March 18, 2010
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The Texas A&M women's tennis team opens Big 12 Conference play Friday as the Aggies take on Kansas at 4 p.m. at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center.
The match is part of an A&M tripleheader with the Aggie men's team, which hosts Lamar and No. 24 Pepperdine at noon and 6 p.m., respectively, at the Mitchell Tennis Center.
The Aggie women are 5-5 and are coming off their biggest win of the season after upsetting No. 14 Arkansas, 4-3, on Wednesday. It marked the highest ranked win by an A&M team since the Aggies defeated 10th-ranked Texas, 4-3, in the finals of the 2004 Big 12 Championship.
A&M became only the second team to sweep Arkansas (12-5) in the three doubles matches this season and then rode singles victories by freshman Nazari Urbina at the No. 3 line, junior Morgan Frank at No. 2, and a three-set victory by senior Elzé Potgieter at No. 1 singles in the last match standing to stun the Razorbacks.
Potgieter posted her 83rd career victory to move into a tie with former Aggie All-American Jessica Roland for ninth place in the A&M records. For Frank, it was her ninth consecutive win, one shy of the longest streak of her career, as she improved to 9-1 in dual matches. Urbina extended her win streak to eight and also improved to 9-1.
Kansas (8-4) enters Big 12 play riding a three-match winning streak. In their most recent outing, the Jayhawks lost the doubles point but came back to win all six singles matches to defeat Cleveland State, 6-1.
The Jayhawks are led by junior Maria Martinez, who has won seven of her last eight matches and is 9-3 overall.
A&M has won the last 11 meetings against the Jayhawks and owns a 14-3 lead in the all-time series. Last year A&M defeated Kansas, 6-1, in Lawrence, Kan. The Jayhawks haven't defeated A&M since 1999.
A&M finished third in the Big 12 with a 9-2 record last season. Its only losses were to Baylor, which went undefeated and also won the Big 12 tournament, and Texas, which placed second.
Free live video streaming and live scoring of all A&M home women's tennis matches is available at AggieAthletics.com.