January 19, 2008
Maroon took bragging rights in Texas A&M?â„¢s men?â„¢s and women?â„¢s tennis scrimmage, defeating White, 6-3, Saturday at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center.
Despite temperatures starting out in the 40s in the sunshine, more than 250 fans came out to enjoy what coaches hope to be an annual event.
Aggie men?â„¢s coach Steve Denton and women?â„¢s coach Bobby Kleinecke divided their respective rosters, assigning half of their players to represent the Maroon team and the other half to compete for the White team. Matches were contested in mixed doubles, singles, men?â„¢s doubles and women?â„¢s doubles. One point was awarded for each match victory, and only one set was played in singles.
In the mixed doubles, the Maroon team of Stephanie Davidson and Mike Beatty defeated Christina Amo and Kayvon Karimi, and Elz?© Potgieter and Conor Pollock downed White?™s duo of Morgan Frank and Austin Krajicek by identical 8-4 scores to tally two points for Maroon.
Maroon also picked up two points by sweeping the men?â„¢s and women?â„¢s doubles matches. Chris Chirico and Wil Spencer defeated Matt Bain and Jerry Makowski, 8-4, and Anna Blagodarova and Michelle Sammons topped Tiffany Clifford and Christi Liles, 8-2.
In men?â„¢s singles, Spencer edged out Krajicek in a battle of highly touted freshmen, and Pollock topped White?â„¢s Makowski, 6-3, in the one-set match. Chirico defeated Karimi, 6-0, but Bain prevented the Maroon sweep by taking down Stephen Shields, 6-1.
Maroon and White split in the women?â„¢s singles, with each team garnering two points. Potgieter defeated Liles, 6-2, and Sammons downed Marisa Druss, 6-2, to tally points for the Maroon.
In a battle between seniors, Clifford defeated Blagodarova, 6-3, to earn a point for White, and in a showdown amongst freshmen, Frank shut out Davidson of the Maroon, 6-0.
The 25th-ranked men open the spring season Friday, Jan. 25 against No. 30 Clemson at 5 p.m. at the Mitchell Tennis Center. Clemson will also play an earlier match at the A&M courts as the Tigers take on Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, coached by former Aggie assistant coach Steve Moore. First serve for that match is 10 a.m.
The Aggie women begin their season Saturday, Feb. 2 with a pair of matches against Texas State at 10 a.m. and Houston at 3 p.m. at the Mitchell Tennis Center.
Stadium Club memberships, general admission season tickets and individual match tickets are now on sale and can be purchased at the 12th Man Foundation ticket office, by phone (1-888-99-AGGIE) or on the Internet at 12thManFoundation.com.
Maroon 6, White 3
Mixed Doubles:
Stephanie Davidson/Mike Beatty (Maroon) def. Christina Amo/Kayvon Karimi (White), 8-4
Elz?© Potgieter/Conor Pollock (Maroon) def. Morgan Frank/Austin Krajicek (White), 8-4
Men?â„¢s Doubles:
Chris Chirico/Wil Spencer (Maroon) def. Matt Bain/Jerry Makowski (White), 8-4
Women?â„¢s Doubles:
Anna Blagodarova/Michelle Sammons (Maroon) def. Tiffany Clifford/Christi Liles (White), 8-2
Men?â„¢s Singles:
Wil Spencer (Maroon) def. Austin Krajicek (White), no score reported
Conor Pollock (Maroon) def. Jerry Makowski (White), 6-3
Chris Chirico (Maroon) def. Kayvon Karimi (White), 6-0
Matt Bain (White) def. Stephen Shields (Maroon), 6-1
Women?â„¢s Singles
Elz?© Potgieter (Maroon) def. Christi Liles (White), 6-2
Tiffany Clifford (White) def. Anna Blagodarova (Maroon), 6-3
Michelle Sammons (Maroon) def. Marisa Druss (White), 6-2
Morgan Frank (White) def. Stephanie Davidson (Maroon), 6-0