Jan. 13, 2010
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The Texas A&M women's tennis team participated in its first practice of 2010 today in preparation of the spring season, which begins Jan. 30 at No. 14 Clemson.
"We had a good fall, so it's good to get back into it and get these matches started," said A&M head coach Bobby Kleinecke, who is entering his 25th season at the helm of the Aggies. "With everybody returning from last year's team, I feel like we have a great opportunity in front of us."
Kleinecke welcomes back eight of nine letterwinners, including all singles and doubles starters, from last year's team that went 14-11 and advanced to the first round of the NCAA tournament. He also brings in highly touted freshman Nazari Urbina (Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico), who made an immediate impact in the fall season.
"Nobody was satisfied with how last year ended, so they are hungry to get started and get out and redeem themselves," Kleinecke said. "We were expecting to have Nazari on the team last year but didn't have her (due to A&M admission standards). That kind of left us in a situation where we were starting out a little bit shorthanded. But on the other hand, it gave some experience to some young people."
Two-time All-Big 12 singles selection Elzé Potgieter (Bloemfontein, South Africa) highlights the list of returners. The senior, who has played No. 1 singles for the Aggies the last two seasons, enters the spring ranked No. 88 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) singles rankings. Potgieter was 7-3 in the fall to improve her career record to 77-43 and move within five wins of breaking into A&M's top 10 for career victories.
Morgan Frank (Oldsmar, Fla.), a 2009 All-Big 12 selection in singles and the reigning Big 12 No. 2 singles champion, returns for her junior season. She was ranked No. 88 in singles in the fall and boasts a .726 career winning percentage. Frank sports a .757 career winning percentage in doubles and enters the spring ranked No. 23 in the nation with sophomore Lauren Santacroce (Spring, Texas). The pair went 4-1 in the fall and advanced to the ITA Texas Regional finals, coming within one win of receiving an automatic berth into the prestigious ITA National Indoor Championships.
Santacroce is ranked in singles for the first time in her career and enters the spring at No. 118. Urbina also is in the rankings at No. 117 after leading the Aggies with an 11-3 singles record in the fall. Urbina also led the team in doubles victories in the fall with an identical 11-3 mark.
Junior Stephanie Davidson (Fair Oaks Ranch, Texas), who is coming off the best fall season of her career according to Kleinecke, also returns, as does sophomore Sheri Olivier (Topeka, Kan.), who teamed with Potgieter to win the 2009 Big 12 No. 3 doubles title and most recently captured the doubles championship with Urbina at the HEB Baylor Invitational to close out the fall season.
Also returning are senior Christina Amo (Fort Worth, Texas), as well as sophomore Janelle Cuthbertson (Perth, Australia) and junior Christi Liles (Largo, Fla.). Cuthbertson, who played No. 1 doubles and settled in at No. 4 singles for the Aggies last season, was slowed in the fall by an ankle injury. Liles, who has played the majority of her singles matches at the No. 2 and 3 lines over the last two years, missed the entire fall season with a back injury.
"We gained a lot in the fall and showed that we are a more mature team," Kleinecke said. "We had some good wins in singles and doubles. Our doubles really showed up well and is a strength for us, but as far as knowing who is going to play together in the spring, I don't know yet. There are so many different combinations that are possible that it's hard to pin that down right now.
"Plus there is the Christi and Janelle element. Right now we don't know where they fit into the mix, and that is a key question mark. If our question marks turn out on the high side, then we definitely could be a Sweet 16 team."
All 10 of A&M's pre-conference opponents are listed in the ITA preseason rankings, including seven teams that are listed in the top 35.
"The schedule is really strong right at the beginning, so we are going to have to be playing well to come up with some wins," Kleinecke said. "But on the other hand it gives us great opportunities. We need to play this tough schedule to get us ready and help us reach our team goals, to get ourselves in a position where we are contending for a Big 12 championship, fighting to host NCAA first and second rounds, and finish in the top 20."
A&M, listed No. 37 in the ITA preseason ranking, is slated to host eight home matches during the regular season. The Aggies make their home debut March 9 against No. 23 SMU, which eliminated A&M in last year's NCAA tournament. A&M, which played third in the Big 12 last year with a 9-2 record, opens league play against Kansas on March 19 at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center.
Season tickets can be purchased online at 12thManFoundation.com or by calling the ticket office at 1-888-99-AGGIE
For the complete Aggie women's tennis schedule, go to: http://www.aggieathletics.com/sports/w-tennis/sched/tam-w-tennis-sched.html