May 13, 2011
COLLEGE STATION, Texas -
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The 31st-ranked Texas A&M women's tennis team will face No. 32 SMU in first-round action of the 2011 NCAA Division I Women's Tennis Championship, Saturday, May 14 at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center.
First serve between the Aggies and the Mustangs is set for 12 p.m. (CT). In the preceding first-round match, No. 12 seed Florida State and Southern University meet at 9 a.m. The winners play Sunday at 1 p.m. The second-round winner advances to the Round of 16 to be played at Stanford University's Taube Tennis Center in Stanford, Calif., beginning May 20.
All-session reserved seating is $12 and is good for all men's and women's matches at the College Station Regional. Single day reserved seating is $7 and single day general admission for adults and students/youth is $5 and $3, respectively.
The Aggies (15-8) are making their 12th consecutive and 17th overall appearance in the NCAA tournament. A&M, which has been eliminated in the first round each of the last two years after reaching at least the second round in each of the six previous years, are hosting first and second round matches for the fourth time overall and the first time since 2004, when A&M went on to post its best finish in the NCAA 64-team field by advancing to the Round of 16. A&M, 9-2 in home matches this season, is 5-2 all-time in home NCAA matches.
SMU (21-5), making a school-record third consecutive and 11th overall appearance in the tournament, holds a 15-11 lead in the all-time series against the Aggies. The teams last met in 2010, and although SMU originally won the match, the ITA later ruled that neither team would be credited with a win after ruling in favor of A&M's protest of the Mustangs' lineup. In 2009, the teams met in the NCAA first round at the Baylor Tennis Center in Waco, Texas, and the Mustangs ended a five-match losing streak against the Aggies with a 4-1 victory. The only other time the teams met in the NCAAs was 2004 in College Station. A&M won 4-0, to advance to the round of 16 for the first time in school history.
"We are playing well right now," A&M coach Bobby Kleinecke said. "It is going to be fun to go out there and compete again. (SMU has) an excellent team and they have had a great season. They are right around us in the rankings and have been all year. This should be a great college match and it should be a lot of fun. SMU has a great No. 1 player (Marta Lesniak). We are not going to be able to count on that match against Lesniak, so it is going to be one where we are going to need everyone competing."
Free live scoring, live video and results from the first and second rounds can be accessed via AggieAthletics.com.
AGGIES VS. THE TOURNAMENT FIELD
A&M is 4-7 against teams in the 64-tournament field. Two of the losses were against No. 5 seed and Big 12 regular season and tournament champion Baylor. The Aggies also had a loss to No. 3 seed Duke, as well as losses to No. 17-32 seeds Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Texas and Arkansas. A&M posted two wins against No. 33-48 seed Nebraska, as well as single victories against No. 17-32 seed Tulsa and No. 33-48 seed Fresno State.
SCHOOL TIES
SMU junior Ashley Turpin (New Braunfels, Texas) played her freshman year and the fall of her sophomore year at Texas A&M before transferring to the school where her father, Mark, and her uncle, Jeff, played and where the Turpin Tennis Stadium bears the family name. Turpin is 4-7 in singles dual matches, including 2-7 at the No. 6 line. She is 6-6 at the No. 3 doubles line.
Texas A&M and SMU have faced seven common opponents over eight matches this season. A&M is 6-2 while SMU is 5-3. Both of A&M's losses were against 7th-ranked Baylor, whom SMU lost to, 4-3. SMU's other two losses were against Tulsa, including a 4-3 setback in the Conference-USA championship match. A&M defeated the Golden Hurricane, 5-2, in the second match of the season.
LAST TIME OUT
The fourth-seeded Aggies advanced to the semifinals of the Big 12 Championship for the seventh consecutive year before falling to top-seeded and eventual tournament champion Baylor, 4-2, at the Baylor Tennis Center in Waco, Texas, on April 30. A&M got wins at Nos. 1 and 3 doubles to take a 1-0 lead but were unable to hold off the seventh-ranked Lady Bears. Sophomore Nazari Urbina put A&M ahead, 2-1, after posting the highest ranked win of her career with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over No. 11 Sona Navakova at the No. 1 line before Baylor notched wins at Nos. 6, 4 and 2 to end the match.
SMU took second place at the C-USA Championship after falling to 22nd-ranked Tulsa, 4-3, in Orlando, Fla., on April 24. The match was decided in the last match standing as SMU's Ashley Turpin fell to Jo-Anne Karatiana, 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 at No. 6 singles. No. 22 Tulsa won the doubles point with wins at the No. 2 and 3 lines. SMU got all three of its points at the top of the singles lineup.
