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Aggies blank Cowgirls in Big 12 opener

Published Sunday, March 16, 2008 5:58 AM

Special to The Eagle

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STILLWATER, Okla. -- The Texas A&M women's tennis team opened Big 12 play with a 7-0 victory over short-handed Oklahoma State on Saturday at the DeBois Tennis Complex.

With just five available players, the Cowgirls (5-5, 0-2 Big 12) were forced to default matches at No. 3 doubles and No. 6 singles.

"It is unfortunate for them that they had some injuries and didn't have enough people for the full lineup", A&M coach Bobby Kleinecke said, "but the people that were out there were good, and we really had to play to come away with it."

A&M's Tiffany Clifford and Christi Liles clinched the doubles point with an 8-3 victory over Yawna Allen and Iryna Tkachenko on the first line.

A&M (7-4, 1-0) dominated in singles, winning in straight sets on all five courts. With the default victory at No. 6, A&M took a 3-0 team lead with Anna Blagodarova's second-line 6-1, 6-3 victory over Allen. The win snapped a five-match losing streak for the A&M senior.

Clifford clinched the team victory with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Sasha Belova at No. 4 singles.

A&M will face Oklahoma (6-4, 0-1) at the Headington Family Tennis Center in Norman, Okla., at 1 p.m. Sunday. OU lost to No. 18 Texas 7-0 on Saturday.

Texas A&M 7, Oklahoma State 0

Saturday at DeBois Tennis Complex, Stillwater, Okla.

SINGLES

(ITA rankings in parentheses)

1. (95) Elze Potgieter, A&M, def. Iryna Tkachenko 6-3, 7-5

2. Anna Blagodarova, A&M, def. Yawna Allen 6-1, 6-3

3. Christi Liles, A&M, def. JoAnne Karaitiana 7-5, 6-3

4. Tiffany Clifford, A&M, def. Sasha Belova 6-4, 6-1

5. Morgan Frank, A&M, def. Maryna Tkachenko 6-3, 6-2

6. A&M def. OSU by default

DOUBLES

(A&M wins the doubles point)

1. Clifford/Liles, A&M, def. Allen/I. Tkachenko 8-3

2. Belova/Karaitiana, OSU, def. Blagodarova/Sammons 8-5

3. A&M def. OSU by default

ORDER OF FINISH: D3, D1, D2, S6, S2, S4*, S5, S3, S1 (*clinched match)

ITA TEAM RANKINGS: No. 26 A&M

RECORDS: A&M (7-4, 1-0 Big 12), OSU (5-5, 0-2)

A&M men fall at Pepperdine: MALIBU, Calif. -- The 20th-ranked Texas A&M men's tennis team lost 5-2 to Pepperdine at the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center on Saturday.

The Aggies (8-5) took a 2-0 lead after doubles and a 6-3, 6-2 win by Wil Spencer over Omar Altman at No. 3 singles.

But the Waves (6-6) swept the rest of the singles matches, clinching the dual-match victory on Mahmoud Kamel's 6-2, 7-5 fifth-line win over A&M's Matt Bain.

"We had some success in doubles so things started out looking pretty promising for us," A&M head coach Steve Denton said. "We haven't had quite as much success as we would have liked so far this year in doubles so we felt good about that. It started us out on right track, but we were only able to win one first set in singles and that was the difference. They were able to seize the moment back."

A&M will host Louisville at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Mitchell Tennis Center.

Pepperdine 5, Texas A&M 2

Saturday at Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center, Malibu, Calif.

SINGLES

(ITA rankings in parentheses)

1. (19) Andre Begemann, PEP, def. (31) Connor Pollock 6-3, 7-5

2. (25) Bassam Beidas, PEP, def. Austin Krajicek 6-4, 7-6 (7-0)

3. Wil Spencer, A&M, def. (97) Omar Altmann 6-3, 6-2

4. James Lemke, PEP, def. Chris Chirico 6-1, 6-2

5. Mahmoud Kamel, PEP, def. Matt Bain 6-2, 7-5

6. Alejandro Moreno, PEP, def. Kayvon Karimi 7-5, 7-6 (8-6)

DOUBLES