The Texas A&M men’s tennis team concluded the fall portion of their 2014-15 campaign on a hot note, compiling a record of 33-13 (7-1 vs ranked opponents) in singles and doubles at the Conference Challenge this past weekend. The Challenge, hosted by A&M at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center, fielded players from the University of Illinois, Louisiana State University, and Texas Tech University.
In singles, A&M had two players go, an undefeated, 4-0 in the Round Robin format while four other Aggies managed 3-1 records.
No. 11 Harrison Adams (Jr.) was one of the unbeaten Aggies and his run included two victories over a pair of nationally ranked Illinois players. No. 6 Jared Hiltzik and No. 44 Tim Kopinski were both All-American selections and combined for a 64-23 record in singles a year ago for the Fighting Illini. However, they could not handle A&M’s No. 11 Adams. Adams defeated Kopinski in a third set show of dominance 6-4, 3-6, 6-0 while only needing two sets to quiet Hiltzik, 6-4, 7-5.
A&M’s No. 15 Shane Vinsant (Jr.), No. 46 Jeremy Efferding (Sr.), and AJ Catanzariti (Fr.) were three other Aggies who logged victories against ranked singles opponents. Overall, A&M finished the Challenge Event 23-11 in singles with a 5-1 record versus ranked opponents.
The Aggies added a 10-2 (2-0 vs ranked opponents) doubles record to their singles success. Doubles competition was also conducted with a Round Robin format and all matches used pro sets.
A&M’s No. 23 doubles tandem of Harrison Adams and Shane Vinsant accounted for both victories against ranked opposition. They nearly shut out Louisiana State University’s No. 14 Tam Trinh and Eric Perez, 8-1, while also besting Illinois’s No. 2 Tim Kopinski and Ross Guignon, 8-4. Adams and Vinsant finished 2-1 in doubles.
No 37. Jeremy Efferding and Jordan Szabo (Sr.) and A.J. Catanzariti and Max Lunkin (So.) managed unscathed 3-0 records for the Aggies in doubles.
Texas A&M will not compete in organized events again until they kick off their spring season in early January.