April 15, 2010
***MEDIA ADVISORY: The start time of today's Texas A&M women's tennis match against Iowa State has been pushed up an hour to 5 p.m. because of predicted inclement weather moving into the area.
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The 34th-ranked Texas A&M women's tennis team begins its final home stand of the season this weekend with a pair of Big 12 Conference matches against Iowa State and No. 49 Nebraska. First serve against the Cyclones is Friday at 6 p.m., and the match against the Huskers begins at 4 p.m. on Saturday at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center.
A&M head coach Bobby Kleinecke will be aiming for his 400th career victory, as he enters the weekend with a 398-259 record in his 25th season at the helm of the Aggies. It was against Nebraska that Kleinecke reached the 300-win milestone, as the Aggies defeated the Huskers in the quarterfinals of the 2004 Big 12 Championships en route to the tournament title.
The Aggies, who suffered their first conference loss of the season in a 6-1 setback to league-leader and No. 2 ranked Baylor on Wednesday in Waco, are 10-6 overall and tied with Texas for third place in the Big 12 with a 5-1 league mark. A&M and the Longhorns, who come to College Station on Tuesday for A&M's final home match of the season, are a half game behind second-place Nebraska (17-3, 6-1 Big 12), which plays at Texas on Friday.
Freshman Nazari Urbina (Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico) and junior Morgan Frank (Oldsmar, Fla.) lead the Aggies in singles victories with identical 15-2 records in dual matches. Urbina, the reigning Big 12 Co-Player of the Week, is ranked No. 72 in the nation and is coming off the biggest win of her career as well as the highest ranked win by an A&M player this season after knocking off 18th-ranked Nina Secerbegovic in straight sets to earn the Aggies' only point against Baylor. With the win, Urbina improved to 10-0 at the No. 2 line.
Frank, 10-1 at the No. 3 position and ranked No. 109, had her 15-match win streak snapped and she suffered her only loss at the No. 3 line at Baylor.
At No. 65, Elzé Potgieter (Bloemfontein, South Africa) is the highest ranked of three A&M players listed in the latest ITA national singles rankings. She is 10-7 in dual matches, all at the No. 1 line.
Sophomores Sheri Olivier (Topeka, Kan.) and Lauren Santacroce (Spring, Texas) have been holding down the No. 4 and No. 5 singles positions over the last three matches, and junior Christi Liles (Largo, Fla.) has played No. 6 for the Aggies.
In doubles, Potgieter and Urbina jumped to No. 29 in the rankings this week after posting their highest ranked win of the season by defeating Oklahoma's then-No. 29th-ranked pair of Ana-Marie Constantinescu and Teona Tsertsvadze on Saturday in Norman. Potgieter and Urbina are 9-5 at No. 1 doubles.
Junior Stephanie Davidson (Fair Oaks Ranch, Texas) and Frank are 8-3 at the No. 2 line, and Liles and Olivier are 6-2 at No. 3.
Iowa State is 9-10 overall and in a three-way tie for eighth place in the Big 12 at 2-5. The Cyclones are coming off a 5-2 loss to Texas Tech on Sunday.
Nebraska is 17-3 overall and 6-1 in league play entering a match at Texas on Friday. Like the Aggies, Nebraska is coming off its first Big 12 defeat of the season, a 6-1 loss to Baylor on Sunday. The Huskers got their only point at the No. 6 line, where Jennifer Homberg held off Cara Lindlar, 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 (11).
Sophomore Mary Weatherholt is the Huskers' only ranked player, coming in at No. 87 in singles.
A&M is 13-0 all-time against the Cyclones. Last year A&M defeated Iowa State, 6-1, in Ames, Iowa.
The Aggies are 13-3 in the all-time series against Nebraska and have won the last three meetings. Most recently, A&M defeated the Huskers, 5-2, last year in Lincoln, Neb.
Free live video and live scoring of all A&M home matches is available at AggieAthletics.com.