Thursday, February 6, 1986AThe Battalion/Page 13
Sports
Photo by GREG BAILEY
A&M’s Mark Smith stretches back to return a vol
ley during a recent match. Smith and doubles
partner ivuss oimmons compete in tne 11
tionals tourney in Houston beginning today.
A&M duo to confront
‘Rocky’ tourney start
Rains wash out A&.M-UTSA
women's tennis matches
The rainy weather here at
Texas A&M forced the Aggie
women’s tennis team to cancel its
Wednesday matches with Texas-
San Antonio.
The Aggies were able to com
plete only one set of the No. 1
and No. 2 singles matches before
rainshowers fell on the Omar
Smith Tennis Center about 3
p.m.
A&M Coach Bobby Kleinecke
said they considered reschedul
ing the UTSA matches for next
Tuesday, but since the women
have matches in Louisiana Friday
through Sunday, he said that
might be too many matches for
one week. .
A&M’s No. 2 tandem of Kim
Labushagne and Karen Marshall,
in the women’s division of the
ITCA Nationals tournament, will
play the Miami duo of Ross Riach '
and Cindy Richmond today.
Riach and Richmond are the No.
3 seeds for the tourney and were
ranked the No. 4 doubles team in
the country in the preseason
Head Intercollegiate Tennis
Standings (H.I.T.S.) List.
Aggies Vanne Akagi and Gaye
Lynn Gensler, A&M’s No. 1 dou
bles team, are alternates.
By KEN SURY
Assistant Sports Editor
They might not look like Sylvester
Stallone, even when put together,
but last November Texas A&M ten
nis players Mark Smith and Russ
Simmons staged a scene reminiscent
of the “Rocky” movies — coming
from nowhere to win it all.
The “all,” in this case, was the
qualifying tournament for this week
end’s Intercollegiate Tennis Coaches
Association (ITCA) Nationals Tour
nament, held in Houston today
through Sunday.
Smith and Simmons entered last
fall’s qualifying tourney unseeded
and as A&M’s No. 3 doubles team
behind the No. 1 tandem of Kimmo
Alkio and Marcel Vos and the No. 2
duo of Dean Johnson and Dean
Goldfine.
But when the tournament was
over, Smith and Simmons waded
through some of the top doubles
teams from Texas and Arkansas to
win the regional title.
Among those most surprised by
the tandem’s victory was A&M Men’s
Tennis Coach David Kent. Kent said
he even considered leaving his No. 3
doubles team at home for the tour
ney.
“I didn’t think a No. 3 team could
compete against the caliber of com
petition in that tournament,” Kent
said. “I guess that shows how much I
know, huh?”
Prompted by Smith’s and Sim
mons’ ITCA qualifying tourney win,
Kent has moved them from A&M’s
No. 3 doubles spot to No. 1 for the
spring season.
Smith said playing in the No. 1
spot actually makes him feel less
pressure than at No. 3.
“If you play No. 3 doubles at a
major college, then you’re pretty
much expected to win all the time,”
Smith said. “But playing No. 1, it
makes me want to go out and hit the
ball and just hang in there.”
Simmons, a senior from Spring
and the Aggies’ team captain, said he
isn’t sure what contributed to their
success in the regional tourney.
“It surprised me a little bit (to win
the tourney),” Simmons said. “But
when things go well you don’t ask,
‘Why?’You just go with it.
“We’ve played good matches be
fore — really good matches — but
we have trouble doing it time after
time. In that tournament we won
five matches in a row and that’s what
I’m most pleased about.”
Smith, a junior froih Austin, said
he thinks the tandem’s improved
play began at last year’s Southwest
Conference Indoor Tournament
where they won the No. 3 doubles
spot. At last season’s Westwood Invi
tational, he said they played well, but
finally lost the semifinal match.
One week later, they won the
ITCA re gional doubles
championship.
“Going into the qualifying tourna
ment we weren’t seeded and we
played a seed the first round,” Smith
said. “We played solid that match
and we just built on that. All our
close matches went three sets, but we
came through when we needed to.”
In keeping with the “Rocky”
image, Smith probably would equate
the tandem’s playing style to Rocky’s
boxing philosophy — stay in the
fight, take punishment and then fin
ish off the opponent.
“The way Russ and I play,” Smith
said, “the longer we hang in there,
the better off we are.”
Simmons added, “I bet we go to
three sets 80 to 90 percent of our
matches, and of that we’ve won
about 75 percent.”
But they do know the ITCA Na
tionals are going to test their tennis
skills.
“It’s 16 of the best doubles teams
in the nation,” Smith said, “so it’s
going to be tough.”
Simmons agreed, saying, “Some
times you can play your way into the
semifinals by having easy matches at
the beginning. But this one will be
tough from the very start.”
Today, the tandem may discover
just how tough a first match can be
when they face the tourney’s No. 3
seeded duo of Richard Matuszewski
and Brandon Walters of Clemson.
Matuszewski and Walters are the de
fending ITCA Nationals doubles
champions.
But both are optimistic about
their tournament chances and the
Aggies’ chances as a whole for the
upcoming SWC season.
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