March 11, 2009
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The Texas A&M women's tennis team returns to the courts Thursday to play host to Texas Tech in the Aggies' Big 12 Conference home opener. Match time is 5 p.m. at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center.
The Aggies are 4-6 overall and 0-1 in Big 12 play after falling to No. 38 Texas, 5-2, in both teams' conference opener last Saturday in Austin. It was the second straight loss for A&M, which dropped to No. 47 in this week's ITA national team rankings.
"Coming off of two losses and being 0-1 in the Big 12 right now, we need to get on the winning side," A&M coach Bobby Kleinecke said. "This is a match that we are capable of [winning]. Texas Tech is a good team, and they've got some comparable matches against some of the same schools, so it should be a good college tennis match, and we are looking forward to it."
No. 62 Tech, 4-4 entering its Big 12 opener, is riding a two-match winning streak and a wave of confidence. Although the Lady Raiders have not played since Feb. 26, they are coming off the highest ranked win in school history after upsetting No. 21 TCU, 4-3, in Lubbock. TCU defeated A&M, 4-3, on March 5 in College Station.
"Tech is going to come in with no fear and believing that they can win this match, too," Kleinecke said. "That is why I say it is going to be a good college match, and whichever team plays better is going to win. It is important that we get off to a good start."
One of Tech's losses was a 7-0 shutout against Denver, which A&M defeated, 4-3, in the Aggies' season opener. All six of A&M's losses are against teams currently ranked No. 32 or higher, including No. 3 Duke, No. 10 Southern California, No. 20 LSU and No. 21 TCU.
"We are very tested, and our schedule has been very tough," Kleinecke said. "We have been through a lot of situations, and I feel like we are ready to get into this conference race full force. We are ready to go, ready to get back on track."
Sophomore Elzé Potgieter, who plays No. 1 singles for the Aggies, is riding a team-best three-match winning streak, including back-to-back ranked wins against No 89 Macall Harkins of TCU and No. 104 Vanja Corovic of Texas.
Potgieter and freshman Sheri Olivier lead the team in doubles with a 6-2 mark at the No. 3 line.
Tech first-year head coach Todd Petty has his No. 1 doubles team of Samantha van der Drift and Kelsy Garland listed No. 57 in the latest ITA rankings. The tandem is 5-3 on the season and riding a two-match winning streak. Garland also has won four consecutive matches in singles to improve to a team-leading 6-2.
A&M is 31-1 all-time against Tech and has won the last 24 meetings. The Aggies have never lost to Tech since the inception of the Big 12 in 1996-97, going 13-0. The Lady Raiders' only win against A&M was in 1987, a year before any players on the current A&M roster were born.
Live scoring of the match, as well as any updates on the decision to move the match to the City of Bryan Indoor Tennis Center, will be available on AggieAthletics.com.