August 22, 2008
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - For the second consecutive year, the Texas A&M men's tennis team will play one of the toughest schedules in the country leading up to the 2009 NCAA Men's and Women's Tennis Championships to be played on their own home court on May 14-24 at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center.
Eleven top 20 opponents highlight the 2008-09 slate including five of the top 10 teams in last year's final Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Division I Men's Tennis Rankings. The Aggies will play a total of 21 dual matches with 19 against top-ranked opponents. Seventeen of those 21 teams advanced to postseason play a year ago including seven that reached the round of 16 and four to the quarterfinals or better.
"We deliberately make our schedule as tough as possible, so that our players are tested throughout the season," said Texas A&M head coach Steve Denton who enters his third season in Aggieland. "Ultimately, this kind of a schedule allows us to be challenged, makes us better and develops our players' games. Last year, toward the end of the season, we were a much better team and a lot of that is attributed to our schedule."
A&M will host No. 69 Radford in its season opener on Jan. 24, 2009, followed by six additional non-conference home matches against No. 3 Ohio State on March 13, No. 15 Illinois on March 15, No. 7 USC on March 19, No. 18 LSU on March 22, No. 11 Tulsa on April 1 and No. 22 Rice on April 13.
The first two months of the spring season will be contested on the road starting off with No. 53 North Carolina State and No. 10 Florida as part of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 respectively in Gainesville, Fla. The winner at each of the 15 campus sites across the country will advance to the prestigious ITA National Team Indoor Championships to be held on Feb. 13-16 at the Midtown Tennis Club in Chicago.
The Aggies continue non-conference play on the road at No. 34 TCU on Feb. 18 in Fort Worth, Texas, No. 29 Notre Dame on Feb. 27 in South Bend, Ind., No. 48 Louisville on March 1 in Louisville, Ky., No. 35 Boise State on March 6 in Boise, Idaho, and No. 36 Washington in Seattle.
The first of two meetings with rival Texas begins early in the season as the Aggies and Longhorns battle for the Texas Cup on neutral ground on Feb. 6 in Houston. A&M and UT will later square off in the regular-season State Farm Lone Star Showdown finale slated for April 18 in College Station.
Big 12 Conference action will present tough road matchups at Oklahoma on March 27 in Norman, Okla., at No. 17 Oklahoma State on March 29 in Stillwater, Okla., and at No. 8 Baylor on April 8 in Waco, Texas. The Aggies also play host to No. 20 Texas Tech on April 3 and Nebraska on April 10 at the Mitchell Tennis Center, prior to traveling to the Big 12 Tennis Championship on April 23-26 in Norman, Okla.
Fall tournament play will include the Baylor Invitational on Sept. 26-28, ITA All-American on Oct. 3-12, Midland Invitational on Oct. 17-19, Wilson/ITA Regionals on Oct. 25-28, Texas Invitational on Oct. 31-Nov. 2, Seminole Invitational on Nov. 1-3 and ITA Indoors on Nov. 6-9.
Last season, the Aggies made their 15th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and finished No. 23 in the final national team rankings.