May 27, 2011
STANFORD, CA - The senior All-American doubles team of Austin Krajicek and Jeff Dadamo advanced to the Elite Eight at the NCAA Doubles Championship being conducted at the Taube Family Tennis Center at Stanford. The Aggies defeated the top doubles team from Auburn, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 in the Round of 16 to advance to the NCAA quarterfinals where they will face the top doubles team from Baylor.
Krajicek (CRY-check) and Dadamo (duh-DOM-oh) have already earned All-America honors for the second consecutive year by being seeded third in the NCAA Championships. The Aggie dynamic duo stayed poised despite the first set setback and fought back for the three-set victory.
"The Auburn guys started hot and (Tim) Puetz really returned well," Aggie head coach Steve Denton said. "The guys didn't panic. They trust each other and they trust their abilities. They have played a lot of tennis together and they do not get rattled. The guys returned well and with a double break in the second set they kept the momentum rolling through the third set. They played a very solid third set and served and their first volleys were aggressive."
Krajicek, the Big 12 Player of the Year and the all-time Aggie leader in doubles victories now with 109 wins, advanced to the quarterfinals as a sophomore and reached the NCAA semifinals as a freshman with former teammate Conor Pollock.
Dadamo, who was the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year in 2010 and earned the 2011 Big 12 Most Outstanding Player in leading the Aggies to the 2011 Big 12 Championships title, teamed with Krajicek to win the USTA/ITA National Doubles Indoor title last fall.
The Texas A&M tandem, ranked No. 4 in the latest ITA rankings, will face a familiar foe in Baylor's top doubles team of Roberto Maytin and John Peers who are ranked No. 5 in the latest ITA rankings. Baylor defeated Michigan, 7-6, 6-2 on Friday.
The last time these two doubles teams faced each other was in Waco on Apr. 20 with the Bears winning the No. 1 doubles, 8-4.