Coming off an impressive set of wins in their double header earlier in the month, the Aggies, who have a 3-3 record coming into the weekend, traveled to the Sunshine State looking to notch two more victories on their schedule column. A&M faced off against South Florida to start the weekend on Friday afternoon.
The match started off slow for the Aggies, as they found themselves down 3-1 early, but rallied back. Valentin Vacherot and Jordi Arconada both secured wins. Arconada looked especially impressive, as he notched a ranked win for the second time this season, defeating No.83 Albert Barroso.
AJ Catanzariti won the deciding victory for the Maroon and White, winning in three sets. A&M head coach Steve Denton was very pleased with his player’s efforts in the match.
“Our guys just kept hanging around and found a way to get the team victory,” Denton told 12thman.com.
The Aggies closed out the day with a 4-3 victory, lifting them above 500 for the season. Sunday traveled to Tallahassee for the final matchup of the weekend against Florida State.
Once again, the Maroon and White found themselves trailing, as they were down 3-2 late in the match. The Seminoles started off strong in doubles play and dominating the singles matches until A&M’s Hady Habib gained a crucial 6-3, 6-2 victory to put the Aggies on the board. Arthur Rinderknech and Valentin Vacherot notched two more victories to tie it up 3-3. Arconada clinched it for the Aggies, winning 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 over FSU’s Jose Gracia.
Coach Denton emphasized the importance of the weekend road trip for the Aggies was.
“These two road wins should give the team a much needed boost in confidence,” Denton said.
The Aggies will be back in Florida next weekend for the start of SEC play, facing No.10 Florida on Friday followed by No. 16 South Carolina on Sunday.
