The No. 5 Texas A&M men’s tennis team looks to finish off the SEC season with a perfect record as they take on Auburn Sunday at noon at the George P Mitchell Tennis Center in College Station, Texas. The Aggies (19-4, 11-0) earned at least a share of the SEC regular season championship after topping No. 7 Mississippi State (16-2, 10-1) Friday evening and look to earn the title outright with a win against the Tigers (12-16, 1-10).
Prior to Sunday’s match the Aggies will take a moment to honor the three seniors on the 2018 roster. The trio includes Jordi Arconada, AJ Catanzariti and Arthur Rinderknech. Arconada earned All-SEC second team honors a season ago after winning a program-record 18 matches in a row, the right-hander owns a 20-1 record against SEC opponents over the past two seasons. Catanzariti, from Pittsburgh, Penn., was named an All-American in doubles last season and has paced the Aggies in doubles wins twice in his time in Aggieland. Rinderknech, a two-time All-American in both singles and doubles, will likely leave College Station as the most decorated tennis player in program history. The Paris, France native, already stands in the top-20 in career singles wins, doubles wins and combined wins.
The Aggies have claimed a trio of SEC championships since entering the league for the 2013 season, finishing as co-champions in 2015 and 2017 along with this season’s trophy. In addition to the regular season titles, the Maroon & White earned the 2014 and 2015 SEC Tournament title.
Texas A&M earned an impressive 5-2 win against No. 7 Mississippi State Friday night to clinch their third SEC title. After dropping the doubles point to open the match the Maroon & White claimed five of six first sets en route to five singles wins. No. 10 Arthur Rinderknech, No. 41 Jordi Arconada, No. 52 Valentin Vacherot, No. 105 Juan Carlos Aguilar and Barnaby Smith scored point for the Aggies on the night.
Auburn comes to College Station off a 4-3 setback at LSU on Friday night. The Tigers are led by No. 86 Matteo De Vincentis in the rankings as the freshman has a 2-1 record against ranked foes. Brandon Lauber leads the way with 11 wins for Auburn this spring and the doubles team of Diego Chavarria and Carles Sarrio bring a 10-6 mark into action on Sunday.
Fans are reminded that general admission to tennis matches this year are free. Fans unable to make it out the Mitchell Tennis Center can follow Sunday’s match online at 12thMan.com/livetennis , live video and live scoring will be available.
