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Sports
The Battalion
A&M gets second NCAA tovu*ney
■ THE BATTALION
by playing volleyball in
restigators
By Blake Kimzey
THE BATTALION
The NCAA Championships will be com-
ng to a court near you in May 2005.
The Texas A&M men’s tennis team
earned Monday that it will host the
)ivision I Men’s Tennis Championships at
he newly named George P. Mitchell ’40
Outdoor Tennis Center.
In a formula that could rival that of the
BowLChainpionship Series, a panel of deci
sion makers did more than randomly pull
names out of a hat to decide who would
lost the tournament in 2005. A&M coach
Tim Cass, who has been the principal archi-
behind the success of the men's tennis
earn, said A&M fell into place to host the
oumament again.
‘There is a formula in place that looks at
rowd history, facilities, weather and other
'actors,” Cass said. “I think with all of our
variables factored in it was a well-received
hampionship. The committee decided that
would be ideal.”
Cass set lofty goals for the program when
ie was named head coach seven years ago.
his watch, Cass has snared four Big
12 Championships, four NCAA Round of
appearances and an NCAA Round of
Eight appearance.
The men’s tennis team is the nation’s
leader in home attendance.
Cass said he hopes to promote the tourna
ment as an event that belongs to the student
dy as much as it belongs to the players.
“We really hope to market it to the stu
nt body even though they are between
tool sessions, so we hope that people will
me back into town for a couple of the
matches,” Cass said. “For A&M to be host
ing any NCAA Championship it is hopeful
ly special for the University. It is the people
in the stands and the atmosphere that Aggie
fans create that make it special, and that is
something that we are looking forward to.”
L k&M Athletic Director Bill Byrne has
raved his share of criticism in the last
qths for an increase in ticket prices,
said he hoped to make A&M more
competitive across the board, and
Page 1. B1 Thursday, October 23, 2003
Taylor injury couldn’t
come at a worse time
hell of an
File Photo • THE BATTALION
Texas A&M sophomore Ante Matijevic returns a shot during a match last season. The NCAA
awarded the 2005 Division I Men's Tennis Championships to A&M earlier this week.
if hosting another NCAA Championship is a
sign of things to come, his strategy may
already be paying dividends.
“We have one of the best tennis facilities
in the country and hosted a very successful
championship in 2002,” Byrne said. “Only a
handful of schools have hosted this event
and it’s a testament to our team, staff and
tennis community that Texas A&M has been
selected to host it again.”
A&M is just the second, school to host
the tomMment more than once since the
current format was adopted in 1977. For
junior All-American Ante Matijevic, host
ing the tournament a second time will book-
end his career at A&M, as he was a fresh
man in 2002.
“When I played my freshman year it was
so special to play in front of all of our fans,”
Matijevic said. “Next year it will be just as
special as a senior. It is going to be awesome.”
The tournament is scheduled for May 21-
30, 2005. A&M will host the final 16 teams
from a 64-team field, in addition to the top
64 singles players and 32 of the top doubles
teams in a single elimination tournament.
dnesday saying it
attorneys to pro-
As the saying
goes, when it ' mil ' llllllllim
rains it pours.
After Saturday’s
game at
Nebraska, the
Aggie football
team needs one
umbrella.
Not only did the Aggies
meekly become another statistic
in Nebraska’s monstrous col
umn of home wins (100 in their
last 105 games at Memorial
Stadium), but the Aggies lost
leading senior receiver Jamaar
Taylor in the process. After
injuring his knee during
Saturday’s game, Taylor will be
out for the year, ending the star
receiver’s career as an Aggie.
In losing Taylor, the Aggies
lose the second leading receiv
er in A&M history. Taylor will
finish his career with an
impressive 1,705 receiving
yards on 108 catches and 10
touchdowns. Unfortunately for
Taylor, he will fall just 35
yards short of the Texas A&M
all-time yards receiving record
held by Bethel Johnson.
For an Aggie offense in iden
tity crisis, the loss of Taylor
could not come at a worse time.
The offense has suffered from a
horrible case of schizophrenia.
One day it is an efficient point
scoring machine (see Baylor),
and the next it is about as scary
as the Easter Bunny in a pillow
fight (see Nebraska).
Regardless, Coach Fran and
company will need senior wide
receiver Tim Van Zant and jun
ior A-back Jason Carter to step
in for Taylor and contribute if
the offense plans to get in sync.
Needless to say, heading into
the teeth of their schedule, the
Aggies will need to figure it out
quickly to get win number four.
Aggie
Football
NOTEBOOK
Pete Burks
Trouble on the
horizon?
The last time
the Aggies
faced a talented
quarterback
wide receiver
running back combination, they
did not fare very well.
Pittsburgh’s Heisman candidate
wideout Larry Fitzgerald and
quarterback Rod Rutherford ter
rorized the Aggie secondary
through the air, while running
back Jawan Walker bulldozed
through the front seven.
In No. 18 Oklahoma State,
A&M will face a similarly tal
ented triple threat in quarter
back Josh Fields, running back
Tatum Bell and wide receiver
Rashaun Woods. In their win
over Texas Tech, the Cowboys
put up some mind-boggling
numbers: Fields threw for 320
yards, Woods had 146 yards
receiving and Bell ran for 238
yards and three touchdowns.
With Bell running wild, A&M
could be in trouble. The Aggie
defense has been suspect at best
against the run, struggling might
ily in games against teams with
premier backs (Utah, Virginia
Tech, Nebraska), and Bell is cer
tainly among the nation’s elite. If
the Aggies continue to struggle
with stopping the run, it could be
another long day for the maroon
and white faithful.
Carter in the mix
For all the talk that Jason
Carter received in the offseason
about being the featured “A-
back” in Coach Fran’s offense,
to the disappointment of Aggie
fans, Carter has been mostly
M.I.A.
After a fantastic spring game,
See Aggies on page 6B
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