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Eight was the magic number
Los Angeles as the winner of
iach game in Texas A&M base-
s three-game series with
i be ?>|jcla was the first team to
each eight runs.
.12 A&M started the road
rip in a bad way, dropping the
the armei irst game of the series, 8-6.
attacksi foe Aggies (14-2) rebounded
iaturday with an 8-4 win and
the third game, 8-2, to give
iraeliW i&M the series win.
it simti A&M junior pitcher Zach
antsandi lackson (4-0) started Sunday
s in Gan it UCLA’s Jackie Robinson
lemiliw Mum, earning his fourth win
nt bomk nas many starts by giving up
lemissid wo runs in 6.2 innings and
Wing out six.
The Aggies were led at the
ilate Sunday by sophomore
atcher Kevin Whelan, who had
.jdiiestilteRBIs in game, two coming
KP yfofj jffa second inning home run.
UCLA (11-5) didn’t get on the
aard until the bottom of the
seventh inning when junior
^ shortstop Ryan McCarthy home-
led off Jackson, prompting A&M
coach Mark Johnson to
in freshman pitcher Blake
Rampeyfrom the bullpen.
Rampey did not allow a hit in
his2.2 innings of work to seal
the win for A&M.
The Aggies will face the
University of Houston
Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Cougar
in Houston.
Aggies complete
winless Big 12
season
The Texas A&M men’s bas-
kWteam finished the sea-
M/ess in conference, los
ing to Big 12 conference cham-
pionOklahoma State University,
7041, Saturday at Gallagher-
Iba Arena in Stillwater, Okla.
State (24-3, 14-2)
its first outright confer
ence title since winning the Big
Conference regular sea
son championship in 1964-65.
TheAggies (7-20, 0-16 Big 12)
ept the game tight early as
Mi teams were tied at nine
9:03 into the game. The No. 7
owboys then unleashed a
12-1 run over the next 4:32 to
uild an 11-point lead that
ould never vanish.
Oklahoma State junior
inard John Lucas led the
lowboys with 20 points and
hree assists.
a 14-point lead going into
hesecond half, Oklahoma State
lever let A&M within 12 points
is it cruised on to victory.
The Aggies were led by sen-
or forward Nick Anderson
md freshman guard Acie Law
V,who both scored 10 points.
be the No. 11 seed
othe Big 12 Conference tour-
lament and will face No. 6-
eed Missouri at 8:20 p.m.
hursday at the American
lirlines Center in Dallas.
top doubles team
rjj|reaches final at La
talla Invitational
if
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April 7
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5-23.
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natfe 11
npus
Texas A&M’s No. 1-ranked duo
f seniors Lester Cook and Ante
latijevic got their wish Sunday
they squared off against
am and Richard Barker of
lice University in the finals of the
Annual Pacific Coast
Doubles Championships,
he Barker brothers, ranked
2 in the nation, were able to
lefeatthe Aggies’ top team, 6-3
6-3, to maintain their per-
ictrecord this season.
and Matijevic swept
the first five rounds,
(inning their first four match-
isin straight sets. They even
(on locker room bragging
ights along the way by
efeating a team that includ-
d A&M assistant coach
huon Madden, 6-3, 6-3.
The tournament results,
icwever, should not affect
rankings since the
ournament is not sanctioned
lythe Intercollegiate Tennis
Issociation.
Sports
The Battalion
rm iPsiMTOmm
EEZZZmMmaM
George P. Mitchell Tennis Center
Page 7 • Monday, March 8, 2004
Aggie tennis overpowers Houston
Evan O'Connell • THE BATTALION
Texas A&M senior Jessica Roland returns a backhand in the Aggies’ 7-0 victory over Rice on Feb. 15. A&M beat Houston, 6-1, Saturday.
Roland won her singles match over Houston junior Biljana Dimovska, 6-1, 6-0.
By Jon Gilbert
THE BATTALION
The No. 16 Texas A&M women’s ten
nis team earned its fifth consecutive win
Saturday as it defeated the University of
Houston, 6-1.
