April 29, 2010
COLLEGE STATION, Texas -
Complete Release in PDF Format 
Texas A&M is the No. 4 seed at the 2010 Big 12 Women's Tennis Championships and will open play Friday at noon against either No. 5 seed Oklahoma or No. 12 seed Kansas at the Penick-Allison Tennis Center in Austin, Texas.
The Aggies (13-8), who won their only Big 12 tournament title in 2004, went 8-3 during the Big 12 season and are ranked 37th in the Campbell's/ITA College Tennis rankings.
This marks the fourth time in the 14 years of the tournament that A&M has been the No. 4 seed. The last time A&M was No. 4 was 2005, when the tournament was last held in Austin. The Aggies defeated No. 5 Texas Tech in the quarterfinals, 4-1, and fell to No. 1 Baylor, 4-1, in the semifinals.
All-session passes to the 2010 Big 12 Championship are available at Penick-Allison Tennis Center at $10 for adults and $5 for youth, while day passes are $5 for adults and $3 for youth.
Live scoring of A&M matches will be available at AggieAthletics.com. Live scoring for other matches as well as other tournament information can be found at Big12sports.com.
The Road to a Championship -- All 12 Big 12 women's teams participate in the single-elimination Big 12 Women's Tennis Championship, which takes place Thursday, April 29 through Sunday, May 2 at the Penick-Allison Tennis Center on the University of Texas campus in Austin.
The top four seeds earn a first-round bye. Baylor, the four-time defending tournament champion, earned the No. 1 seed for the seventh time since the inaugural Big 12 Championship was held in 1997. The Lady Bears were undefeated in conference play, going 11-0 to win the regular season championship and earn the top seed.
The No. 5-12 seeds open Championship play Thursday.
The following is the complete women's tournament schedule:
Thursday, April 29 -- First Round Matches
M1 - No. 8 Kansas State vs. No. 9 Colorado, 10 a.m.
M2 - No. 5 Oklahoma vs. No. 12 Kansas, 10 a.m.
M3 - No. 7 Oklahoma State vs. No. 10 Iowa State, 1:30 p.m.
M4 - No. 6 Texas Tech vs. No. 11 Missouri, 1:30 p.m.
Friday, April 30 -- Quarterfinal Matches
M5 - No. 1 Baylor vs. Winner of M1, 9 a.m.
M6 - No. 4 Texas A&M vs. Winner of M2, 12 p.m.
M7 - No. 2 Texas vs. Winner of M3, 3 p.m.
M8 - No. 3 Nebraska vs. Winner of M4, 6 p.m.
Saturday, May 1 -- Semifinal Matches
M9 - Winner of M5 vs. Winner of M6, 3 p.m.
M10 - Winner of M7 vs. Winner of M8, 3 p.m.
Sunday, May 2-- Championship Match
M11 - Winner of M9 vs. Winner of M10, 1 p.m.
Matches will be stopped immediately when a team reaches four points.
The tournament champion receives an automatic bid to the 2010 NCAA Women's Tennis Championship. Texas leads the league with seven tournament titles (1997-2002, 2005). Baylor (2006-09), Oklahoma State (2003) and Texas A&M (2004) are the only other teams to possess a Big 12 Championship trophy.
A&M's Conference Tournament History -- Texas A&M is 18-12 all-time in the 13-year history of the Big 12 Women's Tennis Championship. The Aggies have reached the finals four times (1997, 2002, 2003, 2004) and are 1-3 in the championship match. A&M has reached at least the semifinals every year except 1999 when the No. 4 Aggies fell to No. 5 Baylor, 4-2, in the quarterfinals in College Station.
Last year in Norman, Okla., A&M was the No. 3 seed and defeated No. 6 Oklahoma State, 4-1, but fell in the semifinals for the fifth consecutive year with a 4-2 loss to No. 2 Texas. It was the fourth straight year the Aggies were eliminated by the rival Longhorns in the semifinals. No. 1 Baylor eliminated the Aggies in the 2005 semifinals in Austin.
