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The Battalion
Page 5 • Tuesday, April 20, 2004
oland-led Aggies host Texas for Big 12 title
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By Jon Gilbert
THE BATTALION
I Texas A&M women’s tennis
head coach Bobby Kleinecke
said there have not been many
payers, if any, who have come
ttrough the A&M tennis pro-
gam and done what senior
J ssica Roland has done in her
f ur years at A&M. Kleinecke
a id the team just hope there is
lore to come.
I Roland, from Hollywood,
111 if., is the team leader of the
No. 16 Aggies. On Tuesday, the
im will attempt to repeat as Big
champions for the first time
ever as it hosts No. 12 University
off Texas Tuesday night. Roland
laid winning the conference title
Ithe team’s No. 1 goal.
I “We want to win the Big 12,”
Roland said. "That’s our top
goal, and once we do that we’d
Ice to go to the Sweet 16. We
ki w that it’s a goal that is very
atiainable. Once we get there,
■ho knows what will happen.”
I Roland has played in the No.
I spot all four years in
Aggieland. She has compiled a
7f-46 dual record in singles
[hile playing each match against
;opposing team’s best player.
I “Playing No. 1 brings a cer-
■n responsibility” Roland said.
“Everyone looks up to me and
lli:re is a certain amount of lead-
ei hip that 1 have to be aware of.
nu have to be willing to show
gnod work ethic because every-
ne feeds off you.”
I There is not much that
Roland has not accomplished
di ing her career at A&M. She
■sheen an All-Big 12 selection
Iree consecutive years and has
competed in two NCAA
ffhampionships, one in singles
done in doubles.
In her sophomore year, she
id teammate Ashley Hedberg
(ere ranked as high as No. 14 in
ubles and competed in the
pAA Championships. This past
Roland competed in the
pAA Championships in singles
id advanced to the second round
before falling to Stanford’s
Evan O'Connell • THE BATTALION
Texas A&M senior Jessica Roland returns a volley during her doubles match against Kansas State during A&M's 7-
0 win Saturday at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center.
Amber Liu, the eventual national
champion. Roland is also the all-
time career leader for A&M in
doubles’ wins with 95.
“What she’s done here has
been phenomenal,” Kleinecke
said. "The progress she’s made
these past years has inspired me.
I watched her come into her own
as she got older and become the
player she is. She has made such
a great mark on this program.”
Roland agrees that she has
improved her last two years, but
she said it hasn't been easy.
“I’ve gotten to the level I’m at
now because of the hard work
I’ve put in the last two years,”
Roland said. “My freshman and
sophomore years I wasn’t really
coming into my own. But, junior
and senior year I’ve put in the
work and the hiring of Alison
(Ojeda) has really helped. She
has made a difference in my
game and has helped the team in
our work ethic.”
Roland said that Ojeda has
made the biggest impact on her
athletic career.
“She’s helped out so much in
our approach to the game and
how we go into matches,”
Roland said. “She has made us
excited about playing tennis,
and every day she encourages us
and gets us ready to play.”
This is Roland’s last chance to
lead the Aggies into the Sweet
16. They fell short last year as the
University of California elimi
nated them in the second round.
“We work great together,”
Roland said. “We’re one of the
most determined teams in the
nation. We may not be playing
our best tennis, but we compete
and fight to the end and that sets
us apart from others.”
A&M, Texas battle for
Big 12 championship
By Jon Gilbert
THE BATTALION
This is the match the No. 16
Texas A&M women’s tennis
team has been waiting for the
entire season. The University of
Texas will be in College Station
Tuesday to take on A&M at the
George P. Mitchell Tennis
Center at 6 p.m. The winner
clinches a share of the Big 12
regular season
championship.
A&M 17-6, 9-
0 Big 12 will have
the honor of host
ing the champi
onship match and
will be attempting
to repeat as con
ference champs.
No. 12 Texas
(17-4, 8-0) will
be shooting for its
seventh Big 12
championship
since the confer
ence was formed in 1996.
“This is it,” said A&M
women’s tennis head coach
Bobby Kleinecke. “We could
n’t have asked for a more ideal
situation. We’re playing Texas,
our rivals, at home for the
championship under the lights.
We’re undefeated; they’re
undefeated. It doesn’t get any
better than that.”
Kleinecke said he and the
A&M team want to see the
George P. Mitchell Center
packed full of loud and rowdy
fans Tuesday night.
“We’re really expecting a
huge crowd,” Kleinecke said.
“This is a great opportunity, and
it’s going to be great tennis
being played between two great
programs. It’s going to be fun to
watch. We really want the stu
dent body to be here. We want
them to come ready to cheer and
to get rowdy. These girls have
We couldn't
have asked for a
more ideal
situation.
— Bobby Kleinecke
Texas A&M
women's tennis head coach
worked hard for this and they
deserve to have good support.”
Meanwhile, the Aggies con
tinue to waltz through confer
ence play. They defeated Kansas
State University Saturday for
their eighth straight win. They
are getting solid play and the
team said it knows it will take
that type of play to beat Texas.
“Its a huge match,” said
A&M senior Jessica Roland.
“We don’t have an underdog
mentality. We
feel we should
beat Texas.
We’re going to
go in with the
mentality that
we should beat
them. We beat
them twice last
year and know
we can do it
again.”
The
Longhorns have
been on a simi-
lar journey as
the Aggies in
conference play, but have lost
two non-conference matches to
Duke University and Tulane
University recently. Through the
years, they have consistently
beat A&M. But last year, the
Aggies changed that by beating
the Longhorns once during the
season and once in the confer
ence tournament.
“This is even ground and
whoever plays better will win
it,” Kleinecke said. “Our girls
are playing against an excel
lent team.”
A&M men’s tennis head
coach Tim Cass spoke to the
girls last week about what is
at stake.
“He basically came and told
us about how awesome this
opportunity is,” said sophomore
Nicki Mechem. “He told us that
every other A&M athlete would
die to be in our shoes - playing
Texas for the championship.”
solos#
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Get. A Cr-rpi On Tesk.icular- Cancer-!
This event is a 5K run & 3K walk around the Texas A&M University campus in which
all of the proceeds and donations go to testicular cancer research.
Date of the Race: April 24, 2004
Pre-Registration is from April 5-23
Race Day Registration starts @ 7:15 am
Time: Race starts @ 8:00 am
Entry Fees:
Before April 24: $12
Day Of The Race: $15
Registration forms for the race can be:
1) Picked up from the Health Education office, Room 008, in the basement of the A.P. Beutel Health Center.
2) Printed off of the Health Education webpage @ http://healthed.tamu.edu
For more information, please call 847-8910
The CannonBALL Run is hosted by Texas A&M University Student Health Services, Health Education and Kappa Alpha Psi.
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