March 11, 2011
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The Texas A&M women's tennis team opens Big 12 Conference play Saturday at noon when the Aggies take on rival Texas in a State Farm Lone Star Showdown match-up at the Penick-Allison Tennis Center in Austin.
A&M (6-2) enters the contest riding a five-match winning streak after knocking off No. 75 Wake forest, 4-3, Wednesday in College Station. The match concluded a six-match home stand for the Aggies, who remained undefeated at the Mitchell Tennis Center this season.
Texas (5-4) has not played since March 5-6 when the Longhorns fell at No. 9 Northwestern, 7-0, and then picked up a 4-3 victory at No. 51 Illinois. Texas is 3-0 in home matches.
"The teams have experienced similar results, so the match is really just going to come down to whichever team plays the best," A&M coach Bobby Kleinecke said. "On paper, they would be the team to win, plus they are at home, but we are playing with a lot of heart and a lot of fight and anything can happen. We just have to make sure we are going for our shots."
Aggie sophomore Nazari Urbina (Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico) is ranked No. 19 in the nation in singles and is 6-2 at the No. 1 line. She is slated to go against Texas' top player, 16th-ranked Aeriel Ellis.
A&M seniors Morgan Frank (Oldsmar, Fla.) and Christi Liles (Largo, Fla.) are both riding five-match winning streaks at the Nos. 2 and 3 lines, respectively. Frank boasts a team-best 7-1 record, all at the No. 2 line, and Liles is 6-2, including 3-0 since moving to the No. 3 spot.
Stephanie Davidson (Fair Oaks Ranch, Texas) has been consistently impressive in both singles and doubles for the Aggies. The senior is riding a four-match winning streak and is 4-0 at the No. 6 singles line. She has won seven straight in doubles, including six in a row with freshman partner Christi Potgieter (Petrusville, South Africa) at the No. 3 position, helping the Aggies clinch the doubles point in five of the last six matches.
Davidson needs one more doubles victory to give her 88 for her career and move her into a tie with Martina Nedorostova (1999-2002) for seventh place in the A&M all-time career records.
Liles and sophomore Janelle Cuthbertson (Perth, Australia) are ranked No. 69 in the ITA doubles rankings. They are 3-5 at the No. 1 line and are slated to face Texas' 51st-ranked Amanda Craddock and Cierra Gaytan-Leach.
Texas has won the last eight meetings against the Aggies, including a 5-2 victory last year in College Station. A&M's most recent win against the Horns was 2006 in College Station, 6-1. The last time A&M defeated the Horns in Austin was 2003.
A full point is at stake in the State Farm Lone Star Showdown standings. Texas enters the match leading A&M, 6-5, with 8 points still to be decided.
Free live scoring of the match will be available at AggieAthletics.com. In addition, get updates on Twitter @AggieTennis.