April 8, 2009
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The Texas A&M women's tennis team takes a break from Big 12 Conference play this week to take on top-20 foes Michigan and Notre Dame, both on the road.
The No. 33 Aggies face No. 20 Michigan (11-5) on Thursday at 2 p.m. (CDT) at the William Clay Ford Outdoor Courts or the Preston Robert Tisch Building indoor courts in Ann Arbor, Mich. On Saturday, A&M takes on the fourth-ranked Fighting Irish (20-4) at 9 a.m. (CDT) at either the Courtney Tennis Center or the Eck Tennis Pavilion in South Bend, Ind.
The Aggies are 11-6 and riding a seven-match winning streak, their longest since 2007 when they won eight consecutive matches. A&M, 2-4 in away matches, most recently defeated No. 53 Colorado, 5-2, in College Station on Sunday.
A&M's Morgan Frank, listed No. 112 in the national singles rankings, is riding a team-best eight-match winning streak in singles and is 13-4 in dual matches all at the No. 2 line. In addition, the sophomore has won her last seven doubles matches, pairing with either Christi Liles or most recently Stephanie Davidson, also at the No. 2 line.
Freshman Elzé Potgieter has won her last three singles matches and is 9-7 at No. 1.
In doubles, the Aggies have won the crucial point in each of the last seven matches. Freshman Sheri Olivier and Potgieter lead the team in doubles victories with a 12-3 mark, all at the No. 3 line. A&M is 8-3 when winning the doubles point.
Michigan is coming off a 7-0 Big 10 rout over Penn State Sunday in State College, Pa., winning all six singles matches in straight sets. Senior Chisako Suglyama, ranked 67th in singles, notched her school record-tying 100th career victory to highlight the match. She will be looking to break the record against the Aggies.
Notre Dame, which will be playing its final home match of the regular season on Saturday, secured its fourth consecutive 20-win season with a 6-1 victory over No. 40 Illinois Tuesday in Champaign, Ill. Senior Kelcy Tefft and freshman Kristy Frilling are ranked No. 3 together in doubles and No. 35 and No. 36, respectively, in singles, to lead the Fighting Irish.
A&M is 2-0 in the all-time series against Michigan, defeating the Wolverines, 8-1, when the teams first met in 1986 and 5-2 in 2007 at Michigan's indoor courts.
Notre Dame holds a 5-1 advantage in the all-time series against the Aggies and has won the last five meetings. The teams met last season in College Station, where the then-No. 24 Irish topped No. 27 A&M, 4-3, at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center.
Live scoring of all A&M women's tennis matches is available at AggieAthletics.com.