Jan. 29, 2011
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The Texas A&M women's tennis team returns to the courts Sunday to take on No. 32 Tulsa in Durham, N.C., in the first round of the third annual ITA Kick-Off Weekend. First serve against the Golden Hurricane is set for 1 p.m. (CT) at the Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center on the Duke University campus.
Live scoring and video of the match will be available at AggieAthletics.com.
Prior to the A&M-Tulsa match, No. 7 Duke and No. 62 Brown face off at 9 a.m. (CT) in the other first-round match.
The consolation match will be Monday at 9 a.m., and the championship match is slated for 1 p.m. The winner of the championship match advances to the prestigious 16-team ITA National Women's Team Indoor Championships, hosted by the University of Virginia, Feb. 18-21 at the Boar's Head Sports Club in Charlottesville, Va.
"This is like a preseason NCAA tournament, and that gives a special feel to the weekend," A&M coach Bobby Kleinecke said. "All of the top teams are participating at select sites around the country. The winners at each site advance to the national indoor championship, and having the opportunity to be able to do that makes this a special weekend for the players."
The Aggies, ranked No. 36, are 0-1 after dropping a 6-1 decision at No. 22 Arkansas on Sunday. Senior Morgan Frank, listed No. 102 in singles, picked up the only point for A&M with a 6-2, 6-7 (8), 1-0 (5) victory over Kate Lukomskaya at the No. 2 line. Another bright spot was Janelle Cuthbertson and Christi Liles' 8-3 win over 35th-ranked Lukomskaya and Kelsey Sundaram at the No. 1 doubles line.
"Arkansas played really well against us and played like they had played a couple of matches before us, which they had," Kleinecke said. "We just have to keep up our confidence and be willing to go for our shots at the key times.
"I was happy how everyone returned to practice this week with a good attitude, and we got some things done. Everyone had a good approach, and they handled the loss very professionally. They didn't blow it off, but they also didn't panic.
"We are working on some different doubles teams and tweaking some things to see if we can get the right chemistry at each position. This team is deep enough that we have some options and possibilities."
Tulsa is 4-0 and has yet to give up a point. Most recently the Golden Hurricane shut out both Mississippi State and Arkansas-Little Rock at the Case Tennis Center in Tulsa last weekend.
Duke is 2-0 with a season-opening 6-1 victory over Hawaii as well as a 7-0 drubbing over No. 56 William and Mary. The Blue Devils boast five ranked singles players, including No. 4 Reka Zsilinszka. Duke also has three doubles teams listed in the national rankings, including No. 4 Nadine Fahoum and Ellah Nze.
Brown is 0-1 after falling to No. 24 Virginia, 7-0, in its season opener last weekend.
A&M is 2-0 in the all-time series against Tulsa. The teams have not met since A&M defeated the Golden Hurricane, 7-0, in 2005 at Tulsa.
"We haven't played Tulsa in a number of years, back when they were not as strong," Kleinecke said. "This time they return almost everyone from last year's NCAA second-round team, so on paper they are supposed to win against us as the No. 2 seed at this site. But I think this match will go down to whoever plays the best, whoever works the hardest and whoever has the best attitude. Someone is going to have to take the match. It should be a fun, exciting match."
A&M is 0-4 all-time against Duke. The teams last met in 2009 with Duke topping A&M, 6-1, in Durham.
A&M and Brown have never met.
The ITA Kick-Off Weekend features 15 women's host sites with four teams at each site vying to advance to the Team Indoor Championships. The team to win both of its matches will join the winners from 14 other four-team sites at the 16-team ITA National Team Indoor Championships. As host of the national indoors, the University of Virginia is automatically qualified for the 16-team national tournament.