The No. 7 Texas A&M men’s tennis team cruised through matches against LSU and Cal Poly Sunday at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center in College Station, Texas to secure their place at the ITA Indoor Team National Championships next month in Seattle, Wash. The Aggies claimed 4-0 victories over both the Tigers (5-1) and Mustangs (3-1) to claim the ITA Kick Off Weekend Championship.
The Maroon & White will await their seed at the ITA Indoor National Championships to take place in Seattle, Wash. hosted by the University of Washington Feb. 16-18 at the Nordstrom Tennis Center. The Indoor National Championships is regarded as one of the premier collegiate tennis events, with 15 teams advancing through the Kick Off Weekend events around the country to join host-Washington.
Due to inclement weather in College Station throughout the day on Saturday, both rounds were played Sunday with singles play first and doubles matches only being played if necessary. The Aggies were up to the task of two matches in a day as they dropped only two sets.
Freshman Juan Carlos Aguilar secured the first point of the day with a 6-0, 6-1 triumph over LSU’s Julian Saborio, followed shortly by No. 41 Jordi Arconada’s 6-3, 6-2 win over Rafael Wagner. Freshman Patrick Kypson posted win number three for the Aggies as he ousted Shane Monroe 6-2, 6-1 on court one, followed by senior Arthur Rinderknech’s 7-5, 6-2 clinch victory over Gabor Csonka.
After a nearly two hour intermission the Aggies maintained momentum by capturing all six first sets against Cal Poly. Arconada picked up his second win of the day with a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Dominic Bechard followed by Rinderknech’s 6-3, 6-1 win over Josh Ortlip. Aguilar backed up his strong morning play with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Antoine Noel to win his second match of the day. The trip to Seattle was booked by freshman Barnaby Smith as the Brit topped Alexander Stater 6-2, 6-2 to secure the Texas A&M victory.
Following the ITA Kick Off Weekend, the Aggies will head to the Sooner State to take on Tulsa at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center Wednesday at 6 p.m. The Case Tennis Center is the site of the fall ITA All-American.
