Photo by: Texas A&M Athletics
Texas A&M Women’s Tennis Announces 2016-17 Schedule
Aug 18, 2016 | Women's Tennis
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Two home tournaments in the fall and at least 18 spring season matches against teams that were in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) final rankings last season highlight the 2016-17 Texas A&M women's tennis schedule, announced today by Aggie head coach Mark Weaver.
"We are excited to announce the schedule for our upcoming 2016-17 season," Weaver said. "Playing two home tournaments this fall is rare for us, but it will be nice for our group of ladies to compete in the comfort of their own backyard."
The Aggies open the fall campaign Sept. 26 at the five-day LTP Futures Event in Charleston, South Carolina, and then return home to host the Aggie Open, Sept. 30 to Oct. 2 at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center. Texas A&M players are slated to compete in eight fall tournaments overall, including the David Kent Invitational home tournament Nov. 4-6 and named in honor of the former ITA Hall of Fame and Aggie men's tennis coach who was Weaver's coach during his four-year Texas A&M playing career.
After concluding the fall season Nov. 11-13 at the UNLV Rebel Invitational in Las Vegas, the Aggies play host to Louisiana Tech in the spring season opener on Jan. 25. Texas A&M then heads to Miami to compete in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend with a goal of qualifying for the ITA National Team Indoor Championship, Feb. 10-13, at Yale in New Haven, Connecticut. Other matches include meetings against former Southwest Conference foes Rice, SMU and TCU before opening Southeastern Conference play against South Carolina on March 3 at the Mitchell Tennis Center.
"Coach (Patrick) Sullivan and I worked hard on scheduling our nonconference matches to help alleviate some of the travel and also the brutal SEC schedule," Weaver said. "In my opinion, it will be exciting to bring back some of our old in-state rivalries, and hopefully our fans will enjoy that as well."
Texas A&M will host six SEC matches, including a March 5 showdown against 2016 SEC regular-season and tournament champion Florida, as well as a meeting with 2015 NCAA champion and 2016 NCAA semifinalist Vanderbilt on April 7.
"The way the schedule is set up, we can continue to improve and toughen up down the stretch, which is ultimately the goal to be playing our best tennis during the conference season and of course postseason play," Weaver said.
Weaver, entering his second season at the helm of the Aggies, returns six players from last year's team that went 17-11 and was No. 19 in the ITA final rankings. Texas A&M made a 17th consecutive appearance in the NCAA Championship and advanced to the second round before losing a 4-3 nail-biter to eventual national champion Stanford.
Weaver also expects to add five newcomers, including junior transfers Tina Bokhua and Macarena Olivares.
"We have a very strong and experienced squad this year and have the talent to do some great things," Weaver said. "That obviously all comes with a lot of hard work and good health, as well as a bit of good fortune. Our entire squad, from returners to our incoming transfers, all have a tremendous amount of experience and success, as their results will attest."
Visit 12thMan.com for more information on Texas A&M women's tennis. Aggie fans also can keep up to date with the Texas A&M women's tennis team on Twitter by following @AggieWTEN or on Facebook at Facebook.com/AggieWomensTennis.
"We are excited to announce the schedule for our upcoming 2016-17 season," Weaver said. "Playing two home tournaments this fall is rare for us, but it will be nice for our group of ladies to compete in the comfort of their own backyard."
The Aggies open the fall campaign Sept. 26 at the five-day LTP Futures Event in Charleston, South Carolina, and then return home to host the Aggie Open, Sept. 30 to Oct. 2 at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center. Texas A&M players are slated to compete in eight fall tournaments overall, including the David Kent Invitational home tournament Nov. 4-6 and named in honor of the former ITA Hall of Fame and Aggie men's tennis coach who was Weaver's coach during his four-year Texas A&M playing career.
After concluding the fall season Nov. 11-13 at the UNLV Rebel Invitational in Las Vegas, the Aggies play host to Louisiana Tech in the spring season opener on Jan. 25. Texas A&M then heads to Miami to compete in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend with a goal of qualifying for the ITA National Team Indoor Championship, Feb. 10-13, at Yale in New Haven, Connecticut. Other matches include meetings against former Southwest Conference foes Rice, SMU and TCU before opening Southeastern Conference play against South Carolina on March 3 at the Mitchell Tennis Center.
"Coach (Patrick) Sullivan and I worked hard on scheduling our nonconference matches to help alleviate some of the travel and also the brutal SEC schedule," Weaver said. "In my opinion, it will be exciting to bring back some of our old in-state rivalries, and hopefully our fans will enjoy that as well."
Texas A&M will host six SEC matches, including a March 5 showdown against 2016 SEC regular-season and tournament champion Florida, as well as a meeting with 2015 NCAA champion and 2016 NCAA semifinalist Vanderbilt on April 7.
"The way the schedule is set up, we can continue to improve and toughen up down the stretch, which is ultimately the goal to be playing our best tennis during the conference season and of course postseason play," Weaver said.
Weaver, entering his second season at the helm of the Aggies, returns six players from last year's team that went 17-11 and was No. 19 in the ITA final rankings. Texas A&M made a 17th consecutive appearance in the NCAA Championship and advanced to the second round before losing a 4-3 nail-biter to eventual national champion Stanford.
Weaver also expects to add five newcomers, including junior transfers Tina Bokhua and Macarena Olivares.
"We have a very strong and experienced squad this year and have the talent to do some great things," Weaver said. "That obviously all comes with a lot of hard work and good health, as well as a bit of good fortune. Our entire squad, from returners to our incoming transfers, all have a tremendous amount of experience and success, as their results will attest."
Visit 12thMan.com for more information on Texas A&M women's tennis. Aggie fans also can keep up to date with the Texas A&M women's tennis team on Twitter by following @AggieWTEN or on Facebook at Facebook.com/AggieWomensTennis.
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