A&M HEAD COACH Bobby Kleinecke
Two-time Big 12 Coach of the Year Bobby Kleinecke enters the NCAA Championship with a 417-271 (.606) record in his 26th season at the helm of the Aggies. In 1986, Kleinecke's inaugural season of his college coaching career and at A&M, he led the Aggies to the Southwest Conference title and was named the SWC Coach of the Year. In 1996, he was voted the SWC Coach of the Year and in 2002, Kleinecke was honored as the Wilson/ITA Coach of the Year in the Southwest Region after leading A&M to a then record-23 wins. In 2003, A&M tied for its first Big 12 regular-season title as the Aggies and Baylor went 9-2. In 2004, Kleinecke's team captured its first Big 12 tournament championship and earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Championship, where they were a No. 12 seed. Kleinecke's Aggies went on to advance to the NCAA Round of 16 for the first time and finished the season with a record 24 victories. Under Kleinecke's leadership, the Aggies are making their 17th NCAA appearance, including their 11th consecutive appearance.
IN THE RANKINGS
Texas A&M is No. 31 in the latest ITA team rankings, released May 2. The Aggies reached their highest ranking of the season on March 22, when they came in at No. 25. Individually, sophomore Nazari Urbina, who was ranked a career-high No. 11 on Feb. 14, jumped six spots to No. 26 in the most recent singles rankings (May 2) after posting the highest ranked win of her career, defeating No. 11 Sona Navakova of Baylor in straight sets in the semifinals of the Big 12 Championship. Urbina is 16-7 against ranked opponents.
Senior Morgan Frank is No. 113 in singles. In doubles, senior Christi Liles and freshman Christi Potgieter are ranked for the first time this season, coming in at No. 86. They are riding a five-match winning streak, which includes four victories against ranked opponents.
SMU is No. 32 as a team and is led by No. 9 Marta Lesniak, the two-time C-USA Player of the Year and the highest ranked player at the College Station Regional. The junior from Poland is riding a 19-match winning streak in singles and is 41-5 overall, including 17-4 against ranked opponents. She and partner Aleksandra Malyarchikova, who is No. 124 in singles, are listed No. 57 in doubles.
Florida State, which was No. 36 on March 8 and No. 34 just over a month ago, climbed to a season-high No. 11 ranking on April 26 and enters the NCAAs ranked No. 12. Individually, Katie Rybakova and Noemie Scharle are ranked No. 31 and No. 51, respectively, in singles, and the duo of Ruth Seaborne and Francesca Segarelli is No. 51 in doubles.
URBINA TO COMPETE IN NCAA SINGLES CHAMPIONSHIP
Nazari Urbina earned a second consecutive berth in NCAA Division I Women's Singles Championship. The sophomore, who last year became the first freshman in Texas A&M history to play in the NCAA Singles Championship, received an at-large bid and is one of 64 players who will compete at the tournament to be conducted May 25-30 at the Taube Tennis Center in Stanford, Calif.
Urbina is ranked No. 26 in the nation in singles. She is 27-9 overall, including 16-7 against ranked opponents, with four of those losses coming against opponents currently ranked in the top 10. Most recently, Urbina recorded the highest ranked win of her career, defeating 11th-ranked Sona Novakova of Baylor, 6-2, 6-1, in the semifinals of the Big 12 Championship on April 30 in Waco, Texas. Novakova, who received the Big 12 Conference's automatic bid, is a No. 9-16 seed at the NCAA tournament.
The tournament draw will be announced following the conclusion of the team championship, which runs May 20-24. Stanford will serve as host.
Last year, Urbina fell to No. 9-16 seed and 11th-ranked Caitlin Whoriskey of Tennessee, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, in first round action on the McWhorter Courts at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex on the University of Georgia campus in Athens, Ga. Whoriskey went on to reach the round of 16 and earn All-America status.
FRANK ON PACE TO SHATTER A&M ALL-TIME CAREER RECORD
Senior Morgan Frank is 90-28 (.762) overall in her singles career and is on pace to shatter the A&M record for final career winning percentage, which currently stands at .728 and is held by Ashley Hedberg (2001-03). Despite starting her A&M career in the spring of 2008, Frank is tied for eighth in the A&M career records for most singles victories and ranks eighth for most doubles wins with an 89-36 career ledger. Frank is 25-7 in singles this season, including 19-4 in dual matches all at the No. 2 line.
Senior Stephanie Davidson will also leave her mark in the A&M career records as she is currently listed fourth for most doubles victories with a 97-44 record.
