Hosting their first NCAA regional since 2006, the No. 15-seeded Texas A&M men’s tennis team will play Binghamton today at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center.
“We are very excited to get to stay home and play on our own courts,” A&M Head Coach Steve Denton said on AggieAthletics.com. “Obviously, it’s a huge advantage for us. Our guys get to sleep in their own beds and we get to play in front of our own fans. The familiar surroundings help you out a lot, but ultimately, you still have to go out and play.”
Binghamton went 17-4 in the regular season and won the America East Conference championship. This is their second consecutive tournament appearance and fifth in seven years.
“Everybody at this level has a top-notch program,” Binghamton Head Coach Adam Cohen said on BUBearcats.com. “Obviously it will be a tough match for us, but our guys compete no matter who they face and we will work hard this week and be ready to play.”
America East Player of the Year Sven Vloedgraven and America East Championship MVP Gilbert Wong lead the Bearcats. Vloedgraven was 26-9 in singles and Wong was 31-7. The pair plays doubles together.
A&M senior team captain Conor Pollock is an All-American and ranked No. 18 overall by the ITA singles rankings. Sophomore All-American Austin Krajicek is ranked No. 44 and participated in the U.S. Open. Krajicek and Pollock are ranked No. 7 as a doubles team and reached the NCAA Doubles Championship in 2008.
Denton earned Big 12 Co-Coach of the Year honors for his work in leading the team. He split the award with Baylor’s Matt Knoll. The Aggies were 15-8 overall against the No. 3 schedule in the nation and finished in second place in the
Big 12 conference. They are making their 16th consecutive tournament appearance.
“They have played really well,” Denton said. “We’ve certainly had a great season and beaten some really good teams. This team has showed a lot of character and great chemistry. I am very happy with what we have done thus far. We just have to keep it going when the new season starts next week for us.”
The winner of the match will advance to play the winner of Arizona and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Saturday.
Saturday’s winner will proceed to the combined men’s and women’s championship on May 14-25 in College Station at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center.