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By Katie Mish
Staff writer
fenessa Rooks swears she could
make it through a tennis match
loiit a little help from her
1 : allow M 8ns inu, est;su pp 0rler> j ier mot [ ier
^ s - tool a senior and captain of
lis allows us toe:: r r exas a&M Women’s Tennis
1 regulations state*®-. ^ s [ ie ca |i s h er niom be-
Bernethy, right-oT . eV( >, y niatch for a pep talk,
insportation. I’m a big mama’s girl,” Rooks said.
: also frees us up ilk to my mom before matches,
on roadway issues y single time. She tells me about
l involved in all feHiing that’s going on, she tells
sign disputes,"he she loves me, to concentrate and
it good. I have to talk to my mom
re a match or I can’t play.”
â– ks started playing tennis at the
ofi ite because of her sister. She
ild go to practice with her sister
V her ball girl. Rooks said she
â–  up a racquet one day and
â–  hitting balls with her, and she
Hen playing ever since.
Hks’ dad coached her and her
2r,put her sister stopped playing
rljigh school. Rooks credits her
liwii 11 i aspiring her to keep playing.
‘He has been there for me since
Rd,” she said. “I was like third
H nation when I was playing
with him, so he’s definitely had a big
influence on me.”
Rooks transferred to Texas A&M
from the University of Florida, aftervis-
iting the campus on a recruiting n ip.
Rooks said she chose to transfer be
cause of the people and atmosphere
and because of the girls on tire team.
‘I think I owe it to
myself to try and
make it.
Vanessa Rooks
Senior tennis player
She said she also chose Texas A&M be
cause it’s a little closer to her home
town and family in San Diego, Calif.
“I didn’t get along very well at the
other school,” she said. “I was too far
away from home and it was a big
change for me. I cried all the time
because I missed my mom so much,
and now I’m a little closer to her.”
Rooks said she thinks it’s her job as
captain of the team to keep the peace
and be someone her fellow team
mates can come a talk to about their
problems. She said she works well
with the coaches, a big part of her re
sponsibility as captain of the team.
“The coaches tell me kind of
what they’re looking for, and I’ll give
it to them,” Rooks said. “I’m just
kind of the person they all come to.”
Monica Robolledo, another se
nior on the Aggie team, said Rooks
is a good leader for the team, and
definitely someone the team can
look to as an example.
“She’s always trying to support
the team,” Robolledo said. “She’s
also a competitor. Every time she
goes out there she gives it every
thing she has, and I think that’s
someone everyone can look up to.”
Rooks said she wants to finish off
the season strong and not give up.
She was sick a couple of weeks ago
with the flu, strep throat and in
testinal problems, but said she feels
even stronger now and that it has
not affected her game.
Rooks said she wants to keep play
ing after college, and will tiy for awhile
before she goes out and gets a job.
“I think I owe it to myself to try
and make it,” Rooks said.
Monica Robelledo took circuitous route to play at A&M
By Colby Martin
StaffWriter
Monica Robelledo has come a
long way to become Big 12 player of
the month for March. The senior on
the Texas A&M women’s tennis
team is a native of Peru.
“I did not even know that I had
been selected as player of the
month until I read it in the Battal
ion. I was very excited to get an hon
or like that,” Monica said.
How does someone from Peru
end up at Texas A&M?
“I was playing in an amateur
tournament in Miami when I was
sixteen and Coach (Bob) Kleinecke
saw me play,” Robolledo said. “I re
ally fell in love with the traditions
and spirit of the school.”
Monica saw Texas A&M as an op
portunity to play in some good
tournaments and prepare herself
for a career on the professional cir
cuit. Four years later she is at a dif
ferent place in her life.
“I decided that my education
was the most important thing and
right now I do not really want to
play past college,”, Monica said.
After graduation she plans to go
back to school for her master’s in fi
nance. She also has an open invita
tion from Coach Kleinecke to stay
on as a graduate assistant, but she
does not know if she will accept.
“She has really been playing
well lately, and has been a big
boost for our team,” said fellow
I really fell in love
with the traditions
and spirit of the
school.”
Monica Robolledo
Senior tennis player
senior Vanessa Rooks.
With a career 90 wins in singles
play, she is only two away from
breaking the Texas A&M record held
by Nancy Dingwall and Lynn Staley.
“I do not feel like I have been
playing my absolute best tennis,
but I have been playing well enough
to win. I think experience has a lot
to do with that,” Rebolledo said.
The senior from Lima, Peru has
a 9-0 record in league play.
“Monica brings a tremendous
amount of leadership to our team.
She is a great competitor and she al
ways works hard in practice and in
matches,” said Rooks.
Along with Vanessa they make up
the senior tandem on a young team.
Being on a young squad can be dif
ficult because it usually means a
transition period for any sports
team. This year, however, that has
not exactly been the case. The team
has really followed the leadership of
Monica, and they are right there at
the top of the Big 12 standings.
“It is so important to try my
hardest at all that I do, in order to
set a good example for the rest of
the team,” said Rebolledo.
As we all know, college very
rarely goes the way we expect it
to. We usually see ourselves being
very different than we actually
turn out. In Monica Rebolledo’s
case this is true. She may not be
the next Monica Seles. That is fine
by her. She has realized that ten
nis was a means to an end, and
she will cherish it for what it is
and what it will be.
All-Madden
Shuon Madden passes up pro ranks to declare himself eligible for college play
bs of Brazos
caguc and
Girls Ranches
RYAN ROGERS/The Battalion
By Michael Taglienti
Staff writer
Life does not always go the way you plan it.
Freshman tennis player Shuon Madden is a per
fect example of how life is full of surprises.
