LINCOLN, Neb. – The Texas A&M women’s tennis team posted a clutch 5-2 victory over the Nebraska Cornhuskers today in what was the Aggies’ final Big 12 Conference road match of the regular season, as well as A&M’s last-ever league match in Lincoln.
Both teams entered the contest tied for fifth in the jumbled conference standings with 5-3 records, and the Huskers, who join the Big Ten Conference in July, were one spot ahead of the Aggies in the national ITA rankings at No. 34.
“The last time we came here and played on these courts, we lost,” A&M coach Bobby Kleinecke said, “so I am extremely happy to come away with the win. That is what we came here to do is get two wins this weekend and get ready to play the last two matches of the regular season on a high. We got our goal and I commend the girls. I feel like we’ve made a good turnaround the last week or so, just their attitudes of working hard and going forward in their play, so I’m happy with this.”
The Huskers opened doubles play with a win at the No. 3 line as Jennifer Holmberg and Maike Zeppernick topped Sheri Olivier and Nazari Urbina, 8-1. A&M, however, posted solid victories at the other two courts to give the Aggies a 1-0 lead.
Stephanie Davidson and Morgan Frank raced to an 8-3 win against Patricia Veresova and Janine Weinreich at the No. 2 line to even the race for the doubles point. It was Davidson’s 96th career doubles victory.
Christi Liles and Christi Potgieter soon followed with an identical 8-3 win at the No. 1 line against 85th-ranked Madeleine Geibert and Stefanie Weinstein.
The Aggies carried the momentum into the singles and won the first set on five courts. They went on to win the first four matches completed to clinch the match.
Frank won her fifth consecutive match in singles and gave A&M a 2-0 lead with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Veresova at the No. 2 line. With the win, Frank improved to 8-1 in conference matches, while Veresova suffered only her second Big 12 loss at No. 2.
Liles then put A&M ahead, 3-0, overcoming a 3-0 deficit in the opening set against Weinreich at No. 3 to win, 7-6 (7), 6-2. Urbina followed with the clinching win, a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Geibert at No. 1.
“Christi and Christi in the doubles jumped out to such a quick lead, and another bright spot was at No. 1 singles where Nazari had to fight through,” Kleinecke said. “She was down in a lot of games and fought back and came away with what looks like a convincing win, but with a few points it could have easily gone the other way. And Christi Liles did a great job and really stuck to her game plan in the tiebreaker, which ended up helping her get a 3-0 lead in the second set. Those things were big for us.”
Frederike Putthoff put the Huskers on the scoreboard with a 1-6, 6-3, 6-0 win against Lauren Santacroce at No. 6. Nebraska also got a win at No. 4 when Holmberg downed Potgieter, 7-5, 4-6, 1-0 (9).
Davidson then capped the Aggie victory and accounted for the final 5-2 score with a 6-2, 6-7 (5), 1-0 (8) victory over Zeppernick at No. 5.
A&M concludes the regular season this week with home matches against No. 7 Baylor and No. 44 Texas Tech, Wednesday and Friday, respectively. First serve is 6 p.m. at the Mitchell Tennis Center for both matches.
“It’s at our place, but Baylor is a great team, a top 5-10 team all year, so it’s going to take everything we’ve got,” Kleinecke said. “That’s our job to believe we can win that and to come out and play.
“We have a lot of talent on this team, and at times we haven’t shown it, but on any given day, we can come away with the win, even the two tough matches with Baylor and Texas Tech. We are going into them believing that we can win both of them.”
It will be a Maroon Out match against the Bears, and all fans wearing maroon will be admitted free.
“We need a lot of people out there,” Kleinecke added. “They are going to be in for a good match.”
The Aggies celebrate Senior Night just prior to the start of the Texas Tech match, as seniors and four-year letterwinners Davidson, Frank and Liles will be playing the final home match of their A&M careers.
The Big 12 Championship will be April 28-May 1 in Waco, Texas.
Free live video and scoring of the matches will be available at AggieAthletics.com
No. 35 Texas A&M 5, No. 34 Nebraska 217th & Vine Street Tennis CourtsLincoln, Neb.Attendance: n/a
Singles1. (#27) Nazari Urbina (TAMU) def. Madeleine Geibert (NU), 6-1, 6-22. Morgan Frank (TAMU) def. Patricia Veresova (NU), 6-3, 6-43. Christi Liles (TAMU) def. Janine Weinreich (NU), 7-6 (7), 6-24. Jennifer Holmberg (NU) def. Christi Potgieter (TAMU), 7-5, 4-6, 1-0 (9)5. Stephanie Davidson (TAMU) def. Maike Zeppernick (NU), 6-2, 6-7 (5), 1-0 (8)6. Frederike Putthoff (NU) def. Lauren Santacroce (TAMU), 1-6, 6-3, 6-0
Doubles (A&M wins the point)1. Liles/Potgieter (TAMU) def. (#85) Geibert/Weinstein (NU), 8-32. Davidson/Frank/ (TAMU) def. Veresova/Weinreich (NU), 8-33. Holmberg/Zeppernick (NU) def. Sheri Olivier/Urbina (TAMU), 8-1
Order of finish:Doubles: 3, 2, 1Singles: 2, 3, 1*, 6, 4, 5*-clinched match
Team records:Texas A&M: 13-6, 6-3 Big 12Nebraska: 17-6, 5-4 Big 12
Follow A&M on Twitter @AggieTennis.
<a href="http://www.kbtx.com/sports/headlines/Aggies_Get_Key_Victory_at_Nebraska_120032399.html?ref=399tag:news.google.com,2005:cluster=http://www.kbtx.com/sports/headlines/Aggies_Get_Key_Victory_at_Nebraska_120032399.html?ref=399Mon, 18 Apr 2011 02:59:06 GMT 00:00">Aggies Get Key Victory at Nebraska
