April 9, 2010
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The Texas A&M women's tennis team returns to Big 12 Conference action this weekend as the No. 41 Aggies travel to Oklahoma to take on the 37th-ranked Sooners in Norman on Saturday and the No. 59 Oklahoma State Cowgirls on Sunday. Match time against OU is 11 a.m. at Headington Family Tennis Center. First serve against OSU is slated for 12 p.m. at the DeBois Tennis Center in Stillwater.
"These are going to be tough matches," A&M coach Bobby Kleinecke said. "This is the first time in a number of years that we are playing an OU team that is ranked higher than us. This is a good opportunity for us. We are going to give everything we've got to prove what kind of team we have."
The Aggies are 8-5 overall after falling to No. 6 Notre Dame, 4-3, in a non-conference match-up Monday in College Station. A&M is 3-0 in Big 12 matches and is currently in third place behind Baylor and Nebraska, who both stand at 5-0.
Oklahoma is 13-3 overall, including 3-2 in the Big 12 following a 6-1 loss to No. 36 Texas on April 3. Despite the loss, the Sooners are off to one of the best seasons in school history thanks to the play of junior Ana-Maria Constantinescu, who is ranked No. 93 in the nation in singles and No. 29 in doubles with freshman Teona Tsertsvadze.
Oklahoma State dropped to 8-6 on the year following a narrow 4-3 loss at No. 38 Tulsa on Tuesday. The Cowgirls are 2-3 in conference matches.
"Right now we've got everything in our own hands," Kleinecke said. "We have played some of the lower teams though, so this is an opportunity for us to have to step it up. This is going to be a tough weekend for us, but it is going to be an important weekend for us.'
At No. 58, Elzé Potgieter (Bloemfontein, South Africa) is the highest ranked of three A&M players listed in the latest ITA national singles rankings. She is 9-5 in dual matches.
Freshman Nazari Urbina (Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico) is No. 70 and is 7-0 at the singles second line. Junior Morgan Frank (Oldsmar, Fla.) is No. 116 and is riding a career-best 13-match winning streak. She is 8-0 at the No. 3 singles line and 13-1 in all dual matches.
"The top of our lineup obviously has been doing very well and we are going to depend on them this weekend to keep up that trend and pull their part," Kleinecke said. "Now we are going to have others at the lower half to step up. Sheri Olivier (sophomore, Topeka Kan.) had a good win against Notre Dame, so I'm excited to see how she is going to fare. I think everybody is playing well and is ready to continue on."
Potgieter and Urbina are ranked No. 71 in doubles and are 7-4 at the No. 1 line, having helped the Aggies win the doubles point in 10 matches. Frank and partner Stephanie Davidson (Fair Oaks Ranch, Texas) also have been clutch, going 7-1 at the No. 2 spot.
"Our goal is to go undefeated in conference in the doubles point, and this will be another step toward that," Kleinecke added.
A&M owns an 18-4 lead in the all-time series against Oklahoma and has won the last 13 meetings. Last year the Aggies defeated the Sooners, 5-2, in College Station. The Sooners have not topped the Aggies since 1999.
A&M holds a 16-9 ledger in the all-time series against OSU and has won the last eight meetings. Last year, the Aggies defeated the Cowgirls, 5-2, in College Station during the regular season and 4-1 in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Championships in Norman. OSU's most recent win against the Aggies was in the finals of the 2003 Big 12 Championships in Kansas City, Mo.
Free live scoring of all A&M matches is available at AggieAthletics.com.