The No. 30 Texas A&M women’s tennis team went into its spring break road trip to Las Vegas with plenty of confidence, riding the crest of a seven-match win streak. However, after almost two weeks without a victory against three highly ranked opponents, the Aggies (8-6, 3-1 Big 12) return home tonight to face the University of Oklahoma at the A&M Tennis Center.
Beginning their two-game series hosted by the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, the Aggies were dealt their second shutout of the season, falling 7-0 to the No. 6 Duke University Bluedevils on March 10. In their next matchup, the Aggies failed to secure the doubles point against No. 18 UNLV, leading to a 3-4 A&M loss. On Monday, A&M traveled to face No. 28 Georgia Tech and was downed 5-2.
“We’ve had some tough matches, but we never stopped fighting,” said A&M Head Coach Bobby Kleinecke. “We have had our opportunities, and there has been such a fine line between winning and losing. We need to keep working on not making the same mistakes, and if we play key points better, we will come away with the wins.”
Coming out of their recent three-game slide, the Aggies seem to have found a glaring weakness in their ability to win the doubles point. The Aggies do, however, boast a 6-0 record at home as they begin a seven-match home stand lasting until April 6.
Ashley Hedberg, the Aggies’ lone senior, is looking forward to the challenge of the approaching homestand that will bring in a host of dangerous teams.
“We have a lot of tough schools coming in, so we just have to stay together as a team and really focus on the doubles point and come through on the singles,” she said.
The No. 44 Oklahoma University women’s tennis team should certainly provide A&M with a challenge. The Sooners (11-1, 2-0 Big 12) are off to their best start since the 1995-96 campaign, and are fresh off a 4-3 win over No. 75 UT-San Antonio this past Tuesday. Oklahoma is led by senior Annette Bryntesson, who owns a 7-1 record in singles play and is the most consistent player coming into tonight’s match.
The Sooners are equally potent in doubles play with the pairing of Anda Perianu and Heather Saluri, who remain undefeated at No. 1 doubles and are ranked 34th in the nation.
The Sooners are now 5-1 versus ranked opponents this spring. The emphasis down the stretch for the Aggies will invariably be their ability to control their own fate by securing the ever-crucial doubles point.
A&M Assistant Coach Alison Ojeda said that in practice,they have been working on finding the right pairings to make sure they control doubles play.
“In the last few matches, if we would have clinched the doubles point, it would have been a different story,” she said. “The doubles point is huge and that is what we have been focusing on in practice in addition to finding the best pairings. Jessica (Roland) and Roberta (Spencer) are playing great in doubles, so if anything, we are looking to them to set the tone.”
The two Big 12 foes will take the court tonight at 6 p.m. at the Texas A&M Tennis Center.