COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- The Texas A&M women's tennis team cruised to
a 4-0 victory over Southern University in the first round of the NCAA Women's
Tennis regional today to advance to the regional final for the second consecutive
year.
The Aggies, who are the No. 1 seed in the regional and the No. 12 national
seed, now advance to host SMU in the regional final Sunday at 2 p.m. at the
George P. Mitchell Tennis Center. The No. 3 seed Mustangs defeated rival TCU,
4-2, earlier in the day. The winner of the A&M-SMU match advances to the
Sweet Sixteen beginning May 20 in Athens, Ga.
Heavily favored A&M, which has won 14 of its last 15 matches, took a business-like
approach against Southern and quickly clinched the doubles point against the
Lady Jaguars. The Aggies won, 8-1, at both the No. 2 and No. 3 lines and was
leading 5-3 at No. 1 when the point was decided.
"This is one of those matches that you kind of get your feet wet in the
tournament," A&M coach Bobby Kleinecke said. "We put ourselves
in a position to have a fourth seed in the first round. It was just a matter
of us coming out and taking care of what we needed to do. We did not want to
spend a lot of time. We just wanted to go out and get the match won and get
ready for tomorrow."
Helga Vieira won her 11th consecutive singles match and put the Aggies ahead,
2-0, by racing to a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Kelli Nabors at No. 2.
"Helga is just so solid," Kleinecke said. "She is really coming
into her own this spring. She is doing a lot better as far as being so solid
the whole match; starting out that way and just moving forward. She is tough
to beat when she is like that."
Lauren Walker followed with a 6-1, 6-0 win over Tania Hicks at No. 4, and
Anna Lubinsky clinched the match for the Aggies with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Jennifer
Floyd at No. 6.
A&M had won the first set and was leading in the second set in each of
the remaining three matches when play was terminated after posting the 4-0
win.
Southern, which had received an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament by
winning the Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament, completes its season
with a 10-13 record.
The Big 12 Tournament-champion Aggies, who are marking in their fifth consecutive
NCAA appearance and 10th overall, improve to 23-7. They advance to the second
round are aiming to make their first appearance in the Round of 16. They first
must get by former Southwest Conference foe SMU, which holds a 14-10 advantage
in the all-time series.
"They're a good solid team," Kleinecke said. "They've had some
good wins this year. They've beaten LSU, who we lost to. They get a lot of
balls back in play, and they make you play. We just need to go out and take
care of ourselves."
SINGLES:
1. (#20) Jessica Roland, A&M, led. Ariana Marshall, SU, 6-2, 4-0
2. (#119) Helga Vieira, A&M, def. Kelli Nabors, 6-0, 6-0
3. Roberta Spencer, A&M, led Isoke Perry, SU, 6-2, 3-1
4. Lauren Walker, A&M, def. Tania Hicks, SU, 6-1, 6-0
5. Nicki Mechem, A&M, led Sarah Johnson, SU, 6-1, 5-0
6. Anna Lubinsky, A&M, def. Jennifer Floyd, SU, 6-0, 6-0
DOUBLES:
1. Roland/Walker, A&M, led Hicks/Marshall, SU, 5-3
2. Spencer/Vieira, A&M, def. Johnson/Perry, SU, 8-1
3. Lubinsky/Mechem, A&M, def. Floyd/Nabors, SU, 8-1
Order of finish (D2, D3, S2, S4, S6)
