The No. 13 ranked A&M Aggie men’s tennis team made their way to South Carolina to participate in the 2016 SEC Tournament.
After a lengthy three-hour rain delay, the Aggies claimed the win against the Gamecocks and advanced to the Semifinals. A&M has had a record of success claiming the past two SEC Tournament titles in men’s tennis.
Head coach Steve Denton gave several thoughts on the match to 12thman.com.
“I think there is room for improvement and the first match in a tournament is normally the tightest so we will hopefully loosen up and play well tomorrow against a very good Florida team,” Denton said. “There was a lot of pressure on this match, South Carolina was playing for place in the NCAA Tournament and we wanted to defend our title. I thought our guys competed really well. Today was a great college tennis match.”
The Aggies were hit by the Gamecocks first after dropping the initial doubles point. Just as doubles had gotten under way, each team had a court win. Moments later, the score turned in favor for South Carolina at 1-0. The Gamecock doubles pair had defeated the Aggie duo of Aleksandre Bahski and Jackson Withrow 7-6(1).
Singles played out just as competitive as doubles had on this rainy day at the Carolina Tennis Center. The Gamecocks again swung first and moved even further ahead of A&M to make it 2-0 in their favor. This resulted after South Carolina was able to top Aggie sophomore Jordi Arconada 6-1, 7-5.
Texas A&M made their move which then turned this competition into a hot SEC showdown. The Gamecocks continued to strike and all the pressure was left at the hands of another Aggie sophomore, Arthur Rinderknech. By this time, the score was once again tied at three a piece.
Rinderknech claimed his first set, fell on the second, but eventually earned the Aggies a spot in tomorrow’s match after beating South Carolina’s Gabriel Friedrich to clinch the 4-3 victory.
Denton knew there was going to be a lot of hard work shown on Friday.
“Once Arthur was up 40-15 and Gabe had to win three straight points, it was really tough. Arthur played well today, but give a lot of credit to South Carolina today. They played with a lot of guts and we knew they would.“
The No. 13 Aggies showed their toughness on Friday pushing past South Carolina. They will now compete against a very tough No. 11 Florida team Saturday morning beginning at 11 a.m.
