Texas A&M (11-4, 8-2 SEC), which climbed four spots to No. 11 in this week's national rankings, has won eight of its last nine matches, including each of its last three. The Aggies are in sole possession of fourth place in the SEC standings, only one game behind fifth-ranked Georgia and No. 8 Vanderbilt, who are tied for second. Most recently, A&M thumped last-place Missouri, 7-0, Friday at the Mizzou Tennis Complex in Columbia. The Aggies won both doubles matches to be completed and won all six singles matches in straight sets.
Arkansas is 14-11 overall and tied with Tennessee for 11th in the SEC standings with a 3-7 conference ledger. The Razorbacks, who will be playing their final home match of the season on Sunday, upset No. 25 LSU, 5-2, Friday in Fayetteville.
Individually, A&M's Rutuja Bhosale enters the weekend riding a career-best and team-leading nine-match win streak in singles. The sophomore, ranked No. 57 in singles, clinched A&M's winning point against the Tigers with a 6-3, 6-4 victory at the No. 2 line to improve to 20-9 overall, becoming the first Aggie to reach the 20-win milestone. Bhosale also improved to a team-best 9-1 in SEC matches only.
Bhosale is one of four ranked singles players representing the Aggies. Sophomore Rachel Pierson is a team-high No. 32 with a 19-10 overall record. Sophomore Saska Gavrilovska is ranked 77th, and at No. 101, junior Stefania Hristov rounds out A&M's ranked singles players.
In doubles, the duo of Ines Deheza and Hristov is No. 16, marking the highest doubles ranking of the season for an A&M pair. Pierson and her partner, lone freshman Eva Paalma, are No. 56 and riding a team-high four-match win streak. Meanwhile, Bhosale and Gavrilovska are at No. 80 this week.
A&M is a combined 38-19 in SEC singles matches only and 15-8 in SEC doubles matches only. Meanwhile, Arkansas, which is 3-10 against nationally ranked teams, is a combined 16-38 in SEC singles matches as well as 8-17 in SEC doubles matches.
A&M leads Arkansas, 10-6, in the all-time series, including 2-0 in SEC matches only. In the most recent meeting, A&M defeated the then-39th-ranked Razorbacks, 4-0, last year at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center. Arkansas' most recent victory against the Aggies was a 6-1 decision on Jan. 23, 2011, in Fayetteville. The win gave the Razorbacks a 5-3 lead in the series in matches played in Fayetteville.
A&M concludes a three-match road swing at No. 7 Baylor on Wednesday, April 8, before closing out its regular-season home slate next weekend, hosting No. 8 Vanderbilt and No. 20 Kentucky, Friday and Sunday, respectively, at the Mitchell Tennis Center.
Visit 12thMan.com for more information on Texas A&M women's tennis. Aggie fans also can keep up to date with the A&M women's tennis team on Twitter by following @AggieWTEN or on Facebook at Facebook.com/AggieWomensTennis.