A&M continues to play well and is
solidifying itself as one of the premier
teams in the Big 12 conference.
“We’re definitely one of the teams to
beat in the Big 12,” said A&M head
coach Bobby Kleinecke. “We’re playing
well and are going to be a difficult team
to play down the road.”
Although the match looked like a rout
on paper, it was very tight during doubles.
The Cougars’ doubles tandem of junior
Biljana Dimovska and sophomore
Miranda Foley beat A&M’s senior
Roberta Spencer and junior Lauren
Walker, 8-3. Dimovska and Foley, as well
as the rest of the Houston team, played
patiently and forced A&M to make errors.
“(Houston) didn’t miss volleys, and
we had never seen that,” Kleinecke
said. “We needed to be more finesse. If
anything, I should have warned court
No. 3 more of their style. We didn’t
come out flat, though.”
Despite the team’s initial struggles,
A&M’s other doubles’ pairs won their
matches. Senior Jessica Roland and
sophomore Nicki Mechem dominated
their match. 8-2. On court No. 3, fresh
man Anna Lubinsky and senior Danielle
Lee earned a hard-fought 8-6 win to
clinch the doubles point for the Aggies.
In singles, A&M iced the victory.
Walker, Roland, Lubinsky and Mechem
grabbed quick victories, as they got off to
quick starts and gave their opponents no
opportunity to come back. Walker's sin
gles win is her fifth consecutive dating
back to the Wake Forest match on Feb. 22.
“I just really came out focused,”
Walker said. “I’ve stayed positive on the
court and gone out there and taken care
of business.”
Not only is Walker winning, she is win
ning in dominating fashion. She won 6-0,
6-1, Saturday, and has not allowed more
than one point in a match since Feb. 21.
“(Walker) is playing solid,”
Kleinecke said. “She had been strug
gling earlier in the year, and it’s been
good to see her get in a rhythm.”
The Aggies return to the court Monday
when No. 30 University of Pennsylvania
visits the George P. Mitchell Tennis
Center. Pennsylvania (7-1) is off to one of
its best starts in school history and boasts
its highest ranking in school history.
“The Penn match will be a great
match,” Kleinecke said. “They beat
Maryland. 4-3, just like we did. They also
played William & Mary. So, they're a
good team. We need to be ready to play.
It will be good to play prime time, and
hopefully we'll be able to get a lot of
people out to support us.”
First serve is set for 6 p.m. It will be
the last match of a five-match home stand
as the Aggies will travel to Louisiana
State University and the University of
Nebraska next weekend.
Equestrian takes two of Records fall at
three shows over weekend Indoor Nationals
Sharon Aeschbach • THE BATTALION
A&M junior western rider Casie Lisabeth rides Mikey during the reining
section of the western show held at Freeman Arena Sunday.
By Jordan Meserole
THE BATTALION
The western squad of the
Texas A&M Equestrian team is
no longer the national champi
on - for now. Despite winning
two out of three shows this
weekend, the Aggies remained
behind regional point leader
Oklahoma State University.
A&M entered the three-show
event 25 points behind OSU for
the top spot in the region. A&M,
who is the previous two-time
national champion, had an
opportunity to overtake OSU,
but was unable to completely
close the point gap.
The first day didn’t go as
well as the Aggies had hoped,
with A&M finishing second
behind West Texas A&M
University. Aggie juniors Kelly
Johnson and Lani Jurena both
had the only first place finishes
for A&M in the day one events,
which qualified the two for indi
vidual regional competition.
Jurena has been riding com
petitively for only two years as
compared to many of the other
equestrian team members who
have been riding since elemen
tary school.
“I’ve really come a Jong
way,” Jurena said. “I’ve often
thought back to my very first
practice when it seemed like I
wasn’t doing anything right.”
The second show of the
weekend put the Aggies in better
position. A&M finished the show
in first place ahead of OSU, with
West Texas A&M finishing third.
A&M juniors Katie Forest and
Casie Lisabeth took first place in
both reining events for the show.