As a young boy in Venezuela, Madden
dreamed of becoming a professional tennis
player. One day he was playing with his child
hood friend Rafael de Mesa, when A&M Ten
nis Coach Tim Cass showed up to recruit de
Mesa. Cass saw Madden play and was im
pressed enough with him to recruit him along
with de Mesa.
“Rafael and I used to train together and
through him Coach Cass saw me play and
practice and he dropped off a media guide and
told me if I was interested to give him a call,”
Madden said.
At the time, Madden did not think he would
ever end up in college.
“My main goal my sophomore and junior
year of high school was to not even go to college
at all,” Madden said. “I was planning on going
pro after high school. Then I realized it took a lot
both financially and tennis-wise. Coach Cass
kept insisting that I should try college, that it is a
Madden eventually decided to go to A&M, but
had trouble‘with the NCAA Clearinghouse re
garding his eligibility.
By the time the Clearinghouse declared him
eligible, fall classes were already well under-
“He’s been a great asset, a
great leader. The sky is the
limit for him.”
Scott Treibly
Assistant Tennis Coach
iuon Madden passed up a professional career to play for Texas A&M. good experience that would help me.”
way. Madden enrolled and started attending
classes in the spring. He has been an instant
success on the tennis court.
Madden has compiled an undefeated record
of 10-0 and last week was named the Big 12 play
er of the week in men’s tennis.
Assistant Tennis Coach Scott Treibly said
Madden puts a lot of pressure on his opponents
through mistake free tennis.
“He competes so well. He puts so much pres
sure on his opponents and he doesn’t give away
free points. His forehand is good and it’s getting
better and better, and he has great quickness and
speed,” Treibly said.
Madden said it has been an easy transition to
A&M and college life, which he attributes to the
athletic support staff.
“I like A&M. It is pretty cool. The (athletic sup
port) staff helps you a lot.“
Treibly attributes the ease of Madden’s
transition to the fact that he is part of a large
freshman class.
“We’ve got a young bunch of guys and they all
live together in Cain Hall, and I think that really
helps. He’s living with Raphael (de Mesa) and
they’ve been friends through the years so it’s
been an easy transition,” Treibly said.
Treibly said that despite his youth, Mad
den is already an asset to the team and that
his potential is endless.
“He’s been a great asset, a great leader. I see
the sky as the limit for him in his career here and
professionally,” Treibly said.
Madden is obviously a major part of this
young but extremely successful tennis team. He
is definitely a player to watch as he continues in
his career bound for success.
Freshman Fire
ifael de Mesa uses his work ethic to conquer tough competition
OLS
By Al Lazarus
Staffwriter
JWhen people who know Texas
Men’s Tennis Team freshman
tfael de Mesa are asked to describe
t, their descriptions always seem
nclude the words “confident” and
lard-working.”
t is probably no coincidence that
en asked what it takes to be success-
de Mesa uses the same words.
“For me to win, I have to work hard,
that leads to me being confident on
court, and my opponent sees that,”
d de Mesa, who plays in the No. 1 sin-
s position for the Aggies.
IComing out of high school in Key
* Ik cayne, Florida, de Mesa was the
/I td-ranked junior in the nation in
/tUSTA’s 18’s division. De Mesa is now
‘Tjjjajj nked No. 38 in the Rolex Collegiate
nkings. He feels that other players
e always gunning to knock off such
dghly-ranked competitor.
“There’s always pressure with (be-
g ranked highly), because if I’m play-
g someone ranked behind me, then
ey’re always looking to beat me be-
use Tm going to be a good win for
em,” de Mesa said.
Born in Madrid, Spain, de Mesa
oved to Miami when he was four, and
entually ended up in nearby Key Bis-
cayne. He took up tennis at the age of
seven, and soon flourished in the junior
tennis hotbed of South Florida.
When Aggie Coach Tim Cass came
calling last year, de Mesa admits he was
u
He sticks to his business,
he knows his goals and he
has a vision to achieve.
Scott Treibly
Assistant Tennis Coach
a bit unfamiliar with A&M.
“I hadn’t really heard of the school,
but I visited it and really liked it,” de
Mesa said. “They were building a new
tennis stadium and had a lot of good
players coming in, so overall it seemed
like a good situation.”
Assistant Coach Scott Treibly, who
joined the Aggies last fall, speaks
highly of de Mesa.
“He sticks to his business, he
knows his goals and has a vision to
achieve them,” Treibly said. “He’s
been great for the team, they really
learn from his work ethic.”
De Mesa said his favorite thing
about playing
college ten
nis is the
team at
mosphere.
“I enjoy the
team, we are all
great friends, even
though we haven’t known each
other too long,” he said. “When I watch
(my teammates) play, now I know how
my parents feel when they watch me,
because I want them to win so badly.”
De Mesa already has several im
pressive accomplishments in his
young college career. In the Fall, he
won the consolation bracket at the ITA
Clay Courts, a leg of the collegiate
grand slam. On Tuesday, playing as the
lone amateur in the River Oaks Inter
national Tennis Tournament, a profes
sional tournament in Houston, de
Mesa defeated Wade Maguire, who
holds a world ATP ranking of 214.
Cody Hubbell, a freshman on the
men’s team and de Mesa’s doubles
partner, watched de Mesa play in
Houston on Tuesday, and afterward
expressed his amazement in de
Mesa’s skills.
“The way he played (in Houston)
was unbelievable,” Hubbell said. “He
can compete with anyone, so watch
out, world.”
RYAN ROGERS/The Batolion
Freshman Rafael de Mesa has found it difficult defending his No. 38 ranking, de Mesa de
feated 214-world-ranked Wade McGuire in a recent tournament