The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, March 31, 2000, Image 7

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    Friday, Maichl
riday. March 31.20(X)
SPORTS
THE BATTALION Page?
headsto
ansas
BY JASON LINCOLN
The Battalion
wo team’s will look to get their
joiflerenee season’s baek on traek this
veekend by capturing their first con-
■nce win.
|BrheTexas A&M softball team (20-
3, 0-3 Big 12) will travel to
// /J» rcnce . Kan. to face the Universi-
£3j|f Kansas (18-17, 0-2 Big 12).
unior pitcher Amy Vining looks to
the Aggies to their first eonfer-
wins.
he Aggies are coming off an 8-0
bss to the University of Texas on
\|Vadnesday night.
is 28-16 against the Jay-
OURTESY OF TOUCHSTONE(wM, ,. A . ^.
^ , whs and split last year s series 0-1
Cusack) struggle total ■ 7 . 4 in Lawrence Both team , s
■ He been defeated by Texas, Okla-
ic music is yet anothere.m ia anc j Utah State this season.
■Freshman catcher Selena Collins
Irently leads A&M’s offense with a
■ 1 batting average. Sophomore
Aggies look for a second top five upset
;k’s work in
Nostalgic vet
)orta
J.P. BEATO/The Battalion
Texas A&M softball pitcher Amy
Vining looks to lead the Aggies
over the University of Kansas in a
two game series.
Amy I iulse leads KU, going 6-for-10
from the plate in the last four games.
The series will be played at 1 p.m.
on Saturday and Sunday.
BY AL LAZARUS
The Battalion
The rainy day a little over two years
ago may have been shrouded in fog,
but it offered the Texas A&M men’s
tennis team a glimpse into the future of
Aggie tennis.
In rapidly deteriorating conditions at
the Omar Smith Tennis Center, A&M
scored its first big victory of the Tim
Cass era — a 4-1 defeat of 12th-ranked
Pepperdine University.
In just his fourth season at the helm of
the Aggies, Cass will try for his third win
against a top-10 team at the A&M Varsi
ty Tennis Center in a return engagement
with Pepperdine. The match, part of a
doubleheader with the A&M women’s
team, will begin at 6 p.m.
No. 4 Pepperdine will look to chal
lenge No. 11 A&M’s 7-0 home record
with a perfect record of its own — the
Waves are 18-0 on the season.
“We want to be undefeated at home,”
A&M junior Cody Hubbell said. “We
have all these loud fans and all this sup
port, and that makes us want to do it for
the fans. We take a lot of pride in win
ning at home.”
The Aggies (9-5) already have one
upset over a top five team at home this
season, a 5-2 victory over then No. 4
Florida. In tonight’s match, A&M will
face three top-100 singles players and a
third-ranked doubles team.
“It’s going to be a war tonight — a
special match,” Cass said. “For us to
have Florida, and now another top-
five team visit us in the same year is
very unusual. I hope people come out
and get behind us, because it’s a huge
match for us.”
A&M will counter Pepperdine’s for
midable lineup with one of its own. Ju
nior Shuon Madden is the nation’s sec
ond-ranked singles player, and Hubbell
is No. 87.
In doubles. Madden and junior Du-,
mitru Caradima are No. 25, a ranking
which doesn’t reflect the duo’s win
Saturday against Baylor’s fourth-
ranked tandem of David Hodge and
Mark Williams.
Madden, who has won seven match
es in a row, said the Aggies’ tough
schedule has prepared them for
tonight’s match.
“We’re not going to face anything
that we haven’t seen,” he said. “We’ve
played top-five and top-10 teams all
year long. It’s just going to be another
tough match, and hopefully we’ll come
out on top.”
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SALLIE TURNER/Tiik Battalion
A&M sophomore Jarin Skube and the mens Aggie tennis team will host
No. 4 Pepperdine at the Varsity Tennis Center.
B)
Women's Tennis hosts Pepperdine U.
Sports in Brief
y Parton to
ntry Awards
J 3 ) — Dolly
will be the
the Acade-
f'
ountry Mu-
rds show.
May 3 cer-
in Univer-
Calif., to
LT
PARTON
idcast live
, has not used a hostthe
rs. Producers said Thurr
lost format allowed for Senior Lisa Dingwall looks to
lances by country star upset of No. 2 Pepperdine.
SALLIE TURNER/The Battalion
lead the Aggies to an
BY BLAINE DIONNE
The Battalion
The 2000 season has been a roller coaster ride
for the Texas A&M women’s tennis team, and
they have a huge plunge before them at the Varsi
ty Tennis Center.
The Pepperdine University Waves, No. 2 in the
country according to the latest WingspanBank.com
collegiate rankings, is playing the Aggies at 6 p.m.
Not only are the Pepperdine women in town, but
the Waves’ No. 4 men’s team is also playing the Ag
gie men, in what should be a pivotal match for both
A&M squads.
While the men have already enjoyed success
against a top-five caliber team this year (against Flori
da earlier this month), the women struggled against
then No. 2 Georgia, losing the match 9-0.
According to senior Kathryn Scott, however,
that early season setback should not affect their per
formance against the Waves.
“It really just depends on how each player
matches up with all their players,” Scott said. “Any
thing can happen in college tennis. A top ten team
can lose to an unranked team — it happens all the
time, and that’s the mind set that we have to have.”
Women’s tennis coach Bobby Kleinecke agreed
with Scott.
“We have nothing to lose and everything to
gain,” Kleinecke said. “We’ve been fighting all
year and I think we have a shot at them. There are
a lot of upsets this year and there is no reason that
we shouldn’t be one of them.”
With a top five opponent waiting and the Aggies
seemingly hitting their stride in their last two match
es, Kleinecke could be right.
Ag hoops signee
to play at Final Four
Texas A&M men’s basketball
signee Nick Anderson of Baton Rouge,
La. will be a member of the USA Bas
ketball Junior National Select Team
that will play as part of the NCAA Final
Four weekend.
The game will be at 12 p.m. (CT)
on Sunday and will be televised live na
tionally by ESPN.
Anderson is a 6-6, 215-pound for
ward that led Southern Lab High
School to its four straight state cham
pionship this season.
Anderson averaged 23.5 points,
14.6 rebound, 6.2 assists and 7.4
blocks per game and is rated among the
top 50 prep players in the country.
Track teams head
to Houston meet
The Texas A&M men’s and
women’s track teams will compete in
the Houston Quadrangular this Satur
day at the Carl Lewis International
Track and Field Complex on the Uni
versity of Houston Campus.
The Aggie men are coming off a win
at the LSU Quadrangular where the
women placed second.
The A&M posted two NCAA auto
matic qualifying times and five provi
sional qualifying times, along with sev
en victories by seven different
athletes.
Four schools will be competing in
the U of H meet including Big 12 op
ponent, University of Baylor.
\ u ■ * u'u’i 3;l~ii
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