After sweeping LSU in Sunday morning, the No. 7 Aggie men’s tennis team swept Cal Poly to win the ITA Kickoff they hosted at the Mitchell Tennis Center. By winning the tournament, the Aggies clinched a spot in the ITA Indoor National Championships.
“We were very pleased with the way our guys came out and competed,” head coach Steve Denton said. “We were disappointed about not making it to the indoors last year and I know these guys were fired up and ready to play. We had a great opportunity and we needed to hold serve at home and our guys did a good job of making it happen.”
In the earlier match, freshman Juan Carlos Aguilar grabbed the first point, making quick work of his opponent 6-0, 6-1. Then, senior Jordi Arconada earned the second point for A&M, winning 6-3, 6-2.
The third point was won by freshman Patrick Kypson, who defeated his opponent 6-2, 6-1. Then, the win was sealed by senior Arthur Rinderknech who beat his opponent 7-5, 6-2. Every Aggie player was winning their match when Rinderknech clinched the fourth point and the win over LSU.
In the later match against Cal Poly, Arconada took the first point with a 6-3, 6-0 win, the second point was taken by Rinderknech with a 6-3, 6-1 win, the third point was won by Aguilar with a 6-2, 6-2 win, and the match-clinching point was won by freshman Barnaby Smith.
“I’ve improved personally,” Rinderknech said. “I wasn’t playing very good on the first set this morning, but after the first set I was feeling better and getting some rhythm and I played much better this afternoon and I was able to finish second my match and give us a 2-0 lead.”
These matches were just the second and third matches of the season for the Aggies who are now 3-0 after beating Arizona State 6-1 on the road to start the year. The losses drop LSU to 5-1 and Cal Poly to 3-1 on the year. The Aggies were picked to win the SEC on Tuesday, which is the first time A&M has been picked to win the league since joining the SEC in 2012.
The Aggies will take on Cal Poly later on Sunday for a spot in the ITA Championships. The match is set for 1 p.m. at the Mitchell Tennis Center.