The Aggies captured their only Big 12 Championship trophy in 2004 in Norman. The championship match between No. 1 Texas and No. 2 Texas A&M also was decided in the last match standing, where A&M's Helga Vieira came through with the deciding victory, defeating Katie Ruckert, 6-7 (6), 6-3, 6-4 at No. 2 singles to give the Aggies a 4-3 victory. It was sweet revenge for A&M, as the Longhorns had won the last match standing when the two teams met in College Station during the regular season to decide the regular-season title and the No. 1 seed.
A&M had reached the finals three times prior to the 2004 season, losing to Texas in both the 1997 and 2002 championship matches and falling to No. 4 seed Oklahoma State, 4-1, in the 2003 tournament held in Kansas City, Mo.
In the inaugural 1997 Big 12 Championship, the third-seeded Aggies and the Longhorns met in a conference finals for a fifth consecutive year. The match lasted nearly seven hours before the Aggies fell, 5-4.
In 1998, the 5th-seeded Aggies fell to eventual champion Texas in the semifinals by the score of 5-0. The No. 4-seed Aggies were eliminated at home by the Baylor Bears, 5-2, in the quarterfinals of the 1999 tournament. In 2000, it again was the Bears eliminating the Aggies. Baylor topped third-seeded A&M in the semifinals, 5-3. A&M was eliminated by eventual champion Texas, 4-0, in the semifinals of the 2001 tournament.
A&M also hosted the 2002 tournament and fell to the six-time tournament-champion Longhorns, 5-0, in the championship match.
The Aggies advanced to the finals of the former Southwest Conference Championships each of the last four years it existed. Each of the finals pitted the Aggies against the Longhorns. The Aggies' only SWC tournament championship was in 1986, before the league recognized both a regular season and a tournament champion.
Aggies vs. Oklahoma/Kansas -- A&M defeated both Oklahoma and Kansas during the regular season. The Aggies held off then-No. 37 Oklahoma, 4-3, on April 10 in Norman, Okla., and defeated the Jayhawks, 7-0, on March 19 in College Station.
Against the Sooners, A&M became the first team to sweep OU in the doubles, and freshman Nazari Urbina notched a three-set victory in the last singles match standing to clinch a 4-3 Aggie victory at the Headington Family Tennis Center.
A&M's 71st-ranked pair of Elzé Potgieter and Urbina posted its highest ranked win of the season, holding off 29th-ranked Ana Maria Constantinescu and Teona Tsertsvadze, 8-6, at the No. 1 position to complete the doubles sweep.
There were numerous momentum shifts during the back-and-forth singles matches. Morgan Frank put A&M up 2-0 with a straight-set win against Tsertsvadze at the No. 3 line, but the Aggie first had to overcome a 4-1 deficit in the opening set. Frank managed to reel off five consecutive games to win the first set, 6-4, and then cruised to a 6-1 second-set win to close out the match.
Constantinescu, ranked No. 93 in singles, put the Sooners within 2-1 with a straight-set victory against 58th-ranked Potgieter on the No. 1 court. Constantinescu won four straight games to post a come-from-behind 6-4 win in the first set and then closed out the match by winning three consecutive games to break away for a 6-4 second-set win.
A&M's Lauren Santacroce overcame a 5-3 first-set deficit against Kristina Radan at the No. 5 line and won, 7-5, 6-4, to put the Aggies ahead, 3-1.
The Sooners then won the next two matches in three sets to tie the match at 3-3. Tara Eckel held off Christi Liles, 6-1, 5-7, 6-3 at No. 6, and Maria Kalashnikova came back to top Sheri Olivier, 2-6, 7-5, 6-4, to knot the score and force the match to be decided at the No. 2 line.
