The Texas
A&M-Corpus Christi men's tennis team will open the 2008 spring
season against No. 30 Clemson at
College Station Friday morning.
"We will need to be very
focused tomorrow and do a good job of controlling the things we can
control. Clemson is a
perennial top-25 team and they have a lot to play for. This is the final season for their
coach, who is a legend in the coaching community."
The Islanders
will have four players returning from last year's team as well as
two newcomers. The
returnees include Jaume Farras, Dmitry Novikov, Mike Pavlov and
Jose Zunino, while James Langford and Laurent Montoisy are new to
the program. Langford
competed for the Islanders during the fall season and Jan Cingel, a
two-year letterwinner with the program, is back after sitting out
last season due to an injury.
"This is a very
young team that will be playing two freshman and two sophomores in
the top-six. This has been
a very hard working team with some of the best team chemistry I
have ever been around. I
expect a lot from them."
After the
Clemson match, it doesn't get any easier for the Islanders, as they
will head to Waco on Jan. 30 to take on No. 4 Baylor. After the Baylor match, A&M-Corpus
Christi will compete in the University of Texas Invitational on
Feb. 2 before taking on the No. 7 Longhorns two days later.
"I think our
first five matches are as tough as anybody's in the country. If you don't compete every point
like a pit bull against these teams, you will get sent home very
quickly."
TAMUCC's first
home match will Feb. 15 when it hosts Texas-Pan American.
