May 23, 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's Conor Pollock (San Antonio, Texas) and Austin Krajicek (Brandon, Fla.) tried to match their historic postseason tournament run a year ago, but came up short with a 6-4, 6-4 loss to No. 17-ranked Clay Donato and Taylor Fogleman of North Carolina in the quarterfinals of the 2009 NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Individual Tennis Championships held Saturday afternoon at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center.
The seventh-ranked and No. 5-8 seeded Aggies were only able to break the Tar Heels once in the two-set match, tying up the score at four-all in the first set. Both teams held their serve through the first four games in the second set, but UNC gained the momentum breaking at 3-2 and finished the deciding game on serve. Tournament play was suspended at 12:40 p.m. (CT) after the completion of the men's singles quarterfinals due to lightning and rain and A&M resumed doubles at 3:15 p.m. (CT) after close to a two-hour weather delay.
"They played well," Krajicek said. "We obviously didn't play our best. Give them credit. They didn't let us get into a rhythm. We had our opportunities in the first set and we just let it slip. Clay (Donato) was returning really well, so he made it tough for us to get into a rhythm. We had some game points that we could have won. We should have broke back in the second game which could have changed the momentum. They just played well and better on big points. We had a great season. Obviously, we wanted to make it a little further in this tournament, but that's the way it goes. We had a good year in doubles and as a team (reaching the NCAA Sweet 16)."
Krajicek and Pollock ended the season with an impressive 30-9 overall and 22-5 dual record which is tied for fifth best for the most single-season victories in the A&M record books. Last year, the Aggie tandem reached the men's doubles semifinals for the first time in school history in Tulsa, Okla. Their top eight seed, national ranking and quarterfinal appearance this season earned them All-America distinction for a second year in a row.
"They played lights out," Pollock said. "We didn't play that bad of a match. We could have returned a lot better. Obviously, we didn't return very well. If we could have put more pressure on their serves, we could have turned it around. Give them credit. They played a solid match."
In men's singles action, it was a hard-fought three-setter in the quarterfinals between the No. 17-ranked Pollock and No. 15-ranked Blake Strode of Arkansas. In the final set, Pollock broke to go up 2-1, but Strode answered with a break of his own to even it at two-all. Strode closed out the seesaw match by a count of 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
"It was anybody's match there for a while," Pollock said. "I was up a break and I played a loose game on my serve to get broken back. You just can't do that at this level. My forehand kind of broke down a little towards the end. I missed a lot of balls. Give Blake a lot of credit. He's a great athlete and played a great match."
Pollock closed out his storied four-year career in Aggieland as a three-time All-American, three-time All-Big 12 Conference singles selection, two-time All-Big 12 doubles selection, three-time Academic All-Big 12 First Teamer and Wilson/ITA South Central Region singles and doubles champion. He etched his name into the A&M record books tied for 10th all-time with 65 career singles dual victories and fourth all-time with 67 career doubles dual victories. He is one of only four players in program history to garner All-America honors three-or-more times next to four-time All-American Shuon Madden (1998-01), three-time All-American Lester Cook (2002-04) and three-time All-American Grant Connell (1984-85).
P>"It was a great year and I enjoyed it," said Pollock who graduated this May with a degree in finance from the prestigious Mays Business School on campus. "I had a great career and I'm going to miss it a lot. But, it's time to move on and see what the future holds for me on the professional tennis circuit."
The NCAA men's singles semifinal matches continue tomorrow at 10 a.m. (CT) followed by the women's singles semifinals at 11:30 a.m. (CT), the men's doubles semifinals at 1 p.m. (CT) and the women's doubles semifinals not before 2:30 p.m. (CT). All of Sunday's matches were originally slated for a noon (CT) start.
NCAA Division I Tennis Championships
May 23, 2009
George P. Mitchell Tennis Center
College Station, Texas
Attendance: 767
Men's Singles
Quarterfinals
(9-16) Blake Strode (Arkansas) def. (9-16) Conor Pollock (Texas A&M), 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
Men's Doubles
Quarterfinals
Clay Donato-Taylor Fogleman (North Carolina) def. (5-8) Austin Krajicek-Conor Pollock (Texas A&M), 6-4, 6-4