The nationally ranked Aggie men’s and women’s tennis teams commence their 2014-15 season this weekend. The men will play in the Midland Invitational in Midland, Texas, while the ladies will travel to Waco, Texas, for the Baylor Invitational.
The men, led by eighth-year head coach Steve Denton, look to improve upon last year’s campaign that saw them finish 25-7 — 10-2 in SEC play — and ranked nationally. The Aggies bring back nine of 10 players, including their No. 1 singles player Harrison Adams.
Adams, a six-foot junior who is ranked No. 11 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association preseason Division I singles rankings, also garnered First Team All-SEC Honors last season.
“He is a very explosive player,” Denton said. “He likes the big stage. He excels under pressure when the matches are close.”
Adams, along with junior All-American Shane Vinsant and senior Jeremy Efferding made the ITA preseason top 50 singles rankings.
The first matches for the men begin at 8:30 a.m. Friday at the Midland Community Tennis Center.
Women’s tennis marches into the season having reached at least the NCAA Round of 16 in each of the past two seasons. In 2014, the team concluded 21-7 — 10-3 in SEC play — and ranked No. 9 nationally.
Head coach Howard Joffe, fresh off a two-year contract extension, said he is excited about his team’s talent and experience.
“There is not one player on our roster that isn’t an awfully good tennis player, and a number of those are juniors this year, so they’ve done the college tennis, and been in the trenches for two years,” Joffe said.
The Aggies will compete against Baylor, Southern California and Alabama this weekend, an opening schedule that Joffe describes as “biting off as much as anybody can chew.”
But Joffe is ready to put preseason conversation aside and get things started on the court.
“At the end of the day, none of these past resumes are interesting at all,” Joffe said. “The only thing that’s interesting is what happens on game day in the matches.”
Competition for the Baylor Invitational begins Friday with doubles starting at 1 p.m. and singles starting at 2:30 p.m.