May 18, 2010
2010 NCAA Championships Tournament Central
2010 Texas A&M NCAA Postseason Guide in PDF Format 
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The 10th-seeded and 10th-ranked Texas A&M men's tennis team is one of 16 schools on a quest toward a national title run as the 2010 NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Championships gets underway this weekend on May 21-25 at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex on the campus of host University of Georgia in Athens, Ga.
The Aggies (25-6) will take on seventh-seeded and eighth-ranked Baylor (23-6) in a round of 16 match scheduled for Friday, May 21 at 2 p.m. (CT). The two Big 12 Conference-member schools, separated by the Brazos River and cities located 90 miles apart, will face each other in the Sweet 16 for the second time in both program's history. The Aggies were seeded No. 16 and the Bears No. 1 in the 2005 national championship held in College Station.
"It's going to be a dog fight like it's been all year against them," Texas A&M head coach Steve Denton said. "We've beaten them twice this year, but both matches have been really close. It wouldn't surprise me if we have six three-setters (in singles) on Friday, because all of our players are very competitive and we know each other very well. It just comes down to who wants it more, who executes better and who comes up with the big shots at the right times in the match. We know we have our work cut out for us and have to play really well, like we did the last two times against them, to advance."
Baylor leads 24-17 in the all-time series with A&M since 1978. However, the Aggies have won the last two meetings between the two in-state rivals, a 6-1 upset in league regular-season play on April 7 in College Station and a 4-1 decision in the Big 12 Tournament semifinals on May 1 in Austin, Texas. The winner will advance to an Elite Eight meeting with either second-seeded Tennessee (28-1) or 15th-seeded Louisville (24-5) on Sunday, May 23 at 3 p.m. (CT). The Aggies and Bears are also on the same side of the bracket as 11th-seeded Georgia (19-7) and sixth-seeded Florida (21-4) as well as third-seeded Texas (27-2) and unseeded Oklahoma (18-7).
Live scoring and results for the Round of 16 through the team championship finals will be posted on the internet on Georgia's official website located at: www.georgiadogs.com or via the NCAA website at: www.NCAA.com.
Aggies In Postseason Play...Texas A&M is making its 18th overall NCAA Tournament appearance in program history and 17th consecutive since 1994. The Aggies have now reached the round of 16 on 10 all-time occasions and the Elite Eight once in 2001. They are 27-17 all-time in postseason play - 6-3 under Denton. A&M has played in four previous Sweet 16's held in Athens in 2003 (lost to Vanderbilt), 2001 (lost to TCU in Elite Eight), 2000 (lost to Tennessee) and 1985 (lost to Pepperdine).
"It's a wonderful thing for our whole team to experience Athens," said Coach Denton who has two players and two possible doubles teams playing in the NCAA individual championship following the team tournament. "It's a very special place with the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame and home to great crowds. It's just a really good atmosphere for college tennis and we are excited to be a part of it all."
How They Got There...The Aggies handed Prairie View A&M a 4-0 rout in the first round on May 14, followed by a hard-fought 4-2 victory over No. 18-ranked Mississippi in the second round. All three doubles matches were close versus the Rebels and both teams split sets in four out of the six singles matches. The Aggies were able to prevail and close out the season at home with a school-record 19-1 mark at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center. It marked their second consecutive year to host an NCAA regional in Aggieland.
"Anytime you can overcome adversity, it gives you confidence as you move forward," said Coach Denton on the Ole Miss match preparing and pushing the Aggies' for competition to come. "There were moments in that match when I thought we would win comfortably early and then, there were moments where I thought we were going to stay home. It worked out that our guys pushed through it, kept fighting and were able to prevail in the end. It was a tough match and it should help us prepare for our match against Baylor on Friday."
Players To Watch...A&M is led by co-Big 12 Player of the Year Marcus Lunt (San Antonio, Texas). Dadamo and Krajicek are currently ranked No. 5 nationally in doubles, while Grigorov and Lunt are ranked No. 34.
Oh, How Sweet It Is...Texas A&M is one of 10 schools, including three from the Big 12, returning to the Sweet 16 for the second-straight season along with host Georgia, top-seeded Virginia, defending national champion USC, Stanford, Tennessee, Texas, Baylor, national runner-up Ohio State and UCLA. Last year, the Aggies were seeded 15th and fell to Ole Miss (4-1) in the round of 16 at the home-hosted 2009 NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Championships held at the Mitchell Tennis Center in College Station. A&M has solidified its place among the nation's best and hopes to make a solid run in Athens.
"Last year, USC was a No. 8 seed and got hot at the right time and won the tournament," Denton said. "Why can't that be us this year? We are a good team. We have played well down the stretch and don't have any holes in our lineup. Our guys just have to step up and play well at the right time - and good things can happen for us. For this first match, we have to be prepared to be on our toes, because Baylor is going to come after us."
W2W4...The Aggies have four players with more than 18 dual wins each in singles including a team-leading 21-5 record by Marcus Lunt (23-6) is one win away from tying All-American Ryan Newport (24-3), current Texas A&M women's tennis assistant coach Mark Weaver (24-4) and Bernardo Martinez (24-4) for the most dual wins in a single season. He is one of four players with 19+ dual wins in doubles along with doubles teammate Grigorov (20-7), Austin Krajicek (19-8) and Jeff Dadamo (19-8).