Jan. 21, 2011
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The Texas A&M women's tennis team kicks off its 2011 campaign Sunday as the 36th-ranked Aggies take on No. 22 Arkansas in Fayetteville. First serve is slated for 11 a.m. at the Billingsley Tennis Center on the Dills Indoor Courts, and live scoring of the match will be available at AggieAthletics.com.
A&M head coach Bobby Kleinecke, in his 26th season at the helm of the Aggies, welcomes back six letterwinners plus a sophomore redshirt from last season's team that went 14-10 and advanced to the first found of the NCAA tournament. He also brings in highly touted freshman Christi Potgieter -- the younger sister of former Aggie standout and current A&M student assistant coach Elzé Potgieter -- who joined the team this month and is expected to be in the season opening lineup.
"We are jumping straight into the fire by facing such a tough opponent to start the season, but we have a veteran group," Kleinecke said. "All but one of the players has experience, and they know what to expect.
"We have eight quality players, and as long as they stay healthy, I look for this to be a great team. They have great attitudes, great determination and have set high goals for themselves, so I feel really good about this team."
Sophomore Nazari Urbina (Xalapa, Mexico) highlights the list of returners and enters the season ranked a career-high No. 17 in the ITA singles rankings. It is the second highest spring preseason ranking for an A&M player in school history. Urbina, the 2010 ITA Texas Region Player to Watch was No. 50 in the final ranking of her freshman season after going 32-6 overall and playing in the NCAA Singles Championship. Urbina posted a 12-3 record in the fall, including a 7-3 mark against ranked opponents. Her three losses were against players who are No. 7 or higher in the preseason ranking.
Seniors Morgan Frank (Oldsmar, Fla.), ranked No. 102 in singles, Stephanie Davidson (Fair Oaks Ranch, Texas) and Christi Liles (Largo, Fla.), as well as juniors Sheri Olivier (Topeka, Kan.) and Lauren Santacroce (Spring, Texas) also return. In addition, sophomore Janelle Cuthbertson (Perth, Australia) returns to the lineup after redshirting last spring.
Arkansas, which opens its season Saturday against North Texas, returns seven letterwinners from last year's team that went 18-10, advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament and was No. 22 in the final poll.
The Razorbacks are led by senior Anouk Tigu, who enters the season ranked No. 26 after being ranked as high as No. 18 last spring. In doubles, the duo of sophomore Kelsey Sundaram and junior Kate Lukomskaya is No. 35 in the nation.
A&M stunned then-No. 14 Arkansas last year in College Station, winning the last two matches standing for a come-from-behind 4-3 victory. With the win, the Aggies, who also won all three doubles matches against the Razorbacks, improved to 8-5 in the all-time series against their former Southwest Conference foe.
"Our win against Arkansas was our big match last year," said Kleinecke, who is making his first trip to Fayetteville since 1991. "They want revenge and will be ready for us. They played some mock duals last weekend and play North Texas on Saturday, so they will have some competitions under their belt. It should be a great tennis match."
For complete information on Texas A&M women's tennis, including rosters, schedules and statistics, go to AggieAthletics.com.