COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The fifth-seeded Texas A&M men's tennis team will begin play in their 25th consecutive NCAA Men's Tennis Championship Friday afternoon at 1 p.m. against Lamar at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center. Prior to the Aggies and Cardinals match, No. 18 Baylor (20-9) and No. 36 Arizona State (14-10) will face off at 10 a.m.
The two winners will meet at 1 p.m. on Saturday, to determine which team advances to the NCAA Team Championships in Winston-Salem, N.C., May 18-22.
Fans are reminded the Mitchell Tennis Center adheres to the Texas A&M Athletics 'Clear Bag' policy, for more information about the policy visit 12thMan.com/beclear . Additionally, all fans will receive complimentary general admission tickets to the matches this weekend, courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics.
The 2018 selection marks the 26th overall appearance for the men's tennis team in the NCAA Tournament. Last year, the Aggies hosted the first and second rounds in College Station. The Aggies opened the tournament with back-to-back 4-0 victories over Oregon and Buffalo before falling to No. 5 UCLA in the Round of 16 in Athens, Ga.
The NCAA Selection Committee named Wake Forest (1), UCLA (2), Ohio State (3), Stanford (4), Texas A&M (5), Mississippi State (6), North Carolina (7), Illinois (8), TCU (9), USC (10), Texas (11), Florida State (12), Florida (13), Oklahoma (14), Michigan (15) and Columbia (16) the national seeds. In addition to the three national seeds from the SEC, seven additional teams were named to the field of 64 (Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Tennessee and Vanderbilt).
Visit 12thMan.com for more information on Texas A&M men's tennis in the field. Aggie fans also can keep up to date with the A&M men's tennis team on Twitter by following @AggieMTEN or on Facebook at Facebook.com/AggieMensTennis.
THE MAROON & WHITE
- Texas A&M returns six lettermen from last year's squad that advanced to the NCAA Round of 16 and finished the season ranked No. 12 in the ITA Rankings.
- Highlighting the group of returners is senior Arthur Rinderknech, the Frenchman earned singles and doubles All-America honors for the second straight year, the first Aggie to accomplish that feat since Austin Krajicek did in 2010 and 2011. Rinderknech became the first Aggie to earn a trio of singles All-American honors after earning a national seed to the upcoming NCAA Single Championship.
- Also returning this season will be Jordi Arconada, AJ Catanzariti, Kevin Lam and Valentin Vacherot. Arconada (63), Catanzariti (48) and Rinderknech (64) comprise one of the most decorated senior classes in program history as all three are on pace to complete their career in the top-25 for dual match singles victories (Brett Joelson, 2004-07, and Blake Arrant, 1993-1996, tie for 25th at 53 singles wins).
- Joining the experienced group of returnees are a quartet of talented freshman including the Nation’s No. 1 recruit in Patrick Kypson, international blue-chip recruit in Barnaby Smith, 2016 US Open Junior Doubles Champion in Juan Carlos Aguilar and 2017 USTA Texas Grand Slam winner Pranav Kumar.
2018 ORACLE/ITA DIVISION I MEN'S NATIONAL RANKINGS
- The Aggies are one of four schools with four players listed in the latest singles rankings. Leading the charge for the Aggies is No. 5 Patrick Kypson followed by No. 12 Arthur Rinderknech, No. 48 Jordi Arconada and No. 72 Valentin Vacherot.
- In the doubles poll the Aggies are one of nine schools with at least three tandems ranked, led by No. 3 Arconada and Juan Carlos Aguilar. Arconada is ranked No. 65 alongside junior Kevin Lam. Rinderknech and Kypson earned their eighth straight doubles ranking as a pair, coming in at No. 52 after earning a top-10 win at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships in their first match as a duo, topping then-No. 5 McClain Kessler and Duarte Vale of Florida.
- Kypson’s No. 5 ranking is the fourth straight top-10 ranking for the freshman, after earning a ranking in each of the last nine polls. The freshman is 15-7 this spring with 13 of his wins against ranked opponents. The double-digit ranked wins leads the team this year and was the most by an SEC player this spring.
- Rinderknech earned a top-15 ranking for the 20th time in his career and eighth time this year, the senior became the Aggies first-ever three-time singles All-American after earning a national seed in the upcoming NCAA Singles Championship. The Paris, France native, has claimed 64 singles victories to go along with 61 doubles triumphs wearing the maroon and white to rank 16th on A&M’s all-time singles win ledger and 12th in doubles wins.
- The No. 72 ranking for Vacherot is the 10th straight ranking for the sophomore. Vacherot advanced to the consolation final at the ITA All-American Championship last fall in Tulsa, Okla., including wins over three ranked foes, including a couple ranked players from then-No. 4 Georgia.
- Arconada broke into the polls four times as a freshman in 2016, reaching as high as No. 67 and was ranked in eight of the 12 rankings last spring with a high of No. 42 on April 18. Arconada has been among the ranked for 19 straight polls, with a career-high No. 36 ranking this fall.
