No. 10 Seed Texas A&M Women to Host NCAA First (Alcorn State) and Second Rounds

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The Texas A&M women’s tennis team received a No. 10 seed in the 64-team NCAA Tennis Championship bracket and will host first and second rounds, Saturday-Sunday, May 9-10 at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center, the NCAA announced today.

Texas A&M (15-5), an at-large entry making its 16th consecutive and 21st overall appearance in the tournament, opens against Alcorn State (11-12) on Saturday, May 9 at 12 p.m. The match follows a first-round meeting between TCU (18-8) and Notre Dame (14-10) to be played at 9 a.m. at the Mitchell Tennis Center.

First-round winners will meet in the second round to be played Sunday, May 10 at 1 p.m. at the Mitchell Tennis Center. The second-round winner advances to the round of 16 and the final championship site, Baylor’s Hurd Tennis Center in Waco.

The Alcorn State Lady Braves are the Southwestern Athletic Conference automatic qualifier despite falling in the finals of the SWAC Championship to Southern University, which is ineligible for postseason competition. The No. 17-ranked TCU Horned Frogs, representing the Big 12 Conference, and the No. 36 Notre Dame Fighting Irish of the Atlantic Coast Conference are both at-large entries.

“The match-up for hosting is going to be challenging for sure,” A&M head coach Howard Joffe said. “Obviously first we face Alcorn State in a match in which we will be heavily favored. The following match is going to be the winner between Notre Dame and TCU, assuming we win the first-round match. All one needs to know is TCU already beat us once at home this year, so that will represent a big challenge.

“We have shown this year that we’ve got the ability to lose to TCU and LSU, and so there are no great expectations. On the other hand, I don’t really think there is a team in the country that we can’t beat. So there is the old coaching adage of taking it one match at a time, and obviously we have to perform well if we are to advance.”

Currently ranked ninth in the ITA team rankings, Texas A&M is one of 12 teams in the tournament field representing the Southeastern Conference. The Aggies tied Georgia and SEC Tournament champion and NCAA automatic qualifier Vanderbilt for second place in the SEC with an 11-2 record.

“There is no question that one of the byproducts of playing such a competitive SEC schedule is that we are pretty match-tough,” Joffe said. “One of the other things I personally like is that our conference tournament is a week early so we get a little time some time to decompress before we face the NCAA tournament.”

The Aggies have not played since falling to No. 24 LSU, 4-3, in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament on April 17.

“Some time off, some rest and also a little bit of hard work is getting us ready for next Saturday,” Joffe added. “It is all contingent on how we perform, but I really expect us to be ready to go, and I am obviously looking forward to it.”

Last year, the Aggies were a No. 10 seed in the NCAA tournament and defeated Stony Brook, 4-0, and Texas, 4-2, to advance to round of 16 in Athens, Ga. Texas A&M was then eliminated by NCAA runner-up and current No. 1-ranked North Carolina, 4-0, in a match that was moved to the Ken Byers Tennis Complex indoor courts on the Georgia Tech campus in Atlanta because of rain.

NCAA FIRST AND SECOND ROUNDS
(George P. Mitchell Tennis Center, College Station, Texas)

Saturday, May 9
TCU (18-8) vs. Notre Dame (14-10), 9 a.m.
No. 10 Texas A&M (15-5) vs. Alcorn State (11-12), 12 p.m.

Sunday, May 10
TCU/Notre Dame winner vs. No. 10 Texas A&M/Alcorn State winner, 1 p.m.

TOURNAMENT CENTRAL:

http://www.12thman.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=27300&ATCLID=210054602

TICKET INFORMTION:

Tickets to the first and second-round matches can be purchased in advance at 12thManFoundation.com or during business hours at the Athletic Ticket Office at Kyle Field or by calling the ticket office at 1-888-99-AGGIE or 979-845-2311. Tickets also will be available for purchase on match days at the Mitchell Tennis Center beginning one hour before match time.

Prices are as follows, with the all-session ticket also allowing entry to the men’s tennis first and second round matches to be played Friday and Saturday, May 8-9 at the Mitchell Tennis Center:

$12 All-Session Reserved (Stadium Club)
$7 Single Day Reserved (Stadium Club)
$5 Single Day General Admission
$3 Single Day Students/Youth
Free for children under age two

TEXAS A&M TOURNAMENT FACTS:

Team Appearances....... 21 (1986, ’89, ’96, ’97, ’98, 2000, ’01, ’02, ’03, ’04, ’05, ’06, ’07, ’08, ’09, ’10, ‘11, ‘12, ‘13, ’14, ‘15)
All-Time Team Record.. 19-20
Best Finish...................... Finals (2013)
Highest Seed.................. 3 (2013)

NOTES:

This is the seventh time overall and the third consecutive year Texas A&M has served as host of an NCAA match (2015, 2014, 2013, 2011, 2004, 2003, 1996)
The Aggies are 9-3 in home NCAA tournament matches and 19-20 all-time in NCAA tournament play
Texas A&M is 11-5 against the 2015 tournament field, with one of the losses coming against TCU in the championship match of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend on Jan. 25 in College Station
A&M tied Georgia and Vanderbilt for second place in the Southeastern Conference standings with an 11-2 record. The Aggies were the No. 3 seed at the SEC Tournament and fell to 24th-ranked and No. 6 seed LSU, 4-3, in the quarterfinals on April 17 at the Carolina Tennis Complex in Columbia, S.C.
Texas A&M enters the tournament having won 12 of its last 14 matches
Twelve teams represent the SEC in the 64-team field, including No. 4 seed Vanderbilt, the SEC tournament champion and the league’s automatic qualifier. SEC regular-season champion Florida is the No. 5 seed, and Georgia, Texas A&M and Alabama are the No. 6, 10 and 13 seeds, respectively. Other SEC teams in the tournament are Arkansas, Auburn, Kentucky, LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi State and South Carolina.
In the 2014 NCAA Championship, the Aggies were a No. 10 seed and defeated Stony Brook, 4-0, and Texas, 4-2, at the Mitchell Tennis Center to advance to round of 16 in Athens, Ga. Texas A&M was then eliminated by NCAA runner-up and current No. 1-ranked North Carolina, 4-0, in a match that was moved to the Ken Byers Tennis Complex indoor courts on the Georgia Tech campus in Atlanta because of rain.
UCLA is the defending national champion
Southern California is this year’s No. 1 seed
Fourth-year Aggie head coach Howard Joffe led Texas A&M to an NCAA second-round appearance in his first season (2012), the championship match in 2013, and the round of 16 in 2014.
A&M has no seniors on the 2015 team
Sophomore Rachel Pierson is a team-high No. 26 in the ITA singles rankings and also is a team-best No. 17 in doubles with freshman partner Eva Paalma
Sophomore Rutuja Bhosale, ranked 64th in singles, has the most singles wins in dual match play with a 14-5 record and led A&M in conference victories with a 10-3 mark
Bhosale and sophomore partner Saska Gavrilovska lead A&M in doubles victories with a 12-5 record in dual matches.
Pierson and Paalma enter the NCAA tournament riding a seven-match win streak in doubles
The NCAA Individual Championship participants (singles and doubles) will be posted at NCAA.com, Wednesday, April 29 no later than 5 p.m.
Visit 12thMan.com for more information on Texas A&M women’s tennis. Aggie fans also can keep up to date with the A&M women’s tennis team on Twitter by following @AggieWTEN or on Facebook at Facebook.com/AggieWomensTennis.

COURTESY TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS PRESS RELEASE