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Sports
The Battalion
Page IB • Thursday, April 24, 2003
Hedberg stems from tennis roots a&m opens tourney
By Blake Kimzey
THE BATTALION
that
bo :
,ir;
re,
Most tennis players aren’t
m with a doubles partner. For
matter, most people aren’t
m into a family of tennis play-
rs spanning three generations,
'et, when senior Ashley Hedberg
ame into the world, this was her
ality. The Hedberg family tree
ranches off into tennis rackets.
Growing up in Austin made it
:asy for Ashley to get hooked on
ennis. In fact, it was easy for
Ashley and her twin sister,
indsey, to spend countless hours
itting with each other, surround-
d by parents and grandparents
ho not only encouraged their
talent, but shared a mutual love
dr the game.
“Tennis was the easiest sport
;o get into growing up,” Ashley
;aid. “We just played for fun at
he beginning; our mom said she
vasn’t prepared for us to be
>ood. She didn't want to put that
nuch pressure on us.”
It wasn’t long before it was
ipparent that Ashley could be
nore than just a casual player.
Fe,
mfe
w
Ashley, as early as 5 years old,
honed a passion and a spirited
drive for the game that she
could share with her sister.
Dawn Hedberg says her twin
daughters had an advantage
because they were inseparable
on the court.
“When the girls were 11, they
figured out that they were in
charge of what happened on the
tennis court and they could con
trol what happened to them in
their lives,” Dawn said. “They
started to play very often and
competitively. One advantage
they had was they could always
go hit together.”
After a few years of hitting
together and with their mother,
at 16, Ashley and Lindsey
decided to be proactive about
their ability and take lessons
from a real coach at a tennis
ranch in New Braunfels. Even
when tennis took a competitive
turn, it was always for the fun of
playing, the way it had always
been in their family.
“I guess this is when we both
got serious on a national level,”
Lindsey said. “We took lessons
for the next couple of years, and
JP BEATO III • THE BATTALION
The Aggies’ only senior, Ashley Hedberg, hails from a family of tennis fans.
that is when we really started to
excel and began to keep a solid
hold on our 1 and 2 rankings.”
After discovering an aggres
sive fire that fueled her fervor for
tennis, Ashley continued to grow
as a player, and the prospect of
following in her mother’s foot
steps and playing in college
became a tangible reality. Ashley
was recruited by a host of
schools, including Texas A&M,
but chose to attend and play ten
nis for the University of New
Mexico her freshman year.
While Ashley headed just a
state away, Lindsey departed for
San Diego State University in
California. Having chosen sepa
rate schools and being apart for
See Hedberg on page 5B
By Blake Kimzey
THE BATTALION
After the dust settled on the
final day of the season for the
Texas A&M women’s tennis
team, it found itself sharing the
Big 12 conference title with
Baylor University. The No. 26
Aggies (17-9, 9-2 Big 12) com
pleted an Easter weekend sweep
of the University of Kansas and
Kansas State University on the
road, downing each 7-0.
A&M needed the chips to
fall into place with Baylor (11-
11, 9-2 Big 12) and the
University of Texas (10-13, 8-3
Big 12) losing their final match
es of the season for the Aggies
to pull even with the Bears atop
the Big 12 standings.
Baylor lost to Oklahoma
State University (14-6, 10-3 Big
12), 4-3, and the Longhorns fell
to the University of Missouri
(14-6, 6-5 Big 12), 4-3, opening
the door for the Aggies to share
top honors in the Big 12.
“One of our big goals was to
peak at the end of the year, and
the last week of the season we
did that,” said A&M Head
Coach Bobby Kleinecke. “We
didn’t win this title the easy way,
but they kept their heads up dur
ing the tough times and contin
ued to work harder and believe
in themselves and their team
mates. I am so proud of them.”
With identical 9-2 records
going into the Big 12 confer
ence tournament today, Baylor
received the top seed by virtue
of its 4-3 victory over the Aggies
in late March at the A&M
Tennis Center.
Much like A&M, Baylor
Head Coach Joey Scrivano said
his team doesn’t have to depend
on just one player, which is a
luxury heading into the end-of-
season tournament for the
young Baylor team.
“The strength of our team is
that in every match a different
combination of players step up,
and that is what has kept us com
petitive in the Big 12 this year,”
Scrivano said. “This is the time
of year where we are continuing
See Tennis on page 5B
Women’s golf team finishes eighth
at Big 12 Tournament
Oklahoma State
7. Baylor
(909)
(947)
Missouri
8. Texas A&M
(910)
(949)
Texas
9. Iowa State
(918)
(960)
Oklahoma
10. Colorado
(923)
(971)
Nebraska
11. Kansas
(926)
(973)
Kansas State
12. Texas Tech
(936)
(978)
RUBEN DELUNA • THE BATTALION
Golf team heads to Big 12 championship
By Marcus White
THE BATTALION
All is quiet on the green. The gallery falls
silent as sophomore Roy Mackenzie lines up his
putt. The Aggies have been hitting fairways and
making shots all day. He draws the club back and
hits the ball with a controlled, silky smooth
stroke. The ball winds its way to the cup before
dropping in the hole with a plunk. The Texas
A&M players and coaches shout with excite
ment, having just become Southwest Conference
Champions in men’s golf. It is 1987.
Sixteen years have come and gone since the
Aggies last won a conference championship. If
the Aggies want to reclaim past golf glories this
weekend at the Big 12 Championship in Tulsa,
Okla., they will have to slay some fierce Big 12
dragons. The latest polls from Golfweek/Saragin
rank 11 of the conference’s 12 schools among the
top 100 programs in the country, including No. 3
Texas and No. 8 Oklahoma State.
OSU is led by junior sensation Hunter Mahan.
The 20-year-old was recently named one of 11
finalists for the prestigious 2003 Ben Hogan
Award. More amazingly, Mahan finished 28th in
the 2003 Masters’ Tournament at legendary
Augusta National. He also led the field in driving,
besting the likes of Tiger Woods and Phil
Mickelson by averaging 297 yards off the tee.
“Physically, he’s ready to play professional
golf,” said OSU Associate Head Coach Mike
McGraw. “He’s working out the mental aspects
of his game right now. He’s got some maturing to
do before he’s ready to compete at that level, and
he knows that.”
As a team, McGraw said the Cowboys are
focused on keeping the Big 12 championship title
in Oklahoma at the end of the day.
“We’re going there trying to win. That’s the
main goal,” McGraw said. “Anything short of
See Golf on page 5B
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