COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The 11th ranked Texas A&M men's tennis team continues its opening conference road-trip in Gainesville to take on the 35th ranked Florida Gators at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex. First serve has been moved up to 11:00 AM (CT) to accommodate the Aggies travel plans.

 

To follow all the action in Gainesville, follow this link for free-live scoring updates: http://www.gatorzone.com/tennis/live/?sport=tennm&live_match=10938

 

"We are playing a very talented team in Florida and our guys will need their A-game tomorrow to get us a win," Texas A&M head coach Steve Denton said. "I have a great deal of respect for Bryan Shelton, the Gators new head coach. I know, just like everywhere else he's been, he will be very successful. I'm really excited to be starting this rivalry as both states are known for having great junior tennis programs."

 

Texas A&M (9-4) has travelled well thus far through the season, going 5-0 on the road. 90th ranked freshman Shane Vinsant leads the team in wins with a 9-3 record. Following Vinsant is Harrison Adams, the current and two-time holder of SEC Freshman of the Week honors, with an 8-2 record and an unblemished 6-0 record from the No. 3 singles line. Sophomore Jeremy Efferding is next in the win-column, boasting a 7-3 record with four of those wins coming from the No. 1 line. Jordan Szabo, another sophomore for the Aggies, holds a 6-4 record. Behzad Minavi (5-0) and 115th ranked Jackson Withrow (5-3) have alternated playing time thus far through the spring season. Rounding out the projected singles squad for Texas A&M is junior Junior Ore with a 4-7 record.

 

Doubles has been the name of the game for the Aggies, having large amounts of success from pairs play. Texas A&M is 9-1 in matches that it wins the critical doubles point. The No. 17 duo of Ore and Withrow leads the squad with an 8-2 record. Not far behind, however, are the other two tandems of Adams and Vinsant (7-2) as well as Efferding and Szabo (7-4). The team of Adams and Vinsant is ranked as the No. 21 pair in the most recent ITA national rankings.             

 

Florida (8-4) enters the match trying to rebound after dropping four straight matches to ranked opponents. Of the four losses for the Gators, three of those came in Seattle at the ITA National Indoor Championships to Pepperdine, California and Washington. In its most recent outing, the Gators dropped a heart-breaker to Baylor, 4-3.

 

The Gators are a veteran team, returning five letterwinners from last season's squad that advanced to the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA tournament. Leading the charge is 62nd ranked junior, Florent Diep and 104th ranked senior, Bob van Overbeek.

 

Texas A&M will be in action again on Friday as it hosts its first Southeastern Conference match against No. 25 Vanderbilt. To learn more about the Texas A&M men's tennis team, visit AggieAthletics.com and follow @AggieMTEN on Twitter.