- The No. 3 ranking for Arconada and Aguilar is the 10th straight and fifth top-10 ranking for the duo, setting a new career-high for the pair. The A&M tandem earned All-American status after earning the No. 4 seed to the upcoming NCAA Doubles Championship.
- Lam’s ranking of No. 65 alongside Arconada is the 10th straight ranking of the junior’s career, the ranking came on the heels of an impressive ITA Regional showing at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center as they advanced to the finals last fall.
SENSATIONAL SENIORS
- Arconada, Catanzariti and Rinderknech comprise one of the most accomplished senior classes in program history. The trio have been a part of 94 dual match victories, three SEC Championships, one SEC Tournament title and a trip to the NCAA Championship Round of Eight.
- Arconada had one of the longest win streaks in program history a year ago, winning an unprecedented 18 straight matches. During the streak Arconada rose from unranked into the ITA top-50 after besting five ranked opponents. Arconada’s 63 singles wins moved him into 17th on Texas A&M career singles wins list. The Argentinian went an unprecedented 21-1 in conference matches over his final two seasons in Aggieland.
- Catanzariti earned All-American honors a season ago in doubles alongside classmate Arthur Rinderknech. The Pittsburgh native has paced the Aggies in doubles wins twice in his three seasons in Aggieland (19 wins in 2015 and 13 wins in 2017). The right-hander needs six singles wins to move into the career singles wins top-25.
- Rinderknech enters his final spring as one of the country’s best players, earning a career-best No. 4 ranking in the fall and being among the ranked singles players in 36 rankings over the past four seasons. The Paris, France native moved into the top-25 for singles wins in program history at 64 and already stands at No. 12 on the career doubles victory list. Rinderknech looks to climb the doubles list this spring as he is only four wins from the top-10.
LONE SOPHOMORE
- Sophomore Valentin Vacherot turned in a memorable freshman campaign after matching Arconada for the team lead in singles victories a year ago. The Frenchman stormed through his first collegiate season, earning All-SEC Second Team and All-Freshman team honors last spring.
- Vacherot backed up his first dual season with an impressive fall showing, earning a place in the 2017 Oracle ITA National Fall Championships after advancing to the 2017 ITA Men’s All-American Championship consolation final in Tulsa. The sophomore leads the Aggies with nine tournament wins this fall and earned a career-high No. 10 singles rankings entering the spring season.
- Vacherot and Rinderknech are first cousins from France, the duo featured alongside each other last spring five times on the doubles court, earning a pair of victories.
FRESHMAN QUARTET
- Texas A&M’s 2017 signing class was one of the most decorated groups in program history. The Aggie class includes a wealth of international experience and a Texas state champion from a year ago. The class consists of Juan Carlos Aguilar, Patrick Kypson, Pranav Kumar and Barnaby Smith.
- Aguilar earned the 2016 US Open Doubles Championship, claiming five wins including a pair over seeded opponents en route to the prestigious tournament title. The doubles standout earned a career-high Junior ITF ranking of 23 in October of 2016 and featured for Bolivia in the Davis Cup last year.
- Kypson marked the first time in program history that the nation’s No. 1 recruit signed with Texas A&M. The elite junior reached as high as No. 672 in the ATP World Tour rankings and No. 18 in the ITF World Junior Rankings. The right-hander played in a trio of Junior Grand Slams last year, including advancing to the semifinals at Wimbledon.
- Smith, from High Wycombe, Great Britain, earned a career-high No. 62 World Junior ITF ranking and played in all four Junior Grand Slams last year, earning wins at Wimbledon, French Open and Australian Open.
- Kumar stormed through a loaded field to claim the 2017 USTA Texas Grand Slam Championship last June at the Eager Tennis Center on the campus of Abilene Christian University. The Plano. Texas native was ranked as high as the No. 3 prospect in the state of Texas by tennisrecruiting.net.
DENTON’S 12TH YEAR AT THE HELM
- With the win over Auburn to conclude the regular season, Denton picked up his 250th win in the Maroon & White becoming just the third coach in program history to accomplish the feat.
- Including this season, the Aggies have won at least 20 matches in each of the last five seasons under head coach Steve Denton and seven times in his 12-year tenure. Four times during the last decade, Texas A&M has hit the 25-win mark, winning 25 in 2010, 29 in 2011, 25 in 2014 and 27 in 2016.
- Texas A&M has had a doubles tandem earn All-America honors in each of the past six seasons. Catanzariti and Rinderknech earned a Top-8 seed in last year’s Doubles Championship to solidify their All-American status for 2017. Two years ago, Jackson Withrow and Rinderknech achieved the feat after advancing to the Doubles Championship finals. Under Denton’s direction the Aggies have produced 10 doubles All-American duos compared to just four prior to his arrival.
- The Aggies have made 25-straight appearances in the NCAA Tournament, hosting the first and second round for the past six seasons.
- Texas A&M was ranked in Top-25 in 14 of the 15 rankings published last spring and 87 of the last 89 polls, dating back to Jan. 22, 2013. The Maroon & White entered the spring ranked No. 7, their highest ranking to open the spring season since earning a No. 5 ranking top open the 2016 season.