courts.
Other than Catanzariti, Vinsant was the only Aggie to win his first set, getting a break to take it 7-5. The Illini line-up boasted three players ranked in the top-50 nationally, and it showed.
Jordi Arconada was the first Aggie to fall. The freshman lost 3-6, 4-6, in his third collegiate match. Jeremy Efferding, playing at the 1-spot and facing the #18 player in the nation, lost 3-6, 3-6 shortly thereafter to even the score at 2 points apiece.
The three remaining matches each went into a third set. Harrison Adams was the next Ag to lose, dropping his match 4-6, 6-4, 4-6. With Illinois up 3-2, Texas A&M needed to win on both of the remaining courts to win the match.
While Shane Vinsant looked like he might pull out a win, freshman Arthur Rinderknech dropped his serve twice in the final set, eventually losing 5-7, 6-3, 3-6. Illinois handed the Aggies their third loss of the season and the second to come against top-5 competition.
Head Coach Steve Denton was proud of his team's effort, but lamented the loss.
"I knew Illinois was going to be good in singles; they had beaten Texas yesterday. I felt like we had some chances, some missed opportunities," Denton said.
He went on to say, "Ultimately they're a really good team; we are, as well, and we've got to not be too concerned about that -- be ready to move on and get ready for SEC play."
In the day's second match, the Aggies played with a depleted line-up, electing to rest the more high-profile players against Abilene Christian. Vinsant and Adams did not play at all, while Efferding and Rinderknech just played doubles.
As expected, Efferding and Szabo took down their opponents effortlessly, 6-0. In a more surprising turn of events, Catanzariti and Rinderknech played a close match on court 3, but were eventually able to pull out a 6-4 victory.
With the doubles point in hand, the Ags turned to singles. Catanzariti won his second match of the day 6-0, 6-1, giving Texas A&M a 2-0 lead. Jordan Szabo was the next to finish. His 6-1, 6-2, win on court four pushed the lead to three.
Max Lunkin provided the match-clinching point a few minutes later with a 6-1, 6-4, victory on court 5. Jordi Arconada won his match 6-4, 6-2, pushing the Aggie lead to five. Frankie Colunga, a College Station native, won 6-3, 7-5, to make it six.
The Aggies ended up taking the match 6-1 and splitting the day's doubleheader.
Texas A&M will hit the road next week and take on Mississippi State in Starkville on Friday at 5:00 PM.
On Sunday, the Aggies (9-3) played host to #4 Illinois and Abilene Christian, searching for their second and third wins of the week and their third win over a top-5 team this season. The Aggies did manage to take a 6-1 decision over ACU, but were stopped short of the hat tricks by the Illini, 2-4.
The doubles matches led the day off, and the Aggies looked fantastic out of the gates. Harrison Adams and Shane Vinsant, the nation's #9 tandem, beat Illinois' Tim Kopinski and Jared Hiltzik 6-2 on court one.
The country's #26 pair, Jeremy Efferding and Jordan Szabo, won their own match 6-2 moments later, clinching the doubles point and putting Texas A&M on top 1-0.
The celebration was short-lived, however. In a reversal of the scene that played out against #11 Vanderbilt on Thursday, the Ags lost four of the day's six singles matches.
A.J. Catanzariti provided the lone bright spot on court 5. He handled his opponent easily, winning 6-2, 6-1, and finishing before the guys on court four even started their second set. He put A&M up 2-0 early, but Illinois was making a push on the other five courts.
Other than Catanzariti, Vinsant was the only Aggie to win his first set, getting a break to take it 7-5. The Illini line-up boasted three players ranked in the top-50 nationally, and it showed.
Jordi Arconada was the first Aggie to fall. The freshman lost 3-6, 4-6, in his third collegiate match. Jeremy Efferding, playing at the 1-spot and facing the #18 player in the nation, lost 3-6, 3-6 shortly thereafter to even the score at 2 points apiece.
The three remaining matches each went into a third set. Harrison Adams was the next Ag to lose, dropping his match 4-6, 6-4, 4-6. With Illinois up 3-2, Texas A&M needed to win on both of the remaining courts to win the match.
While Shane Vinsant looked like he might pull out a win, freshman Arthur Rinderknech dropped his serve twice in the final set, eventually losing 5-7, 6-3, 3-6. Illinois handed the Aggies their third loss of the season and the second to come against top-5 competition.
Head Coach Steve Denton was proud of his team's effort, but lamented the loss.
"I knew Illinois was going to be good in singles; they had beaten Texas yesterday. I felt like we had some chances, some missed opportunities," Denton said.
He went on to say, "Ultimately they're a really good team; we are, as well, and we've got to not be too concerned about that -- be ready to move on and get ready for SEC play."
In the day's second match, the Aggies played with a depleted line-up, electing to rest the more high-profile players against Abilene Christian. Vinsant and Adams did not play at all, while Efferding and Rinderknech just played doubles.
As expected, Efferding and Szabo took down their opponents effortlessly, 6-0. In a more surprising turn of events, Catanzariti and Rinderknech played a close match on court 3, but were eventually able to pull out a 6-4 victory.
With the doubles point in hand, the Ags turned to singles. Catanzariti won his second match of the day 6-0, 6-1, giving Texas A&M a 2-0 lead. Jordan Szabo was the next to finish. His 6-1, 6-2, win on court four pushed the lead to three.
Max Lunkin provided the match-clinching point a few minutes later with a 6-1, 6-4, victory on court 5. Jordi Arconada won his match 6-4, 6-2, pushing the Aggie lead to five. Frankie Colunga, a College Station native, won 6-3, 7-5, to make it six.
The Aggies ended up taking the match 6-1 and splitting the day's doubleheader.
Texas A&M will hit the road next week and take on Mississippi State in Starkville on Friday at 5:00 PM.
Never miss the latest news from TexAgs!
Join our free email list
