The No. 5 Texas A&M men’s tennis team improved to 10-0 in SEC play after defeating South Carolina, 6-1, Sunday afternoon at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center in College Station. The win sets up a de facto championship match against No. 7 Mississippi State (16-1, 10-0) next Friday at the Mitchell Tennis Center.
The Maroon & White swept all six singles matches to improve to 18-4 on the year, with the loss the Gamecocks fell to 16-7 on the season and 6-5 against league opponents.
No. 109 Juan Carlos Aguilar defeated Harrison O’Keefe 6-4, 6-0 on court five to even the match at one-all. The freshman won for the fifth straight match to improve to 17-3 in dual matches and 8-1 against SEC foes.
Shortly after Aguilar’s win, No. 12 Patrick Kypson pushed the Aggies ahead 2-1 with a 6-3, 6-2 win over No. 24 Gabriel Friedrich on court one. Kypson won his fourth straight match and for the tenth time against a ranked opponent to improve to 7-2 in the SEC play.
No. 52 Valentin Vacherot kept the momentum rolling for the Aggies, defeating Thomas Mayronne 6-2, 6-3 on court four to increase the A&M advantage to 3-1. The sophomore improved to 13-6 in dual matches and 22-10 on the year after winning his eighth SEC match.
No. 73 Jordi Arconada clinched the win for the home squad with an impressive second set comeback against Yancy Dennis. After winning the first set 6-3, Arconada faced a 4-1 deficit before winning six of the final seven games to win 7-5. With the win, the right-hander improved to 9-1 in the SEC and 18-4 in dual matches.
Barnaby Smith continued the parade of wins for the Maroon & White, defeating Wood Benton 6-3, 6-4 on court six. The High Wycombe, England native, picked up 11th win of the spring and improved to 6-3 in league play.
Shortly after Smith’s win, No. 10 Arthur Rinderknech completed the singles sweep with a 6-7(5), 6-4 1-0[8] win over No. 70 Paul Jubb on court two. Rinderknech claimed wins over the reigning SEC Player of the Week, Jubb, and SEC Freshman of the Week, Florida’s Oliver Crawford, this weekend. The Paris, France native improved to 17-3 this spring, 8-2 in the league and 10-2 against ranked opponents.
The Aggies dropped the double point for just the seventh time this spring, falling behind the Gamecocks 1-0 after doubles action. No. 13 Arconada and Aguilar claimed their second-straight ranked-win, as the A&M duo topped No. 57 Dennis and O’Keefe on the top court. The Aggies were unable to pick up wins on court two or three as Friedrich and Mayronne topped No. 58 Kypson and Rinderknech followed by Jubb and Benton besting No. 65 Vacherot and AJ Catanzariti.
Texas A&M closes out the regular season with home matches against No. 7 Mississippi State and Auburn next weekend. The Aggies and Bulldogs will face off at 6 p.m. at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center on Friday, the winner will clinch at least a share of the 2018 SEC Championship.
