March 11, 2010
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The Texas A&M men's tennis team (7-4) will host No. 11 California on Friday, March 12 at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center. First serve is scheduled for 6 p.m. (CT).
The Aggies, ranked No. 28 nationally in this week's Campbell/ITA Collegiate Tennis Rankings, are coming off a near upset of third-ranked Ohio State on the road last Sunday in Columbus, Ohio. The dual match against the Golden Bears (8-3) marks the first of eight-straight home contests for A&M including its second consecutive versus a top 10 opponent. The Aggies have posted a 5-1 mark at the Mitchell Tennis Center so far this season.
"We're back at home this week after being battled-tested on the road the last three-straight matches," Texas A&M head coach Steve Denton said. "We don't have many more road trips (this month) and like any team, we play better at home on our own courts. It's going to be great and we hope the 12th Man will come out and support us. Cal is a very good team and we're going to have to set up. The question is, `Are we going to play like we played against Illinois or are we going to play like we did against Ohio State?' If the identity of our team is what we did against Ohio State, then I feel really good about the rest of the season. If we play like we did against Illinois, then we are going to struggle."
The Aggies have not faced Cal since a 5-2 victory during the 2005 season in Berkeley, Calif. Coincidently, A&M went into the match five years ago ranked No. 11 in the country, while the Golden Bears were ranked No. 28.
No. 16-ranked junior All-American Austin Krajicek (Brandon, Fla.) and No. 33-ranked junior Jeff Dadamo (Tampa, Fla.) are A&M's front liners, while Cal has two ranked singles players in No. 42 Pedro Zerbini and No. 59 Christoffer Konigsfeldt. In doubles play, Krajicek and Dadamo are ranked a career-best No. 9, while the Golden Bears are represented on the national front by No. 20 Christoffer Konigsfeldt and Nick Andrews and No. 30 Pedro Zerbini and Jonathan Dahan. A&M has won seven out of the 11 possible doubles points this season.
"The doubles point is going to be very big against Cal," Denton said. "They have two ranked doubles teams and we're going to have to get production from our guys. In this match, every line is going to be very important. The team that wins will play the bigger points better in each of those matches. It's going to be a close match."
Live video and live scoring for the match will be available on www.AggieAthletics.com. Tickets can be purchased online at: www.12thManFoundation.com or by calling the ticket office at 1-888-99-AGGIE.
Catch The Coach Denton Radio Show...Listen to the Steve Denton Radio Show live every Monday at 4:15 p.m. (CT) on Chip Howard's SportsTalk broadcast live on KZNE 1150 AM The Zone in College Station. Denton joins Chip Howard for the only college tennis coach's radio show in the nation. Each week, the duo will recap and preview matches for the nationally-ranked Aggies. The weekly radio show airs every Monday from February through the NCAA Championships and can also be heard worldwide on the Internet at: www.KZNE.com.
Where's Wilson Promotion...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 prize 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.