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Updated 7:38 AM on Saturday, May 12, 2007

Aggie men's tennis team beats Rice to begin NCAAs

By RICHARD CROOME
Eagle Sports Writer

WACO - Texas A&M men's tennis coach Steve Denton doesn't suggest losing the doubles point to start your run in the NCAA Tournament, but in hindsight, it could be one of the best things that happened to his Aggies.

A&M finished the regular season with six straight losses, and things didn't look much better Friday for A&M after it dropped the doubles point to Rice in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. But the Aggies turned the tide quickly in singles, winning five of six first sets and cruising to a 4-2 victory at the Baylor Tennis Center.

A&M avoided what would've been its first opening-round loss in the NCAA Tournament since 1997.

"We're disappointed we didn't win the doubles point, but having looked back at that, it may have been better for us because we had to overcome adversity and it gave the guys some confidence," Denton said. "I feel like the guys did a good job of putting the doubles behind them and realizing that it's a pretty long race out there and that the race wasn't over."

A&M (15-11) will play fourth-seeded Baylor at 5 p.m. Saturday for a berth into the Sweet 16 at Athens, Ga. The Bears (25-3) beat Oral Roberts 4-0 in the other first-round match in the four-team regional.

Baylor beat A&M 5-2 in Waco during the regular season.

"I think the guys realize this a new season and this is about surviving and advancing to the next round," Denton said. "This is way far from over. These guys realize we have more goals ahead, and we are going to go out swinging as hard as we can and see what happens."

A&M, which was 1-8 after losing the doubles point this season, looked like a new team when it took the courts for singles against Rice (15-12).

Conor Pollock and Matt Bain at Nos. 2 and 5 singles combined to win their first 11 game. Bain, in fact, went eight games without a loss, winning 6-0, 6-3 and not allowing Rice's Filip Zivojinovic to win his serve once.

Bain's victory gave A&M a 3-1 team lead.

"I felt really good on my returns," Bain said. "I felt I always had a chance to break him no matter what the score was. I was seeing the ball well in singles and doubles."

Bain and Pollock teamed for the Aggies' lone doubles victory, beating Jason Mock and Chris Muller 8-3.

Bain's victory in singles also avenged a loss last fall to Zivojiovic in their only previous meeting.

"I definitely remember that match," Bain said. "To be honest, it was one of the worst matches I had played in the fall, so I was gunning for him, and it felt really good to come out and win 6-0 in the first set."

Bain's match finished seconds before A&M's Luka Ocvirk lost to Muller 7-5, 6-3, which cut A&M's team lead to 3-2.

Jerry Makowski at No. 1 and Pollock each won 6-3, 6-2 to give A&M a 2-1 edge. Makowski was never broken in his match with Ben Harknett, an NCAA qualifier in singles, and Pollock won the first five games of the first set and was up 4-0 in the second.

"Jerry and Conor both got off to fast starts," Denton said. "It's so important for the leaders on the team to step up and play well in big matches."

Brad Williams did more than step up at No. 4 singles. The A&M freshman from South Africa, playing in just his fourth match in more than two months, ended a three-match losing streak by securing the dual match for the Aggies with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Tobias Scheil.

"It's a good feeling. I'm not going to lie," Williams said. "It's what college tennis is about. Some people don't want to be the person to [have the pressure] and close the match out. I think that's what it's about."

The only thing that slowed down Williams was a 15-minute break Scheil took to stop a nose bleed.

The problem began for Scheil in the doubles, which he and Ralph Knupfer clinched with a 9-7 victory over Ocvirk and Bryan Wooten on the first line. After losing the first set in singles, Scheil had to call for a trainer down a break point in the first game of the second set.

"I lost the next two points and went advantage down and then somehow got it back," Williams said. "That was the momentum I needed, winning that first game after having a 15-minute break."

Williams won his point and gave the Aggies the victory with a backhand winner, a shot that he said had left him since coming to A&M.

"My backhand is my better shot, and it really hasn't been working since I've been here," Williams said. "But today, it felt like it should, like it has been in the past year, and I'm very excited about that. That's my game ... and I'm glad that it worked.

"It gives me a lot of confidence for [Saturday], which hopefully gives the team a lot of confidence."