Jan. 21, 2010
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The 12th-ranked Texas A&M men's tennis team will host a doubleheader with a pair of Southland Conference opponents in UT Pan American and Nicholls State in its season opener on Saturday, Jan. 23 at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center.
First serve between the Aggies and UTPA is scheduled for 10 a.m. (CT) followed by a dual match versus Nicholls State at 3 p.m. (CT). Live video and live scoring for both matches will be available on www.AggieAthletics.com.
Under the direction of fourth-year head coach Conor Pollock (San Antonio, Texas).
This year's squad includes a different makeup of players hailing from not only the state of Texas, but Florida, Alabama and Tennessee as well as three talented international players from France, England and Russia. Coach Denton notes that along with the team's depth, this may be the most athletic team he and Coach McKinley have ever assembled in Aggieland.
"It's one of the strengths of our team," Denton said. "We have a lot of players who can help us out and contribute this year. A lot of new guys have bought into what we are doing here and our doubles play will be much improved. We can go 10-or-11 deep with guys who are experienced and can play at this level and be successful. They continue to break records in the weight room with our strength and conditioning coach Monty Gibson and it really shows what kind of athletes we have on this team. Now, we just have to make them tough mentally and learn how to play points better. We feel good about our recent preseason practices. They worked hard and responded well in our two-a-day workouts. Our team chemistry is great and we are playing good tennis right now. Hopefully, we will carry that forward into our first matches on Saturday."
The Aggies return two-time junior All-American Marcus Lunt (San Antonio, Texas), junior Patrick Dean (Dallas, Texas), sophomore Colin Hoover (Victoria, Texas) and sophomore Alexis Klegou (Dunkerque, France), who is now eligible to play after sitting out a year as a redshirt. Sophomore Austin Klores (Franklin, Texas), who is recovering from back surgery over the summer, will most likely redshirt.
Last season, the Aggies put together an impressive 10-3 home record at the Mitchell Center with notable wins over Illinois, defending national champion USC, LSU and rival Texas. UTPA and Nicholls State will both come into one of the toughest atmospheres in all of college tennis and will provide A&M with a good test to open up the season.
"UT Pan American could potentially be a ranked team this season," Denton said. "They had some success last year in the Southland Conference beating Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and have some talented players on their team - including players from India at the top of their lineup. Meanwhile, Nicholls State reached the finals of the Southland Conference tournament last year and also has some experienced players returning. They are both going to keep our heart rate up the entire match. You always have a little bit of the jitters in your first match of the year and both of these matches could be close."
The new faces on the team who will make their Aggie debut this weekend include junior Jeff Dadamo (Tampa, Fla.), a transfer from Florida who fared well in fall tournament play to earn a No. 32 preseason national ranking in singles, along with sophomore John Lewis (Birmingham, Ala.), a transfer from Alabama, freshman Alberto Bautista (McAllen, Texas), freshman Beau Blackshear (Brentwood, Tenn.) and freshman Niall Angus (London, England), who joined the Aggies in January. Dadamo and Krajicek are also ranked No. 18 nationally in doubles.
"We are going to try to play as many of our guys as we can this weekend," Denton said. "That was one of the reasons why we put some of these doubleheaders into our schedule this year. We knew we had a bigger team and wanted to get more guys involved and give our freshmen some confidence with matches under their belt. We also wanted to play a match at home, before hosting Fresno State, Rice and Oklahoma State in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend (on Jan. 29-30) in College Station. We felt like this was a good opportunity to get us going in preparation for those matches. I know our guys are excited to play and open the season this weekend."
Season Tickets Still On Sale...Season tickets for the 2010 Texas A&M men's tennis season can be purchased online at: www.12thManFoundation.com or by calling the ticket office at 1-888-99-AGGIE.
Where's Wilson Promotion...For the third-straight year, Wilson, a smiling tennis ball, will be hiding at every home match this season at the Mitchell Tennis Center. One lucky fan who finds him this weekend will receive a pair of Crocs compliments of Texas A&M University and will be entered into a grand prize contest which will be held during the women's tennis team's Lone Star Showdown match versus rival Texas on April 20. Fans are encouraged to come out to the matches early to increase their chances of being the first person to find Wilson.