April 14, 2011
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The Texas A&M women's tennis team makes its final road trip of the regular season this weekend as the Aggies head to the Heartland to take on Iowa State and Nebraska. A&M faces the Cyclones Friday at 2 p.m. at the Ames Racquet and Fitness Center indoor courts. The Aggies then travel to Lincoln, Neb. to take on Nebraska Sunday at noon at either the Nebraska Tennis Center indoor courts or at the 17th & Vine St. Courts.
"Both of these matches are very important," A&M head coach Bobby Kleinecke said. "Iowa State has really picked up their program, and it is not a match we can walk into and just win by showing up.
"Nebraska is a team that beat us last year, and they are having a very good year again. We are going to have to play our best match, but we have had a great week of workouts so I'm looking forward to it. I think we have kind of turned a corner, and I hope it shows up on the court and in the matches."
The No. 35 Aggies are 11-6 overall and tied for sixth in the Big 12 with a 4-3 record. Iowa State is 11-10 overall and 10th in the league with a 1-7 mark. The Huskers are ranked 34th in the nation and are tied for fourth in the Big 12 with a 5-2 record entering a Friday match against No. 25 Texas.
In one of the most unpredictable and tightly contested Big 12 seasons in recent years, the Aggies are only one game away from a tie for fourth place in the league standings and 1-½ games out of third. They are also only a half game in front of seventh-place Kansas State, which has wins against A&M and league-leading Baylor.
"The standings are really confusing right now," Kleinecke said. "This is the strangest it has ever been. With teams beating up on each other, it makes it fun and exciting. It is anybody's ball game, and I can't tell you exactly where we will stand. This is going to go down to the last day before the conference tournament before we know what the team seeds will be and who will be playing. It is going to be interesting."
Nazari Urbina, a sophomore from Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico, leads the Aggies and is ranked No. 27 in the nation in singles with a 23-8 overall record. She is 11-5 in dual matches, all at the No. 1 line, including 5-2 in Big 12 matches only.
Senior Morgan Frank (Oldsmar, Fla.) has won her last three matches at the No. 2 line. In her win against Oklahoma State in the Aggies' last outing, Frank posted her 20th win overall this season and improved to 14-3 at No. 2, as well as 6-1 in Big 12 matches only. In addition, she notched her 85th career victory, moving her into a tie with Cindy Churchwell (1988-91) for ninth place in the A&M all-time records.
In doubles, A&M has won the crucial point in only five of the last 10 matches, causing Kleinecke to rethink the lineup.
"We have been struggling in doubles as of late and that is something we need to pickup, so we are taking on a different look this weekend. We have changed up the teams, and practices have been going very well with the new lineup. I think it is going to help us, and the doubles point is going to be important in both matches for us this weekend."
Senior Christi Liles (Largo, Fla.) and freshman Christi Potgieter (Petrusville, South Africa) will be paired again after playing together for the first time against Oklahoma State and picking up an 8-6 win at No. 1. Frank and senior Stephanie Davidson (Fair Oaks Ranch), who has 93 career doubles victories and is tied for fourth in the A&M records, are expected to play No. 2, and at No. 3 Urbina and junior Sheri Olivier (Topeka, Kan.) are slated to play together for the first time this season.
The Cyclones, looking to end a four-match losing skid, are led by Erin Karonis who is 4-4 in Big 12 matches at the No. 1 line.
A&M is 14-0 all-time against the Cyclones. Last year the Aggies defeated Iowa State, 6-1, in College Station.
The Huskers are led by Madeleine Geibert, who enters the weekend 4-1 at No. 1 singles in Big 12 matches. Patricia Veresova is 5-0 at No. 2 in conference matches. Geibert and Stepfanie Weinstein are ranked No. 85 in the ITA national doubles rankings and are 15-4 at the No. 1 line.
A&M holds a 13-4 lead in the series against Nebraska, but the Huskers snapped a three-match losing skid against the Aggies last year with a 5-2 victory at the Mitchell Tennis Center.
A&M concludes the regular season next week with home matches against No. 7 Baylor and No. 44 Texas Tech, Wednesday and Friday, respectively. First serve is 6 p.m. at the Mitchell Tennis Center for both matches. In addition, it will be Senior Night on Friday, as seniors Davidson, Frank and Liles will be playing the final home match of their four-year A&M careers.
The Big 12 Championship will be April 28-May 1 in Waco, Texas.
Free live scoring of A&M matches is available at AggieAthletics.com.