March 25, 2010
| Oklahoma Men's Tennis (12-2 Overall, 0-0 Big 12) |
| Friday's Match |
at No. 17 Texas A&M, March 26, at 6 p.m. |
| Sunday's Match |
at No. 4 Texas, March 28, at 1 p.m. |
| Internet |
Live Stats |
NORMAN, Okla. – The 19th-ranked Oklahoma men's tennis team opens Big 12 play at No. 17 Texas A&M Friday, March 26, at 6 p.m., before renewing the Red River Rivalry at No. 4 Texas Sunday, March 28.
Oklahoma (12-2) is fresh off of an impressive outing at the Blue-Gray Tennis Classic, where OU advanced to the tournament finals after defeating San Diego State, 4-0, No. 73 VCU, 4-1, and No. 32 Arizona, 4-1. Unfortunately, the Sooners lost a heartbreaker in the Championships to No. 13 Texas Tech, 4-3.
In addition to the Sooners strong tournament performance, OU has won ten of its last 11 matches and have three players ranked in the top-85 and one ranked duo. Senior Andrei Daescu (No. 20) leads the way for OU, while freshman Cositn Paval (No. 70) has made a huge impact on the program in a short amount of time. Junior Ionut Beleleu (No. 83) has continued to improve during his three year career at Oklahoma and now anchors the No. 2 position.
The Aggies (11-4) enter Friday's showdown riding a four-match win streak and have won eight of their last 10 matches, including wins over No. 11 California and No. 12 Louisville. In singles, A&M is lead by Austin Krajicek (No. 21) and Jeff Dadamo (No. 30) and in doubles the Aggies possess two ranked tandems.
Sundays match against UT (16-2) will be a tough obstacle for the Sooners. On the season, the Longhorns have defeated six teams ranked in the top-25 and boast four singles players ranked in the top 78. In addition, Texas has four ranked doubles teams.
Last season, the Sooners dropped each of their matches against the Aggies and the Longhorns, but head coach John Roddick has done wonders in just his first year and remains confident heading into the Lone Star showdown.