March 8, 2011
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The 17th-ranked Texas A&M men's tennis team (11-3) is looking for a record-breaking night as the squad plays host to the country's No. 5-ranked team, the Ohio State Buckeyes (15-1). It should be a championship-type atmosphere at 6 p.m. Thursday, Mar. 10 at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center as A&M looks to break its attendance record. A&M will follow with a Saturday match against No.6-ranked Illinois at 1 p.m. and a match against Laredo Community College follows at 6 p.m.
"We have had some great crowds through the years," Aggie head coach Steve Denton said. "We are hoping to break the regular-season record (1,089 vs. Texas Tech, 2009) and would love to get close to our all-time mark."
The first 200 Aggie students will receive free backpacks and pizza, while any fans wearing a 2011 Relay for Life t-shirt will be admitted free of charge. Kids in the 8thgrade and younger will be admitted free and the Junior Aggie Club will be at the complex with food, drinks and activities for the kids including inflatable slides and the women's tennis team will be on hand to sign autographs.
The top crowd this season was 616 fans who attended the Jan. 29 match against Mississippi State for the ITA Kick-Off. The best regular-season mark was 1,089 against Texas Tech in 2009. The all-time record is 2,339 who squeezed into the Mitchell Tennis Center for an NCAA Round of 16 match against Georgia in 2002. (Complete Top 10 list follows below)
The Aggie men have a 25-match home winning streak entering the Ohio State match on Thursday. The last loss for A&M in College Station was Jan. 30, 2010 against Fresno State. The best streak of 27 matches began at the start of the 2000 season and continued through 2001 until Illinois edged the Aggies, 4-3, on Apr. 6, 2001.
"The guys have really played well at home but to keep our streak alive will be a great challenge against two top programs in Ohio State and Illinois," Denton explained. "We have been playing well of late and need to continue to get better. We've had some close matches with both of these teams in the past."
The Aggies faced Illinois earlier this year at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships in Seattle, Washington, and lost a close match, 4-1.
Last spring, the Aggies dropped a 4-3 decision to Ohio State (Mar. 7) in Columbus, Ohio, and dropped a 5-2 match to Illinois (Mar. 5) in Champaign, Illinois.
In 2009, these two clubs came to Aggieland and Ohio State escaped with a 4-3 decision as the match was moved to the indoor courts in Bryan. The Aggies beat 7th-ranked Illinois, 4-3, at the Mitchell Tennis Center. A freshman, Colin Hoover from Victoria, Texas, won the deciding match rallying from a 5-1 deficit in the third set to win 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 to give A&M the advantage.
General admission tickets are $7 for adults and $4 for youth and the gates open at the Mitchell Tennis Center one hour prior to first serve.
TOP 10 ATTENDANCE MARKS AT GEORGE P. MITCHELL TENNIS CENTER
1.2,339 Georgia (#) May 18, 2002
2.1,820 Baylor (#) May 21, 2005
3.1,316 Ole Miss (#) May 14, 2009
4.1,130 Texas (*) Apr. 27, 2002
5.1,089 Texas Tech Apr. 3, 2009
6.1,030 Texas Apr. 23, 2005
7.1,022 Baylor (*) Apr. 28, 2002
8.1,007 Texas Apr. 14, 2001
9.1,003 Texas Tech Apr. 9, 2005
10.946 USC Feb. 5, 2005
#NCAA Championships
*Big 12 Championships