May 22, 2009
Updated NCAA Men's Singles Draw in PDF Format 
Updated NCAA Men's Doubles Draw in PDF Format
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Texas A&M senior All-American Conor Pollock (San Antonio, Texas) advanced to the singles quarterfinals for the first time of his career by ending the tournament run of No. 52-ranked Dean Jackson of San Diego with a hard-fought 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory in the round of 16 at the 2009 NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Tennis Championships held Friday afternoon at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center.
Only two Aggies before him had ever reached the quarterfinals in program history - four-time All-American Shuon Madden in 2000 and three-time All-American and two-time Olympian Grant Connell in 1985. Now, Pollock is among that elite club and looking to do even more. After dropping the first set like he did the day prior in the first round, Pollock turned the corner in the second by breaking Jackson at 4-2 and held serve the rest of the way. He went up two breaks in the third set and won on his second serve at 40-30. Jackson returned serve, but hit his second return out as Pollock and most of the 997 maroon-clad fans in attendance applauding both players' efforts.
"I just played a good game," Pollock said. "I was able to hold serve there at 3-0. If I had lost my server there, the match would have been over. That was key. From then on, I felt that is was just one break. If I could put together a few good points on his serve, then I would have a shot to break him and to win a shot possibly. He is a real flashy player and has a lot of power on his serve and forehands. He played really well and I was lucky to get out of that with a win."
Pollock, who is ranked No. 17 nationally in the Campbell/ITA Collegiate Tennis Rankings, is the only men's player still alive in both the singles and doubles draw of the six-day individual tournament. The victory now puts him at 30-13 overall for the season and 19-9 in dual match play. He is currently on a six-match win streak and is tied with former player Kimmo Alkio for eighth all-time in career singles dual victories (65) in the A&M record books. Pollock moves on to face No. 15-ranked Blake Strode of Arkansas tomorrow at 10 a.m. (CT). Both have never met each other in college, futures or juniors competition.
In doubles action, Pollock teamed up with sophomore All-American Austin Krajicek (Brandon, Fla.) to claim a 6-3, 6-4 straight-set victory over No. 34-ranked Robert McKenzie and John Peers of Middle Tennessee State to reach their second consecutive NCAA quarterfinal appearance.
"We had a tough match yesterday, but sometimes that happens where you have a tough first round," Krajicek said. "A lot of times you get a rhythm with that and start playing really well and have a good tournament. Hopefully, that's the case for us. We tried to come out a lot more intense today, focused on our serve and tried not to make any mental errors. We are at our best when we are playing well on our serve games. We did a good job today of not only getting the break, but also holding it. We did a better job of that, than we did yesterday."
The seventh-ranked Aggie duo will face No. 17-ranked Clay Donato and Taylor Fogleman of North Carolina tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. (CT) for a coveted spot in Sunday's semifinals. Singles and doubles matches were moved to an earlier start from the originally scheduled time due to the threat of inclement weather on Saturday.
"There were a couple of points early on that we were able to get through," said Texas A&M head coach Steve Denton whose team finished No. 14 in the country in the final ITA rankings released on Friday. "After we got that break in the first set, we were able to really step it up. That's the most complete match Conor and Austin have played. We had a match yesterday where we could have lost (against Florida). Our guys played a lot better today and they had to, because those were very talented guys hitting the ball. We knew Middle Tennessee would be a really dangerous team. We just played really well today."
Live scoring and live video will be available throughout the individual tournament via www.AggieAthletics.com.
NCAA Division I Tennis Championships
May 22, 2009
George P. Mitchell Tennis Center
College Station, Texas
Attendance: 997
Men's Singles
Round of 16
(9-16) Conor Pollock (Texas A&M) def. Dean Jackson (San Diego), 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
Men's Doubles
Round of 16
(5-8) Austin Krajicek/Conor Pollock (Texas A&M) def. Robert McKenzie/John Peers (Middle Tennessee State), 6-3, 6-4