Texas A&M
Iowa State
Aggies Top Cyclones, 4-3
Apr 15, 2011 | Women's Tennis
April 15, 2011
AMES, Iowa - The Texas A&M women's tennis team jumped out to a 4-1 lead against Iowa State and went on to defeat the Cyclones, 4-3, today at the Ames Racquet and Fitness Center.
A&M improves to 12-6 overall and 5-3 in the Big 12 Conference to move into a tie with Nebraska for fifth place in the league. The Aggies also improve to 15-0 in the all-time series against the Cyclones, although the three points is the most ISU has ever scored against A&M.
"ISU put up a great fight and they have gotten so much better that now you don't even talk about them being better," A&M coach Bobby Kleinecke said. "It is expected that they are going to be better. They are doing a great job here and they go out and fight and put the ball in the court and have a lot of talent. This isn't a place that you can walk in and just breeze through the matches anymore, so it is good for our conference."
A&M lost at No. 1 doubles when Christi Liles (Largo, Fla.) and Christi Potgieter (Petrusville, South Africa) fell to Maria Macedo and Tessa Lang, 8-4, but the Aggies picked up wins at the No. 2 and 3 lines to win the point and take a 1-0 lead.
Stephanie Davidson (Fair Oaks Ranch, Texas) moved into sole possession of fifth place in the A&M all-time career records for doubles victories with 95 and helped even the race for the doubles point as she and partner Morgan Frank (Oldsmar, Fla.) cruised to an 8-2 win against ISU's Simona Cacciuttolo and Erin Karonis at the No. 2 line.
Sheri Oliver (Topeka, Kan.) and Nazari Urbina (Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico), playing together for the first time this season, then clinched the doubles point for the Aggies with an 8-5 win against Jenna Langhorst and Liza Wischer at No. 3.
Urbina, ranked No. 27, then gave the Aggies a 2-0 lead as she opened singles play with a convincing 6-1, 6-3 victory over Karonis at the No. 1 line.
Lang put the Cyclones on the scoreboard and moved ISU within 2-1 with a 6-4, 6-2 win against Liles at No. 3, but Frank put A&M ahead 3-1 and climbed into sole possession of ninth place in the A&M win records with her 86th career singles victory, a 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-1 win over Macedo at No. 2.
Potgieter clinched the win for A&M, putting the Aggies up 4-1 with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Cacciuttolo at No. 4 before the Cyclones notched wins on the remaining two courts.
A&M's Janelle Cuthbertson (Perth, Austalia) returned to the singles lineup after missing the last three matches and won the first set, 6-3, against Marie Chartier at the No. 5 line, but Chartier came back to win the second set, 7-6 (5). Since A&M had already clinched the team win, the two played a 10-point super tiebreaker for the third set to determine the winner. Chartier jumped out to an 8-0 lead en route to a 10-5 win to make the team score 4-2.
Wischer finished off the match with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Davidson at No. 6 for the final score.
"It really is true that a win is a win," Kleinecke said. "We were up 4-1 and lost the last two matches that were on the court. The thing about it is that we won the three other ones handily. We had a three-setter on Morgan's court, but the two sets she won, she won handily.
"It was a weird deal and a couple of things played into this: these courts are extremely fast and there is not doubt about it, we are an outdoor team. We are not an indoor team. In addition to being on fast courts, we were able to play on only three courts, and I just don't think those things play to our benefit. That is why I'm not going to panic about it. We are going to take the win, move on and get ready to play Nebraska on Sunday."
"We need to take the win and move on. Other people can compare scores and say this team beat that team by such-and-such score and you only beat them by this score, but your mind is the only place that really matters. If we go out there and we know that we are going to put up the match of our life on Sunday, then we walk away with the win. The thing about it is that we just have to believe that we can do it. It's a mind game."
The Aggies face the 34th-ranked Huskers Sunday at noon, Depending on the weather, the match will be contested at either the Nebraska Tennis Center indoor courts or at the 17th & Vine St. Courts.
Free live scoring of the match will be available at AggieAthletics.com.
No. 35 Texas A&M 4, Iowa State 3 Singles
Ames Racquet and Fitness Center
Ames, Iowa
Attendance: n/a
1. (#27) Nazari Urbina (TAMU) def. Erin Karonis (ISU), 6-1, 6-3
2. Morgan Frank (TAMU) def. Maria Macedo (ISU), 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-1
3. Tessa Lang (ISU) def. Christi Liles (TAMU), 6-4, 6-2
4. Christi Potgieter (TAMU) def. Simona Cacciuttolo (ISU), 6-1, 6-1
5. Marie Chartier (ISU) def. Janelle Cuthbertson (TAMU), 3-6, 7-6 (5), 1-0 (5)
6. Liza Wischer (ISU) def. Stephanie Davidson (TAMU), 6-1, 6-3
Doubles (A&M wins the point)
1. Lang/Macedo (ISU) def. Liles/Potgieter (TAMU), 8-4
2. Davidson/Frank/ (TAMU) def. Cacciuttolo/Karonis (ISU), 8-3
3. Sheri Olivier/Urbina (TAMU) def. Jenna Langhorst/Wischer (ISU), 8-5
Order of finish:
Doubles: 1, 2, 3
Singles: 1, 3, 2, 4*, 5, 6
*-clinched match
Team records:
Texas A&M: 12-6, 5-3 Big 12
Iowa State: 11-11, 1-8 Big 12
Follow A&M on Twitter @AggieTennis.
Players Mentioned
