April 10, 2010
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The 12th-ranked Texas A&M men's tennis team will put its 12-match win streak and perfect 4-0 Big 12 Conference start on the line as the Aggies travel North to No. 14 Texas Tech for a Sunday, April 11 dual match at the McLeod Tennis Center in Lubbock, Texas.
The Aggies (19-4, 4-0) currently stand in first place in the latest league standings ahead of archrival and fifth-ranked Texas (20-2, 3-0) in second and Texas Tech (18-2, 1-1) in third. They are one win away from turning in their first 20-win campaign under fourth-year head coach Steve Denton and first since 2004 when A&M went 24-9 and reached the NCAA Sweet 16.
"We've been on a very good run right now," Denton said. "This team has continued to improve and each player continues to develop and gain more confidence in their game. We've had a different person come through for us in each match. We didn't relent any points and all of our guys fought until the end against Baylor on Wednesday night. Our task ahead is a difficult one. We have two really good teams left on the road. Tech is a very good team and lost to Texas 4-3 last week. They are always a very dangerous team and the conditions in Lubbock are always a bit of a challenge for us. Our guys are going to have to be mentally tough and embrace the adversity they are going to face this weekend. Momentum can be fleeting, but we haven't gotten too high or too low and our work ethic hasn't changed."
A&M owns a 38-5 advantage in the all-time series with the Red Raiders including having won the last two-straight meetings between the two in-state rivals. The next two road matches will be important as the Aggies vie for a strong finish in the Big 12 race. They will face the Longhorns in the State Farm Lone Star Showdown on Saturday, April 17 at 4 p.m. in Austin. Last year, A&M finished second behind eventual league champion Baylor and beat Texas in last season's regular-season finale in College Station.
"The conference is really strong this year," Denton said. "We potentially could have five teams ranked in the top 20 and possibly four teams in the top 10 by the end of the regular season. It's great that every team is doing so well."
Individually, four A&M players and all three doubles teams currently lead the Big 12. Junior All-American Marcus Lunt (San Antonio, Texas) are 2-2 at No. 3.
Live scoring for Sunday's match will be available at: www.TexasTech.com.
TCU Match Rescheduled...A&M Tennis fans mark your calendars as the final men's home match will be played on Friday, April 23 as the Aggies take on TCU at 6 p.m. (CT) at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center in College Station. Senior Marcus Lunt and junior Patrick Dean (Dallas, Texas) will be honored during Senior Day festivities held prior to the match with the Horned Frogs.
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.