Aggie Men’s Tennis Finishes Fifth in Final ITA Poll
May 26, 2015 | Men's Tennis
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The 2015 Texas A&M men's tennis team capped off their historic season with a program-best fifth place ranking in the final Oracle/Intercollegiate Tennis Association poll released Tuesday afternoon. The Aggies finished in the top-10 for the sixth time after advancing to the Elite 8 for the second time in program history, falling to eventual National Champion Virginia in the national quarterfinals.
"I am beyond thrilled for our senior class to be able to go out with back-to-back SEC titles and a Top-5 finish," Texas A&M men's tennis head coach Steve Denton said. "This season was one of the best in program history, we are looking to build off this momentum and are very excited and optimistic about next season and the future of Texas A&M tennis."
The maroon and white compiled a number of program firsts this year including a win over the No. 1 team, defeating Oklahoma at the Mitchell Tennis Center in February, and the 2015 regular season SEC Championship. The Aggies finished the season 24-5; all five losses came to teams that finished ranked in the top eight of the final ITA poll. A&M tallied an impressive 18 victories over teams ranked in the final ITA poll, including a nine over teams in the final top-25. A&M reached the NCAA tournament for the 22nd season in a row, 23rd overall appearance.
The Aggies' 11 conference wins this year were a program-best, eclipsing the 10-win tally of 2014 team, while the 24 dual victories marked the fourth time a Texas A&M-coached Steve Denton squad has eclipsed the 20-win mark. The back-to-back SEC Coach of the Year nod for Denton was the fourth league honor in his time in College Station after being named Big 12 Coach of the Year in 2009 and 2011.
The Southeastern Conference placed national best six teams in the final Top 25: Texas A&M (5), Georgia (8), Ole Miss (17), Mississippi State (23), Vanderbilt (24) and Florida (25). LSU just missed the Top-25 finishing at No. 30; while Tennessee (43), Auburn (46) and Alabama (72) complete the SEC contingent in the top-75.
The Texas A&M women's team finished No. 10 in the final rankings, marking the second straight season that both A&M tennis teams have finished in the Top-10. A&M joins Baylor, Georgia, Southern Cal and Virginia as the only schools in the nation to have both their men's and women's tennis programs in the top-10 in the final rankings.
The ITA singles and doubles rankings will be released June 3, along with the final regional rankings.
Below is the ITA's list of the 25 top-ranked teams:
Rank | School |
1 | University of Virginia |
2 | University of Oklahoma |
3 | Baylor University |
4 | TCU |
5 | Texas A&M University |
6 | University of Illinois |
7 | University of Southern California |
8 | University of Georgia |
9 | University of Texas |
10 | Duke University |
11 | North Carolina |
12 | Ohio State University |
13 | Wake Forest University |
14 | Columbia University |
15 | UCLA |
16 | University of South Florida |
17 | University of Mississippi |
18 | Virginia Tech |
19 | Texas Tech University |
20 | Stanford University |
21 | University of Minnesota |
22 | University of San Diego |
23 | Mississippi State University |
24 | Vanderbilt University |
25 | University of Florida |
For the complete final team rankings, go to itatennis.com. Visit 12thMan.com.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.