Urbina and Marie-Pier Huet had split their first two sets with Huet taking the opener, 6-3, after winning three consecutive games and Urbina breaking away from a 4-4 tie to win the second set, 6-4. Urbina, who entered the match 7-0 at the No. 2 line, jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the third set and never looked back en route to a 6-2 victory to clinch the match for the Aggies.
It was the Aggies' 14 consecutive win against the Sooners, who have not defeated A&M since 1999. A&M now leads the all-time series, 19-4.
Against Kansas, A&M swept the three doubles matches and earned straight-set singles victories on five of six courts en route to A&M's 11th consecutive win against the Jayhawks and the Aggies' only shutout of the season.
Aggies Capture Big 12 Individual Titles -- Texas A&M's Nazari Urbina and Morgan Frank are the Big 12 co-champions at No. 2 singles and No. 3 singles, respectively. Urbina, a freshman, went 10-0 in Big 12 matches, tying Baylor's Nina Secerbegovic (10-1) for most wins at the No. 2 line. Secerbegovic's only conference loss was a 6-3, 6-4 setback to Urbina on April 14 in Waco.
Frank, the 2009 Big 12 No. 2 singles champion and the 2008 No. 5 singles champion and No. 3 doubles champion, went 9-1 at the No. 3 line, tying Krista Damico of Texas for most wins. Frank defeated Damico, 7-6 (2), 6-1, during the regular season.
Individual Big 12 champions are crowned for each of the six singles positions and all three doubles flights based on the number of conference wins during the regular season. A player must have competed in at least six matches at a set position to qualify for a conference title. In addition, wins at higher positions count toward the record in which an athlete has played a minimum of six matches.
2010 Big 12 Individual Champions
No. 1 Singles: Lenka Broosova, Baylor (11-0)
No. 2 Singles: Nazari Urbina, Texas A&M (10-0)
Nina Secerbegovic, Baylor (10-1)
No. 3 Singles: Morgan Frank, Texas A&M (9-1)
Krista Damico, Texas (9-2)
No. 4 Singles: Csilla Borsanyi, Baylor (9-2)
Sarah Meghoufel, Oklahoma State (9-2)
No. 5 Singles: Sarah Lancaster, Texas (9-0)
No. 6 Singles: Jennifer Holmberg, Nebraska (9-2)
No. 1 Doubles: Lenka Broosova/Csilla Borsanyi, Baylor (10-0)
No. 2 Doubles: Amanda Craddock/Krista Damico, Texas (9-2)
No. 3 Doubles: Mary Weatherholt/Jennifer Holmberg, Nebraska (10-1)
A&M Coach Bobby Kleinecke -- Two-time Big 12 Coach of the Year Bobby Kleinecke enters the Big 12 Championship with a 401-261 (.606) record in his 25th season at the helm of the Aggies, including a 122-32 (.792) record in Big 12 regular-season matches. In 1986, Kleinecke's inaugural season of his college coaching career and at A&M, he led the Aggies to the Southwest Conference title and was named the SWC Coach of the Year. In 1996, he was voted the SWC Coach of the Year and in 2002, Kleinecke was honored as the Wilson/ITA Coach of the Year in the Southwest Region after leading A&M to a record-23 wins. In 2003, A&M tied for its first regular-season title as the Aggies and Baylor went 9-2. In 2004, Kleinecke's team captured its first Big 12 tournament championship, advanced to the NCAA Round of 16 for the first time and finished the season with a record 24 victories. Under Kleinecke's leadership, the Aggies have made 15 NCAA appearances, including the last 10 consecutive years.
In the Rankings -- A&M is ranked No. 37th in the Campbell's/ITA College Tennis Rankings released April 27. The Aggies have been ranked as high as No. 31 (Feb. 12) and were out of the rankings one week (March 16) during the spring season.
Freshman Nazari Urbina is ranked a career-high No. 47 in singles. Elzé Potgieter is listed No. 60 and Morgan Frank is No. 101, her highest ranking of the spring.
