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rlfetl# THE BATTALION
Ags hope to
remain hot
against Tulsa
By Dallas Shipp
THE BATTALION
The Texas A&M women’s tennis team will
try to improve its best start in school history
with a win over Tulsa at the Varsity Tennis
Center on Friday.
Tulsa enters the match with a 2-4 record on
the road, where they have struggled this year.
Overall, the Golden Hurricanes are coming off
a loss to LSU on Wednesday night and will be
looking to rebound against the Aggies.
“They have an injured player out of their
lineup that has left them short-handed,” said
A&M head coach Bobby Kleinecke. “They are
still a dangerous team and have many experi
enced players in their lineup. We have to be
ready to play. Rankings don’t mean anything.
You have to win the matches.”
The match will be the last home match for
the No. 20 Aggies (13-2, 3-0) until April 13.
After Friday’s match, A&M begins a six-match,
three-week stint on the road against five Big 12
| opponents and the University of Houston.
“We want to go out with a good effort,”
Kleinecke said. “It’s always fun to play at
home, especially with the support our fans
I have given us.”
The Aggies have lost only two singles points
and one doubles point in their last four matches,
; whtch has given them a surge of momentum
since losing to Arizona on March 1.
The play from the Aggie doubles teams has
been impressive. Led by the No. 16 tandem of
sophomore Jessica Roland and junior Ashley
Hedberg, the Aggies have dominated their
opponents to take the early 1 -0 lead in each of
their 13 wins this season.
“Doubles is very important, and it has been
all year long for us,” Kleinecke said. “We need
to continue with solid play in all three matches.
See Tulsa on page 7
Aggies set for showdown with OU
By Kevin Espenlaub
THE BATTALION
After impressive wins over
Big 12 opponent University of
Oklahoma and the University of
Miami last week, the Texas
A&M men’s tennis team found
its way back to the national top
10 on Monday, as it prepares for
a doubleheader against the
University of Texas-San
Antonio and the University of
Tulsa.
Junior Ryan Newport,
nationally No. 36 in singles and
last week’s Big 12 tennis player
of the week, will come into the
1 p.m. matchup against UTSA
(4-2) looking to take advantage
of a 10 day break since playing
Miami.
“I think we are prepared for
the matches on Friday,”
Newport said. “A few days
break is always good for me,
personally, because I am more
relaxed and ready to play better.
I think the whole team felt good
to get a few days off last week
and was ready to start practice
again this week.”
The No. 10 Aggies (11-2, 1-
0) face a tough opponent in the
By Micala Proesch
THE BATTALION
The Texas A&M softball team
will have to fight hard this weekend
to defend its home field against an
invasion by the Oklahoma Sooners.
The Aggies opened Big 12 play last
week with a 4-0 loss to Baylor, but
they are looking to prove themselves
to a competitive conference with this
weekend’s games against Oklahoma.
The Sooners (26-8) were last
year’s Big 12 Conference
Tournament Champions and the
2000 National Champions.
This year’s team returns 12 of last
year’s starters, including two-time All-
American pitcher Jennifer Stewart.
“Oklahoma is always really tough,”
said A&M head coach Jo Evans. “We
know that we will have to play really
hard to be able to beat them.”
Ninth-ranked Oklahoma cur
rently boasts a .299 team batting
average, and the Sooners are aver
aging almost six runs a game; the
Aggie pitching staff of Jessica
Slataper, Lindsey Rippee and
Lindsey Wilhelmson will have
their work cut out for them.
The No. 22 Aggies (24-6) are
coming off a 6-0 victory over the
University of Houston on
Wednesday, where sophomore
Jessica Slataper threw her seventh
shut-out of the season.
She maintained a no-hitter going
into the sixth inning before Cougar
Kim Nesloney singled into left field.
Slataper’s record improved to 12-4
with the win.
Senior first baseman Kelly
Ferguson appears to be out of her
hitting slump, as she hit a triple and
a home run against Houston to
extend her current hit streak to a
career-high 11 games.
The Aggies look to extend their
two-game winning streak as the
Sooners ride into Aggieland.
Oklahoma leads the all-time series 23-
19, and has won all but three games in
the last 20 times they faced A&M.
The two teams will face off
Saturday a( 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1
p.m at the Aggie Softball Complex.
GUY ROGERS • THE BATTALION
A&M junior third baseman Jennifer Davis and the Aggies will host the the
Oklahoma Sooners this weekend at the Aggie Softball Complex.
Men’s tennis set for doubleheader
6 p.m. matchup when No. 35
Tulsa (13-5) comes to town rid
ing upsets of two top-30 teams
last week. Their final upset was
a 4-0 victory over the Rice
University Owls that defeated
the Aggies in College Station
earlier this season. They also
up-ended the No. 34 University
of North Carolina,,
“UTSA will probably bring
their best team we’ve seen since
I’ve been here,” said A&M
head coach Tim Cass. “And
then Tulsa’s coming off a great
See Tennis on page 7
STUART VILLANUEVA • THE BATTALION
A&M senior Jarin Skube and the No. 10 Aggies host
Tulsa and UTSA at the Varsity Tennis Center at 6 p.m.
LOOK CLOSER.
(NOT THAT CLOSE)
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