k\
iTli
Sports
fii
3 Of
ns aid;
Women’s Tennis falls to UT, 4-3
The Battalion
By Jon Gilbert
THE BATTALION
%
The dramatic scene immediate
ly after the University of Texas-
fexas A&M University tennis
natch told the whole night’s story.
Texas players were jubilant cele
brating on the middle of the court,
while most of the A&M players
were crying, still in shock at what
j had just transpired.
The Longhorns (18-4, 9-0 in Big
12) knocked off A&M (17-7, 9-1 in
3ig 12) behind a furious rally that
telped them come back from a 3-0
deficit Tuesday night at the George
P. Mitchell Tennis Center. A&M was
one point away from victory, and a
m share of the Big 12 championship
after taking a 3-0 match lead in sin
gles. The Aggies failed to finish the
match as Texas found a way to win,
autting them one step away from
heir seventh Big 12 Championship.
a “The girls fought extremely hard,”
said A&M head coach Bobby
i Kleinecke. “We didn’t get solid play
all the way down the line.”
Texas head coach Jeff Moore
llil was unava il a bl e for comment as of
aress time, after the final match
which went on for almost three
hours until 11:15 p.m.
The epic battle of conference
rivals started over an hour late
because of afternoon rain. Yet, the
crowd stayed, and once it started the
record 1,114 fans made themselves
known. The overflow crowd is the
largest to ever see an A&M match
and third largest ever at the George P.
Mitchell Center.
“The A&M fans are great,”
Kleinecke said. “I can’t thank them
enough for coming out and really
supporting us all the way to the end.”
t thill!,
ttestei
sesaysi
tirituii
¥
a
Evan O'Connell •THE BATTALION
Freshman Aggie tennis player Anna Lubinsky returns a serve in her match on court three during doubles play yesterday at the George
P. Mitchell Tennis Center. She and her partner, Nicki Mechem, lost to Kelly Baritot and Ristine Olsen from the University of Texas, Tuesday.
sidthf
I
nil's.:.. r
hM'J
ndenc;]
311 Witl|
'S.
er F8
is tesli
’such;
The Aggies came out ready to
play in doubles. They took two out
of three matches to win the dou
bles point. Then, they took full
control in singles as sophomore
Nicki Mechem won her match, 6-
1, 6-2. Junior Helga Vieira defeat
ed Texas sophomore Katie Ruckert
giving the Aggies a commanding
3-0 lead and looked well on their
way to repeating as Big 12 regular
season champions.
Then, the match turned.
A&M senior Jessica Roland won
her first set 6-2, but then fell behind
to Texas freshman Petra Dizdar in the
second set. As this was transpiring on
court one, A&M freshman Anna
Lubinsky, junior Lauren Walker and
senior Roberta Spencer were losing
their singles matches on courts six,
four and three respectively.
All of the sudden, the overall
match was 3-3, and the record
crowd was in disbelief. The match
on court one between Roland and
Dizdar would determine who
would win the conference.
Dizdar took the second set 6-4,
forcing a decisive third set. Roland
jumped to a early 4-0 lead, and again
it looked like the Aggies had victory
within reach.
Dizdar kept her head in the game
and mounted a comeback to take a 5-
4 lead. Both players showed great
determination and never gave each
other any ounce of comfort.
Roland forced a third set tie break,
before falling to Dizdar 7-2 in the tie
breaker, losing the 3rd set 7-6.
“We want to play them again,”
Kleinecke said. “We fell short
tonight, but we would like another
shot at them.”
Page 5 • Wednesday, April 21,2004
A&M baseball
can’t hold on
against UTA
By Brad Bennett
THE BATTALION
Despite leading the game for eight-and-a-
half innings, the No. 17 Texas A&M baseball
team fell to The University of Texas-Arlington,
4-5, Tuesday night in Arlington. The
Mavericks (24-17, 9-6 Southland Conference)
scored three runs in the ninth to pull ahead
from of Aggies (31-12, 7-8 Big 12) who came
out with the three runs in the third for the early
lead and extended the gap in the sixth to 4-0.
Two errors in the ninth contributed to the
Aggie loss with UTA freshman catcher Brett
Lewis reaching base after a dropped fly and then
scoring on a pitching error. Junior second base-
man Carey Avants, the go-ahead-run, reached
base on a fielder’s choice. With two men on and
no outs, Aggie head coach Mark Johnson pulled
freshman pitcher Kevin Whelan, replacing him
with the fourth Aggie pitcher of the night, soph
omore Cliff Pennington.
A wild pitch by Pennington to his first bat
ter allowed senior Daniel Lenihan to score and
Avants to advance to third. Avants then scored
off a hit from senior right fielder Kasey Baker.
Baker began the Maverick comeback in
the eighth with a single that led to a run
when, three hitters later, center fielder Paul
Brueder hit him in. Shortstop junior Aaron
Battle also scored in the eighth.
Aggie starting pitcher senior Cory Patton
fared the best out of the four Aggie pitchers
with two strikeouts, no errors and only five
hits over four innings.
Freshman Dillon Parish and senior Mike
Snapp closed in the eighth and ninth, respec
tively, holding the Aggies to no hits. Starting
pitcher junior Grant Varnell was replaced in
the sixth with senior Michael Garza after
Patton homered to right field.
Baker led the Maverick offense with four
hits, one RBI and one run. Patton led the Aggies
with two hits, two RBIs, one run and a homer.
The Aggies’ next series is against
University of Missouri Friday, Saturday
and Sunday.
lie on
tie
jini
gh wsoj
it tow
f one
As an engineer in
the U.S. Air Force,
there’s no telling what
you’ll work on.
(Seriously, we can’t tell you.)
United States Air Force applied technology is years ahead
of what you’ll touch in the private sector, and as a new
engineer you’ll likely be involved at the ground level of new
and sometimes classified developments. You’ll begin leading
and managing within this highly respected group from day
one. Find out what’s waiting behind the scenes for you in
the Air Force today. To request more information, call
1-800-423-USAF or log on to airforce.com.
U.S. AIR FORCE
CROSS INTO THE BLUE
Texas A&M University
CAMPUS
MASTER PLAN
PUBLIC FORUM
Presentation/Questions & Answers
Monday, April 26, 2004
4:00-6:00p.m., Rudder Theater
Get a view of the completed campus master plan.
For additional information, call 845-0555
or visit the website at http://www.tamu.edu/campusplan
Class C ouncils
Presents:
ike 67tk Annual
Ring D ance
“A Nigkt on the I own" 7
April 24, 2004
9 p.m.- 1a.m.
Tickets avai lakle at tlie MSC B ox
Office
For A Complete Listing of Senior
Week Events
Visit Classof2004.tamu.eclu
Sponsore J by Tl le Association of Former Students, Rose Cottage Creations,
David Gardner’s Jewelers and Al’s Formal Wear