HOME SWEET HOME
Texas A&M is 9-2 in home matches this season. Both losses were to higher ranked opponents -- No. 22 Oklahoma, 4-3, on April 8 and No. 7 Baylor, 5-2, on April 20. Individually, senior Morgan Frank is 11-0 at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center this season. Frank was a perfect 9-0 in home matches last year and enters the SMU match having won 20 consecutive home singles matches.
FOUR AGGIES EARN ALL-BIG 12 ACCOLADES
Sophomore Nazari Urbina was named to the All-Big 12 team in singles for the second consecutive year, and senior Morgan Frank also was named to the All-Big 12 team in singles for the second time in her career. Senior Christi Liles and freshman Christi Potgieter each were named All-Big 12 in doubles for the first time in their careers.
Urbina went 8-3 at the No. 1 line in Big 12 matches only. In her most recent outing, Urbina posted the highest ranked win of her career by knocking off 11th-ranked and Big 12 Newcomer of the Year Sona Novakova of Baylor, 6-2, 6-1, in the semifinals of the Big 12 Championship.
Frank was the 2011 Big 12 No. 2 singles champion with a 10-1 record and became the first player in Big 12 history to capture four women's tennis individual singles titles. She is 25-7 overall this season in singles, including 19-4 in dual matches, all at the No. 2 line.
Liles and Potgieter went 4-1 in Big 12 matches at the No. 1 doubles line after teaming together for the first time on April 9. The duo is 6-1 in all matches at No. 1, including 4-0 against ranked opponents. With their recent success, Liles and Potgieter appeared in the ITA national doubles ranking for the first time on May 2, coming in at No. 86. They enter the NCAA tournament riding a five-match winning streak.
A&M LEADS NATION IN HOME ATTENDANCE
Texas A&M continues to lead the nation in overall and average attendance for the year after taking month-high honors in April. This is the third annual ITA Attendance Race, and A&M has claimed top honors in each of the previous two years.
The Aggies are leading the nation with 4,404 total fans and 367 fans per match for the full season at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center. The Aggies took month-high honors for the second consecutive month in April after bringing in 1,671 total fans overall for a 418 average. A&M also had the highest single-match attendance in the nation this season as 706 fans came to see A&M take on Oklahoma on April 8 in the third annual ITA Attendance Race.
FRANK SETS BIG 12 RECORD WITH FOURTH SINGLES TITLE
Texas A&M's Morgan Frank became the first player in Big 12 Conference history to capture four women's tennis individual singles titles after adding 2011 Big 12 No. 2 Singles Champion to her stellar résumé. The senior from Oldsmar, Fla., led the league in wins at the No. 2 line with a 10-1 record this season to capture her fourth singles champion title, as well as a conference-record-tying fifth overall individual title.
Frank was the 2010 Big 12 No. 3 singles champion as junior; the 2009 Big 12 No. 2 singles champion as a sophomore; and the 2008 Big 12 No. 5 singles champion as a freshman. In addition, Frank was the Big 12 No. 3 doubles champion with Stephanie Davidson in 2008. Her five individual champion titles ties the Big 12 record shared by A&M's Anna Lubinsky and Nicki Mechem.
Frank went 39-5 (.886) in Big 12 matches during her four-year career, having played the majority of matches at the No. 2 line, where she went 40-12 (.769).
AGGIES RECEIVE BIG 12 ACADEMIC HONORS
Texas A&M's Sheri Olivier was named to the Academic All-Big 12 Women's Tennis First Team and teammate Stephanie Davidson was named to the second team. Olivier, a junior human resources development major from Topeka, Kan., is making her second consecutive appearance on the first team. Davidson, a senior sport management major from Fair Oaks Ranch, Texas, is making her first appearance on the academic team.
To qualify for the Academic All-Big 12 Tennis Team, student-athletes must maintain a 3.00 GPA or higher either cumulative or the two previous semesters and must have participated in 60 percent of her team's scheduled contests. Freshmen and transfers are not eligible in their first year of academic residence. Senior student-athletes who have participated for a minimum of two years and meet all the criteria except percent of participation are also eligible.
First team members consist of those who have maintained a 3.20 or better GPA, and the second team is made up of those who have a 3.00 to 3.19 GPA.
PASSING SHOTS
Texas A&M enters the NCAAs having won five of its last seven matches...A&M was 14-0 when winning the doubles point and 1-7 when losing the point until the semifinals of the Big 12 Championship, where the Aggies won two of three doubles matches against No. 7 Baylor but fell to the Lady Bears, 4-2...A&M was 4-11 at No. 1 doubles and mired in a five-match losing skid at the line until Christi Liles and Christ Potgieter broke the trend after teaming together for the first time on April 9 against Oklahoma State. Since then, A&M has gone 6-1 at No. 1 doubles, including four victories against ranked opponents.