COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The 12th-ranked Texas A&M men's tennis team (2-0) will play host to No. 46 Fresno State, No. 24 Oklahoma State and No. 34 Rice for the ITA Kick-Off Weekend to be held on Jan. 30-31 at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center in College Station.

A&M is one of 15 campus sites across the country hosting the opening weekend. The top-seeded Aggies reached the NCAA Sweet 16 a year ago, while second-seeded Oklahoma State (1-0) and third-seeded Rice (2-0) lost in the NCAA First Round. The 15 schools that win both of their matches at each site will be invited to play in the Feb. 12-15 ITA National Team Indoor Championships to be held on Feb. 12-15 at the Boar's Head Sports Club hosted by the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Va.

Texas A&M will face fourth-seeded Fresno State (3-0) on the stadium courts at the Mitchell Center, while the Cowboys take on the Owls on the grandstand courts on Saturday, Jan. 30 at 1 p.m. (CT). The Aggies and Bulldogs will then face either OSU or Rice on Sunday, Jan. 31 at 1 p.m. (CT). A&M opened the spring season last weekend with a pair of 6-1 victories over UT Pan American and Nicholls State on its home court.

"Our team got off to a great start last week and we have some really good teams coming here this weekend," Texas A&M head coach Steve Denton said. "We've never hosted this particular tournament before, so it's going to be exciting to play it at home. Last year, we beat North Carolina State, but lost to Florida at their place."

The four-team tournament field boasts five nationally-ranked singles players and six ranked doubles teams including 2009 Big 12 Conference Player of the Year No. 15-ranked Oleksandr Nedovyesov of Oklahoma State, No. 19 Bruno Rosa of Rice, No. 32 Jeff Dadamo of Texas A&M, No. 44 Anton Bobytskyi of Oklahoma State and No. 83 David Ayoun of Fresno State. Three of the six doubles tandems competing are ranked among the top 20 in the nation headlined by No. 15 Nedovyesov and Aleksey Bessonov of OSU, No. 18 Dadamo and two-time All-American Austin Krajicek of Texas A&M and No. 20 Taylor Lieby and Mirko Zapletal of Fresno State.

"There will be a challenge this weekend as both OSU and Rice are likely to play in the NCAA Tournament later this year," Denton said. "We haven't beaten Rice in the past, so these are going to be tough opponents later in the year for us. Over the past couple of years, Oklahoma State has had the No. 1 player in the country (Nedovyesov) and he is very talented. However, our eyes and focus are going to be on Fresno State, because they have made the tournament and have had good teams in the past."

Live video and scoring for A&M matches (only) will be available on www.AggieAthletics.com. Tickets can be purchased online at: www.12thManFoundation.com or by calling the ticket office at 1-888-99-AGGIE.

Where's Wilson Promotion...For the third-straight year, Wilson, a smiling tennis ball, will be hiding at every home match this season at the Mitchell Tennis Center. One lucky fan who finds him this weekend will receive a prize compliments of Texas A&M University and will be entered into a grand prize contest which will be held during the women's tennis team's Lone Star Showdown match versus rival Texas on April 20. Fans are encouraged to come out to the matches early to increase their chances of being the first person to find Wilson.

ITA Men's Tennis Kick-Off Weekend
Jan. 30-31, 2010
George P. Mitchell Tennis Center
at College Station, Texas

Saturday, Jan. 30
(12) Texas A&M vs. (46) Fresno State at 1 p.m. (stadium courts)
(24) Oklahoma State vs. (34) Rice at 1 p.m. (grandstand courts)
Sunday, Jan. 31
(12) Texas A&M vs. (24) Oklahoma State or (34) Rice at 1 p.m. (stadium courts)
(46) Fresno State vs. (24) Oklahoma State or (34) Rice at 1 p.m. (grandstand courts)