No. 21 A&M women, on a 13-match win streak, play no. 12 Baylor tonight in Waco, first serve at 6PM.

They've beaten some good teams this year. But this is where things really heat up, and become very intense.

Predictions? I think Ags need the doubles point if they're going to win.

I think the Ags will take the doubles point. Baylor has lost the dubs in 3 of their 4 Big 12 matches.

I'm assuming singles will stay the same as last week. Baylor gets a boost now that Saanford is back from injury. The top three I think are tossups. Lauren might be outgunned by Burgic. The most interesting matchup I think is number 6, which should be Sheri vs. Horter.

Horter is kind of in a funk, having lost 12 straight matches this season while Sheri is 4-4. I think if Sheri wins, Ags will win.

Looks like the match is going to have to be won at the top.

Ags take Doubles point.

Naz took the first set at #2.
Sanchez up 5-3 at #1
Wen Sun up 5-4 at #3

Baylor up 1 set to none on 4, 5, and 6 lines.

Uh...Wen lost first set after having a couple of set points

Looks like someone needs to take it to three

Things looking better
Sanchez just broke and has a set lead
Urbina is on serve
Wen is about to win second set to tie match
Janelle is back on serve, still trailing
Erasmus now has the break in the third

Janine up 5-3 in 3rd. Naz up 4-3. Sun tied 3-3.

Match 2-2, so we need two of those to win.

And thats the match

Erasmus blows a 4-0 lead and a matchpoint

gutsy performance from Horter though

Hopefully the girls will learn from this one.
Good showing.

Just not quite good enough yet but the best showing we have had against them in years. Lots to be optimistic about.

Harry, what's your analysis on Tech? Looking at them, their strength appears to be 4-6, while ours is 1-3. Doubles I'll still give the major edge to us. So we should keep the winning streak alive with them, but we can't come out as flat as we looked against ND on Monday. Did anybody go to Baylor? Were the girls just still down against ND after losing that good of a showing against Baylor? Playing the Big 12 tourney at Mitchell hopefully will lend itself to a few critical points.

I haven't gotten to see tech in person this year so I don't know them as well as Baylor, but I would think that it's going to be the same story of the last couple of seasons...we'll be heavily favored at 1-3 and big underdogs at 4-6, especially if Cuthbertson is injured again.

Fortunately our doubles is stronger this season and that might be the point that decides it.

Well....that was...I'm kind of lost for words

4-3 loss with Lauren's match being the decider; was down 0-3 in the third, broke, and had 30-30 on her serve then preceded to double fault twice in a row

If anyone also saw the match, did you also think she looked lost in the third?

Now it's Texas on Tuesday. Should be a close one especially if Texas doesn't have Aerial who has been gone for the last four matches

4-3 with the doubles point deciding it was what I expected although it doesnt take Sherlock Holmes to figure out thats going to be the case against most top teams.

Joffe has done a great job with Santacroce and she has really finished her career strong, but in fairness to both of them she does not have the talent to be playing in the top 6 for an NCAA Sweet 16 team, and this is true of anyone on the roster not in our top 3. It has been a good year and next to the last few years of mediocrity I am pleased with the possibility to finish near or in the top 25 and win a round at NCAAs and have a good shot to win one more and make Sweet 16s (our weak bottom isn't good for the long run, but anytime you can bank on 3 points at the top of the lineup you have a good shot against anyone in ONE match).

The good news is that we get one more year out of our big guns and it sounds like we have some superstars coming in that will make next year very exciting. If everyone can stay healthy this is a top 10 team next season, no doubt about it.

Aggie women beat #6 tu tonight in College Station 4-3 on Senior night!!!

good job

Sheri and Lauren were playing really hard too but Janine really needs to learn how to hold serve

Tell me-assuming that A&M, Texas, Baylor, and Tech win out. A&M would be tied with Baylor. How does the tiebreak work?

Nice win.

WOW! Amazing win for the Aggies! It was hard to believe how easily we won at 1,2&3 singles against the 6th ranked team in the nation. Great job Lady Ags!

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How does the tiebreak work?

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If only two teams are tied, it is usually head-to-head result that determines the #1 seed in the conference tournament, but the teams are usually considered co-champs of the conference.

GREAT win last night against the sips! Lauren and Sheri were beyond unbelieveable on #3 doubles, and I think the sip coach tried to pull a fast one by tweaking the lineup to hopefully get an edge on them. HA! Our gals pasted those two to the wall. And that HAD to play in keeping Sunny and Christina motivated. Doubles was the clincher, no doubt about it. Now just pray we go to OK and take care of the last piece of business. People, with the tournament in our own backyard we HAVE TO support these kids. Get a block party and caravan over to Mitchell next weekend. You can't go to the movies for what it costs to see some good tennis.

As much heat as Sheri and Lauren take sometimes....I think their value in doubles gets overlooked. I don't know a ton about tennis (though I watched a whole lot of it when I was at A&M) but their play styles seem to mesh perfectly into a solid doubles team.

