COLLEGE STATION, Texas—The No. 11-ranked Texas A&M men’s tennis team will play host to the ITA Kick-Off Weekend at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center this Saturday and Sunday (Jan. 28-29) as four teams battle for the right to advance to the ITA National Indoor Championships hosted by the University of Virginia (Feb. 17-20).
The top seed and host school, Texas A&M, faces the No. 4 seed Purdue at 3 p.m. on Saturday. In the earlier match at 12 noon on Saturday, the No. 2 seed Mississippi State faces the No. 3 seed Princeton. The two losers from the Saturday matches will play in the consolation at 12 noon on Sunday and the two winners will face off at 3 p.m. on Sunday for the right to advance.
“We are extremely excited to host the ITA Kick-Off Weekend this Saturday and Sunday at the Mitchell Tennis Center,” Aggie head coach Steve Denton said. “What I like so much about this event is that you get to play NCAA tournament caliber teams that you normally wouldn’t get an opportunity to play in the regular season. Last weekend was a good start, but we will have to raise our level considerably if we are to qualify for the final 16 site at Virginia in February. I believe this weekend is a great opportunity and will be a stern early season test to see where we are as a team.”
The Boilermakers of Purdue, ranked No. 72 in the latest ITA rankings, are 0-1 on the young season having lost a 4-3 match at DePaul.
The Bulldogs of Mississippi State are currently ranked No. 14 and bring a 3-1 record to College Station. MSU, from the Southeastern Conference, lost a 6-1 decision to the third-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes last weekend. State lost a close 4-3 match to the Aggies last spring in College Station and returns most every player from last year’s roster.
The Princeton Tigers are ranked No. 63 and have not had a dual match this spring.
The Aggies (2-0) opened the season last weekend with a doubleheader sweep of Louisiana Lafayette (5-2) and UTSA (7-0). The two matches run the home winning streak to 38 straight wins at the Mitchell Tennis Center which is a tennis record, and is one away from tying the overall A&M record of 39 home victories in a row established by the Aggie baseball teams in 1988 and 1989. (Final 12 games of 1988 and first 27 in 1989.) The last loss on the courts of the Mitchell Tennis Center came at the hands of Fresno State, 4-3, on Jan. 30, 2010.
Coach Denton recorded his 100th win in an Aggie uniform and he has led the A&M program to back-to-back Top 10 finishes as well as the 2011 Big 12 Championship.
In the current ITA rankings, Texas A&M’s senior co-captain Alexis Klegou is the highest rated singles player at No. 19, and the Aggies have true freshman Jeremy Efferding at No. 73 and sophomore Junior Ore at No. 104. Mississippi State has George Coupland at No. 32, Louis Cant at No. 45, James Chaudry at No. 79 and Malte Stropp at No. 90. Princeton has Matija Pecotic at No. 46. In doubles rankings, the top duo is Princeton’s Matt Siow and Matt Spindler at No. 11 and right behind them at No. 12 is Mississippi State’s tandem of Louis Cant and Malte Stropp.
The Aggies, among the national leaders in attendance for many years, posted a regular-season A&M record 1,093 for the Ohio State match last spring on Mar. 10, 2011. A crowd of 539 was on hand last weekend.
The other sites hosting men’s tournament play this weekend include: USC, Ohio State, Baylor, Tennessee, Georgia, Stanford, Ketucky, Florida, UCLA, Duke, Georgia Tech, Cal, Pepperdine and Texas.
The newest ITA Top 25 team rankings are below:
1. USC
2. Virginia
3. Ohio State
4. Georgia
5. Florida
6. Stanford
7. Kentucky
8. Baylor
9. UCLA
10. Duke
11. Texas A&M
12. Pepperdine
13. Cal
14. Mississippi State
15. Illinois
Oklahoma
17. Texas
18. North Carolina
19. Georgia Tech
20. Auburn
21. Texas Tech
22. Tulsa
23. Ole Miss
24. Tennessee
25. Minnesota