In doubles, Potgieter and Urbina are No. 35. Frank is No. 41 with Potgieter and No. 50 with Lauren Santacroce.
Urbina plays No. 2 singles, where she is 14-0. Potgieter is 11-10 at the No. 1 line, and Frank is 14-1 at No. 3 singles.
Urbina is 7-3 against ranked opponents, including a 6-3, 6-4 victory against then-No. 18 Nina Secerbegovic of Baylor. The win marks the highest ranked victory by an A&M player this season.
Potgieter and Urbina's highest ranked doubles victory in the dual season was an 8-6 win against No. 29 Ana-Marie Constantinescu and Teona Tsertsvadze of Oklahoma.
Potgieter, Olivier, Amo Garner Academic Honor -- Texas A&M's Elzé Potgieter and Sheri Olivier were named to the Academic All-Big 12 Women's Tennis First Team, and teammate Christina Amo was named to the second team, the Big 12 Conference recently announced.
Potgieter, a senior accounting major from Bloemfontein, South Africa, is making her third consecutive appearance on the first team. Olivier, a sophomore human resource development major from Topeka, Kan., and Amo, a senior psychology major from Fort Worth, Texas, are making their first appearance on the team.
To qualify for the Academic All-Big 12 Tennis Team, student-athletes must maintain a 3.00 GPA or higher either cumulative or the two previous semesters and must have participated in 60 percent of her team's scheduled contests. Freshmen and transfers are not eligible in their first year of academic residence. Senior student-athletes who have participated for a minimum of two years and meet all the criteria except percent of participation are also eligible.
First team members consist of those who have maintained a 3.20 or better GPA, and the second team consists of those who have a 3.00 to 3.19 GPA.
Nominated by each institution's director of student-athlete support services and the media relations offices, the women's tennis academic all-league squad consisted of 30 first team recipients and six student-athletes on the second team.
A&M Leads Nation in Home Attendance -- Texas A&M led the nation in total and average attendance at women's home tennis matches in the month of March and is the current overall season leader in average attendance.
The Aggies drew 1,232 fans in four home matches in March. Three of the matches were played at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center, and rain forced the Aggies to play one match at the City of Bryan Tennis Center.
In addition, A&M averaged fans per match through March to once again lead the second annual ITA Attendance Race.
Looking Ahead to the NCAA Selections -- The Aggies are aiming to make their 11th consecutive and 16th overall appearance in the NCAA Championships when the 64-team field is announced Tuesday, May 4 on ESPNEWS The announcement for both the men's and women's brackets will air at approximately 4 p.m. (CDT)
First- and second-round competition will be played May 14-16 at 16 sites. The winners at each of the 16 sites will advance to the final site, the Dan Magill Tennis Complex at the University of Georgia in Athens, Ga. S.
Participants in the 64-player singles tournament and a 32-team doubles championship will be posted on NCAA.org May 5 before 5 p.m. (CDT). Those individuals selected will join the final 16 teams May 26 in Athens. The finals for both men's and women's singles and doubles will be played May 31
Passing Shots -- In the regular-season finale match against Missouri, A&M won for the first time this season after dropping the doubles point...A&M is 10-0 when No. 6 singles wins and 8-0 win No. 1, 2 and 3 singles all win...Freshman Nazari Urbina is 30-5 overall, ranking sixth in the A&M single season record for most wins...Senior Elzé Potgieter is seventh in the A&M career records with 89 victories in her four-year career...Sophomore Sheri Olivier, who had never played higher than No. 4 singles during her career, played the No. 3 line against Missouri and came through with a crucial straight-set victory to help lead A&M to a come-from-behind 4-3 win...A&M is 9-8 against ranked opponents...A&M's highest ranked win was a 4-3 decision against then-No. 14 Arkansas on March 17 in College Station...A&M has scored at least two points in every match with the exception of a 6-1 loss at No. 2 Baylor.