A&M entered the third show
with a very distant opportunity
to beat OSU for the top regional
spot. The Aggies finished the
weekend on a high note, though,
taking first place in the third
show, giving the Aggies two
wins for the weekend.
OSU head coach Larry
Sanchez said the weekend was
tiring for his team.
“I don’t care if we’re 10 points
or 100 points ahead,” Sanchez
said. “Unless the other team is
numerically and statistically out.
I'm still going to be nervous. We
came out and rode well and did
n’t let them close that gap.”
On the individual side, OSU
senior Kristen Dickerson cap
tured the region point total beat
ing out A&M’s Forest, the former
point champion. Forest had to
place first in the event to advance
to regional competition.
“I was so nervous I felt sick,”
Forest said. “I feel like I can
breathe once again.”
Forest said a secret handshake
between her and junior teammate
Natalie Hill helped ease her fears
right before the event.
“I’ve won almost every time
we’ve done it, so I wasn’t about
to stop,” Forest said.
Despite a second-place finish
to OSU, A&M still has the
opportunity to advance to the
national championship by
advancing through regional and
zone competitions.
“It’s nice that the door is not
completely shut yet,” said A&M
head coach Tana Rawson.
“We’re just going to set our
goals for each competition and
see where we end up.”
By Ryan Irby
THE BATTALION
Legend has it that William
Tell shot an apple on the top of
his son’s head with a bow and
arrow. Texas A&M senior All-
American archer Mary Zorn
would consider this feat noth
ing more than a day’s work.
Zorn secured her place in the
archery record books this week
end at the 35th South Region
Indoor Nationals held in G.
Rollie White Coliseum, when
she not only broke her personal
records, but shattered the
indoor American record and
tied a world record, taking
home first place in the women’s
compound division.
Zorn finished with a record
1.177 total points out of a pos
sible 1,200, breaking the
American record of 1,174 held
by last year’s Indoor National
champion, Christie Bisco.
Zorn’s previous personal record
was a 1,171. Her 593 of a pos
sible 600 points on day two of
the tournament equaled the
world indoor record.
A&M head coach Kathy
Kissinger expressed the admira
tion she has for her prized archer.
“I am very excited for her,”
Eissinger said. “She continues to
amaze us and keeps adding to it.”
For Zorn, the exhilaration of
writing her name into the
record books was more than she
could grasp at the close of her
final collegiate indoor round.
“It hasn’t really sunk in yet,”
Zorn said.
For nearly three hours
Friday, Saturday and Sunday,
Zorn and other archers main
tained an intense focus on
their targets during more than
20 rounds of competition each
day. When arrows had been
counted and each bulls-eye
totalled, A&M walked away
with the top I 1 spots in the
compound division, with Zorn
and teammate Amber Dawson
leading the field. Dawson, an
All-American, finished the
tournament in second place in
the. compound division with
1,157 points.
In the recurve division,
A&M freshman Corrine
Yohann walked away with the
gold after firing a 1,088.
But it was Zorn who stole
the limelight, shattering
records and staking her claim
in archery lore.
“I just stand back and watch
her shoot,” Eissinger said,
describing her coaching tech
niques when it comes to Zorn’s
incomparable talent. “I am
basically providing support
and not so much coaching on
the compound.”
Zorn, who stands like a stat
ue frozen in time in preparation
to fire one of her award-win
ning shots, attributed success to
her uncharacteristic approach.
“I sing songs when I
shoot,” Zorn said. “Pressure
actually makes me focus
more; it keeps me from think
ing about other things.”
The Aggies will begin re
focusing on their next competi
tions when the outdoor season
begins Monday. Eissinger said
her focus is moving forward after
her club’s record setting day.
“We are going to make the
transition to outdoor,” Eissinger
said. “We’re going to get out
there and fling some arrows so
we are ready to go when that
time comes around.”
Zorn and the Aggies will
shoot again March 27-28 at the
Lone Star Tournament in Austin.
!\