COLLEGE STATION - Texas A&M men's tennis head coach Steve Denton revealed a challenging 2014-15 schedule, with 14 of 25 regular-season dual matches to be played against 2014 NCAA tournament teams.
The Aggies will travel to 11 states as they take on one of the most daunting schedules in all of college tennis. The maroon and white are set to play 13 teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament last season including 17 that were ranked in the top-50 of the ITA final poll a season ago.
In the perennial powerful Southeastern Conference alone, nine of A&M's 13 counterparts participated in last year's NCAA tournament, and eight of those teams were listed in the top 35 in the ITA's final rankings.
The eighth-year Aggie coach returns nine of 10 players from last year's team that went 25-7, capturing the SEC Tournament Championship and finished No. 10 in the final ITA rankings. He also welcomes two highly touted newcomers.
The fall tournament season commences Sept. 12 at the Midland Invitational in Midland, Texas. The three-day tournament will be played at the Midland Community Tennis Center. Texas A&M will send a strong contingent to the SEC Fall Championships hosted by the University of Florida in Gainesville.
Select A&M players will then compete against many of the top players in the country at the prestigious ITA All-American Championship, which runs Oct. 2-5 in Tulsa, OK. Juniors Harrison Adams and Shane Vinsant have been selected for the main draw, additional Aggies will take part in qualifying to attempt to play in the premier fall tournament.
The Aggies then return to College Station, Oct. 18-21, to participate in the ITA Texas Regionals and compete for a berth into the final tournament of the fall, the ITA National Indoor Championships, Nov. 6-9, in New York, N.Y. Prior to the final national tournament of the fall, A&M will compete in the Ron Westbrook Invitational in Beaumont, Texas, Oct. 3-5.
As a precursor to the national indoor championship, A&M will participate in the Conference Challenge hosting the event in the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center, Oct. 24-26.
The Aggies, who last year second in the SEC regular season play and carried a 10-2 record, open conference play against Kentucky in College Station on Feb. 27.
A&M will play six league matches at the friendly confines of the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center, including contests against South Carolina on March 8 and Vanderbilt on March 13.
A&M closes out the regular season in Fort Worth against TCU. The final home match will be fought against Auburn who was finished No. 44 in the final ITA national rankings.
The SECÂ Championship will be hosted by Texas A&M, April 15-19, in College Station, TX, with the winner receiving the league's automatic bid to the 64-team NCAA Championship.
Visit 12thMan.com for more information on Texas A&M men's tennis. Aggie fans also can keep up to date with the A&M men's tennis team on Twitter by following @AggieMTen or on Facebook at Facebook.com/AggieMensTennis.