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Cooper, page 11
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Complete
103 N. College Skaggs Center
A&M netters shooting
for NCAA tourney bid
By MARYBETH ROHSNER
Sports Writer
It’s high noon on the heat-baked
courts of the H.E.B. Tennis Center
n Corpus Christi. The opponents
re back to back, ready to pace off.
’hey have come a long way, and
achman knows the stakes.
They’re battling one another to
onclude the Southwest Conference
tennis season. NCAA tournament
bids await the winners. For the lo
ts...well, there’s always next year.
A&M coaches David Kent and Jan
Saldwin are hopeful. Though the
[omen don’t have a chance for a
[am bid, Nandini Rangarajan may
lull off an NCAA tournament invi-
ation in women’s singles. The men,
now ranked fourth in the confer
ence and tenth in the nation, have a
chance of bringing their conference
ranking up to second and landing an
NCAA team bid.
“It’s a real poskibility for us to get
lected for NCAA,” said Kent. “In
ict, I’ll be disappointed if we don’t.”
Last year, Grant Connell rep
ented A&M in singles and Greg
and Connell teamed up for
NCAA doubles competition. If the
[Aggies rack up enough points at the
SWC level, it will be the first time the
Aggies won a team bid since Kent
came to A&M seven years ago.
I The competition will probably be
the toughest, too. Of the nation’s
Top 10 teams, four of them — SMU,
Texas, Arkansas and A&M — are in
the SWC.
■“Texas, Arkansas and us are pre
tty even,” Kent said. “SMU has first
place wrapped up.”
■SMU, now second in the nation,
may end up in the country’s number
one slot after all the ballots are in. In
the meantime, A&M is hanging on
to their Top 10 position.
|a“0ne of our goals this year was to
S et into the Top 10. I don’t see how
Jey could keep us out of the Top 10
now,” Kent said. “But it’s a lot more
fun trying to get in the Top 10 than
ing to stay mere.”
Kent is confident of his netters’
jlities under pressure.
^“Historically, we’ve always played
tell at the conference tournament,”
tent said. “We can do it. We’ve pro
ven that we can play singles all year
and now we’re beginning to have
confidence in our doubles.”
fi'Connell, A&M top singles player,
will be the only netter entering the
tournament undefeated in confer
ence play. He will face the No. 5
player in the nation, John Ross, in
tioth singles and doubles play. Con
nell defeated Ross earlier in the sea
son, but Kent said Connell will still
have to be on his toes.
WTfll be a hard go for Grant,”
Kent said. “Any one of his oppo
nents could beat him.”
Photo by GREG BAILEY
Texas A&M’s Dean Johnson hopes the Ags will be under a
little more control during the Southwest Conference Tourna
ment. Johnson and the No. 10 Aggies play Friday through
Sunday at the H.E.B. Tennis Center in Corpus Christi,
The women’s team, fourth in the
SWC, still has the chance to finish
second in the conference.
Last weekend’s victories over
Texas Tech and Houston left the
Aggies with winning momentum,
and it may be just enough to keep
the team going throughout the tour
nament.
“If we play with as much intensity
as we did with Houston, I’m not wor
ried about the tournament at all,”
said Baldwin.
Coming Soon!
uper Cooper
>c e s .
i the U.S. under exclusive
of America, Inc.
(continued from page 10)
ny other school. This place is
eat.”
Cooper continued winning after
ving on to college ball. Her fresh-
year, she started at third base
ring the Aggies’ march to the
83 NCAA Championship. Cooper
lit 267 and was named to the Col-
World Series All-Tournament
In 1984, the Aggies finished sec-
’ to UCLA in the World Series.
|te championship game went 13 in
ks and was lost by the Ags 1-0 on
ilohome run. Cooper was named
American after leading the Ags
hitting with a .316 average.
After sitting out the fall season
‘ to foot surgery, Cooper has her
It on fire. She is hitting .349 with
our home runs.
lEvery time A&M Coach Bob
hock mentions his top players, Coo-
fis one of the first names spoken,
hings like, “The best third base-
m in the country,” “I can’t believe
| hitting,” and “What more can
J say about Cindy Cooper,” are
perlatives used by Brock when de-
ribing Cooper.
the perfectionist Cooper is
ever satisfied.
[“Defensively, no, I am not satis-
td,” said Cooper. “I don’t know
it’s wrong. Tne sharpness, clean-
i with which I field the ball isn’t
i I don’t feel smooth on defense
is what I’m trying to say. The ball
comes off the bat and I don’t move. I
will continue to work on that.
“Offensively, I will try to keep
where I am, but there’s still im
provement to be made. I need to
work on low outside pitches. I need
to keep the same frame of mind
though. I feel confident at the pla
te.”
Her hitting improved over last
season with the help of two people.
“This girl on my summer team
showed me a technique with my
hands and my swing,” Cooper dem
onstrated. “I feel like that’s helped
me hit better. I am keeping my head
down and have better wrist snap. I
try to finesse the ball out instead of
muscle it out.Coach Brock has been
helping me with my placement. The
two together have improved my hit
ting tremendously.”
Cooper is looking for her second
NCAA championship ring this sea
son as the No. 2 ranked Ags (36-8)
wind down their season.
“We need to add mental pre
paredness — that’s the main thing,”
Cooper said. “We’re so worried
about classes and finals. We have to
remember that nationals are also im
portant. We may lose some of the
ground we’ve covered and we can’t
afford to do that.
“The first goal we have is to get to
nationals. The ultimate goal is to win
it. With the people we have, we won’t
have much trouble in attacking the
national tournament. The veterans
still have that revenge factor from
last year’s loss.”
Next season, Cooper is expecting
more — much more from herself
and the Ags.
“I can’t even hardly think about
next year,” she said. “If I had to say
an outlook for next season, or what I
expect, I would say a team that ev
erybody had a lot of fun and to win.
Of course, you want your senior year
to be the best.”
Looking past next season, the
physical education major said she
would like to coach.
“I will graduate in December of
’86, that’s with my student teaching,”
Cooper said. “I would like to coach
on the college level. I am also inter
ested in weight training. I hope to
pick up hours on a master’s degree.
Lord knows what will happen from
then on.”
Cooper said she loves outdoor ac
tivities, but because of a limited
amount of time, doesn’t get to go
outside as much as she would like.
“I love to swim, ride bikes, stuff
that I never get to do,” she said.
“When I came here, I made that de
cision to sacrifice being in this club,
running for that office, being in a so
rority or just going out and having
fun.”
For now, her time is spent hitting
RBI’s and fielding grounders, and
that is exciting.
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