The Lone Star Showdown in itself is enough to motivate No. 12 Texas A&M men’s tennis team when they host No. 13 Texas.
When paired with the fact that the Longhorns have defeated the Aggies in six consecutive matches, blanking the Aggies 7-0 and 4-0 in the last two matchups, and the No. 2 seed in the Big 12 tournament is on the line, the match should produce another great chapter in this historic rivalry.
“It’s UT, so that is all the motivation we need,” said senior Conor Pollock. “They beat us 7-0 [in February] so we are definitely coming in here with a chip on our shoulder to try and prove that we are a lot better team.”
When the Longhorns arrive to George P. Mitchell Tennis Center, they will face an Aggie team that is completely different. Texas A&M posted a record of 7-2 in March and currently sits in 2nd place in the Big 12 with a record of 4-1.
“We are a new team,” said A&M Head Coach Steve Denton. “We anticipate this match being close. We have shown that we can play well against really good teams and we are especially tough at home.”
With all that is at stake, the match seems to be headed towards a highly contested decision. In the entire Big 12 Conference, every match has been decided by an outcome of 5-2 or 4-3, there have not been any blowouts. During the Texas Cup in February, the Aggies lost three of the seven matches in third set tie-breakers after having match points in two of the three matches.
“We lost three matches in third set tie-breakers,” Denton said. “Now we have them at our home place, there is a lot at stake in this match. Our guys want to beat them and this is going to be a really good, exciting tennis match.”
On Thursday night, the 12th man will also have the opportunity to watch Pollock play in his final match at George P. Mitchell Tennis Center. Pollock, who is one of A&M’s most decorated tennis players in school history, will most likely be a future A&M Hall of Famer.
“It’s crazy, it goes by so fast,” Pollock said. “It seems like yesterday I was moving into the dorm on the first day. It’s really a blur. I’m going to miss it a lot.”
In his four seasons at A&M, Pollock has posted an overall singles record of 86-51 and an overall doubles record of 84-39. Pollock was named the Big 12 Freshman of the Year in 2006, awarded All-Big 12 honors in 2007-2008, and combined with Austin Krajicek to reach the semi-finals of the NCAA Championship in 2008 (the farthest of any A&M duo).
Pollock will look to hand the Longhorns their second conference loss and enjoy his final moments in front of the 12th man. After the match against Texas, A&M will begin preparing for the Big 12 tournament which begins on April 23 in Norman, Oklahoma.
“It is not very often that you get the opportunity to play in this kind of match under these kinds of circumstances, so I am going to go out there and enjoy it,” Pollock said. “It would be great to get this win and to get some momentum going heading into the [conference] tournament.”