I don't think anyone is pulling a fast one. This was the exact same lineup they have had (against Tech and Baylor) since Ellis came back from injury

Does anyone know any updates on Janelle? She could make the singles lineup stronger (albeit slightly)

[This message has been edited by HJ (edited 4/18/2012 6:17p).]

Great jog Aggies! What a year it has been which was greatly unexpected. The girls and the coaches both deserve a lot of credit! Joffe has done a great job with very little talent let's be honest. Keep it up Ags!

HJ I saw Janelle just before the sip match asked how she was doing, there was NO smile of encouragement on her part. Looks like the best we can hope for there is the Big 12 tourney and hopefully beyond for her. Tennisfan, with the bringing of Christina down from MD, that one single stroke has made this season. That gave us the solid 1,2,3 punch at the top of the lineup plus gave us the best fighting chance to take the doubles point throughout the season. I hate to say it (because as an Aggie I was raised to believe that no ONE player makes the team) but that one player has made the team what it is, not only in playing ability but in player dynamics as well. Had Joffe not gotten her down here I'd hate to think where we'd be.

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Had Joffe not gotten her down here I'd hate to think where we'd be

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We would just be in a similar spot as we have been the past 5 years (ranked 30-45 and probably losing in the first round @ NCAAs) and one year further behind.

You're absolutely right, one player makes this team a lot better, but if he hand't brought her from Maryland he would have still gotten the stud recruits he is bringing in next year and we would eventually be the great team that we're already starting to be.

One the flip side, if Bobby K or Mark could have brought in some good players, we would have been good a long time ago. I have seen too many morons with great players (and great teams) and too many great coaches (like Weaver, even if Bobby K wouldn't really let him "do his thing") with mediocre players (and therefore mediocre teams). At the end of the day the players make the team and the coach that can get the players is the "great" coach.

I do think Joffe is getting more out of the same girls that Kleinecke did but the main difference is that Joffe is a great recruiter and Kleinecke was not. Great players make coaches look smart and Joffe knows how to get great players and that's why $B hired him.

Joffe is doing a great job with the recruiting no doubt about it! I hear that next year is going to be something special. Joffe and Weaver are doing an unbelievable job coaching the girls this year! There can be no other explanation for the year that they have had!
I think the women can win the tournament with a little bit of luck and good fortune on their side.

Congratulations to Coach Weaver and his wife on the birth of their first child over the weekend! What a great guy Mark is and I am so happy for him and his family!

Way to go Ags! Let's whip up on those Baylor Bears tomorrow! Whoop!

Leave it to Janelle to play her cards close to her chest. Tells me it's day-to-day about 2 weeks ago and she ends up clinching the match. Good for her! Didn't watch Lauren that much from where I was sitting all I could do is glance at the score every so often. I wonder what put a fire under her today, she was SMOKING! I hope she didn't use it all up today, because like this string says, "Now the real playing begins". Two more hurdles, and both are VERY winable. OU looked like it was giving Baylor everything it could handle. Most likely will be a last match standing tomorrow. I hope the girls have their Wheaties tomorrow. Good luck ladies, and Gig the hell out those egomaniacs from Wacko.

Lauren has played well in the post-season before. Big-match player??

I guess you didn't have to be Karnak to figure out this was going to be a bitter dog fight to the bitter end. One more monkey is off the ladies back just before our exit of the Big 12, 11, 10 (or whatever number they'll be). There was wind that some of the former lady Ags would try to make the match (Elzye and Luby for two), didn't materialize. They missed a hum dinger of a match though, coming down to Naz having to come back a set down to beat the gal who did the same thing to her in Wacko just over 3 weeks ago. Naz was the only player to hold serve in the 3rd and deciding set. Once the line judges were used, the Baylor gal lost her chance to shrink the court like she'd been doing up till that time. Wen Sun SMOKED her opponet so bad I'm surprised she even showed her face after the match, I mean it was embarrassing. I thought Janelle played a good match just gave up the points at the wrong time. But Naz was definitely the lady of the day. Sure would be nice to double dip the sips this year. We'll see tomorrow. Good luck ladies, you all are pulling it all together at just the right time.

Well that was a huge effort by the ladies today. Just came a little short. Texas definitely came out firing in doubles. At one point they were up breaks on all three courts. As for singles, same old story...lose 4, 5, and 6. But it was a good regular season!

As a whole I definitely feel like the Big 12 has gotten so much better. Will be interesting to see who gets coach of the year. Petty, Joffe, and Fendick-Mccain all did good jobs. Expect Christina to get Player of the Year with Sun getting the newcomer award. As for freshmen award, I guess Lina from Texas gets that one for going undefeated in singles. And as I'm still analyzing the Big 12, I think most disapointing team is KState. From having one of the top players in the nation and being pretty much the last team out last year, they sure cratered.

Any chance of the Ags hosting the first couple of rounds?

Should be a decent chance of the women hosting the first two rounds. It will be close though. We hosted last year and we were #30 or so in the nation and we are currently 19 not counting the win over #12 Baylor. Might happen! They deserve it! We should know something in the next few days.

Only thing that will hurt the ladies hosting is that Baylor and tu will be hosting, and are higher ranked. Doubt they will let us host too. But, we will see