Texas A&M
Boise State
Rookie Krajicek Clinches 4-3 Match Victory Over No. 22 Boise State
Jan 27, 2008 | Men's Tennis
January 27, 2008
The 25th-ranked Texas A&M men?™s tennis team improved to 2-0 on the season as freshman Austin Krajicek (Brandon, Fla.) clinched a 4-3 dual match victory over No. 22 Boise State Sunday afternoon at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center.
For the second match in a row, Krajicek delivered the goods for A&M to hand Boise State (5-1) its first loss of the year and even the all-time series record to 2-2. He battled back from a 6-2 deficit to Piotr Dilaj in the second-set tiebreaker to come out on top, 7-5, 7-6 (7), at the No. 5 line. Krajicek also clinched A&M?™s 6-1 win against No. 30 Clemson on Friday night.
?It was definitely a great feeling,? Krajicek said. ?He (Dilaj) played very well and I give him a lot of credit. It was a great match and one of the most exciting matches I?™ve ever played. I?™m just glad to have pulled it off for my team in our first home match.?
The rookie?™s effort was spurred on by No. 23-ranked Conor Pollock (San Antonio, Texas) who climbed back from a 2-6 setback in his first set to defeat No. 47-ranked Luke Shields in three, 6-1, 6-3. Pollock and Krajicek also combined for A&M?™s lone doubles win of the match ?- an 8-3 decision over Dilaj and Shields at the top of the lineup for the Aggies.
Freshman Wil Spencer (Ponce de Leon, Fla.) also contributed to the match victory as he opened up singles play with a notch in the win column for the Aggies at the No. 3 line to tie things up at one-all. Spencer defeated Boise State?™s Steve Robertson in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1. He was later followed by senior Matt Bain (Georgetown, Texas) who displayed veteran poise at the No. 6 spot to knock down Blake Boswell, 6-4, 6-0.
?I?™m really pleased with our result today and excited about this team,? Texas A&M head coach Steve Denton said. ?Last year, we would have lost a tight match like this and this year, things are different. There is more of a fight in our team to come out with a win. The biggest difference in our team is that we do not have any holes in singles. We are going to have a different player stepping up in every match and today Austin and Conor made a good comeback for us. Boise State?™s players were aggressive today and got after it. It was a really good college tennis match between two good teams that are a lot better than our rankings may indicate. We are a lot better than people are giving us credit for, but we are going to have to earn it. This was a good start.?
A&M continues its three-match homestand at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center with No. 37 Washington (2-0) on Sunday, Feb. 3 at 1 p.m.
(25) TEXAS A&M 4, (22) BOISE STATE 3
January 27, 2008
George P. Mitchell Tennis Center
at College Station, Texas
Attendance: 630
SINGLES
No. 1- (23) Conor Pollock (Texas A&M) def. (47) Luke Shields (Boise State), 2-6, 6-1, 6-3.
No. 2 - (19) Clancy Shields (Boise State) def. Jerry Makowski (Texas A&M), 6-3, 6-3.
No. 3 - Wil Spencer (Texas A&M) def. Steve Robertson (Boise State), 6-3, 6-1.
No. 4 - (69) Brent Werbeck (Boise State) def. (90) Chris Chirico (Texas A&M), 6-3, 6-0.
No. 5 - Austin Krajicek (Texas A&M) def. Piotr Dilaj (Boise State), 7-5, 7-6 (7).
No. 6 - Matt Bain (Texas A&M) def. Blake Boswell (Boise State), 6-4, 6-0.
DOUBLES
No. 1 - Pollock-Krajicek (Texas A&M) def. Dilaj-L.Shields (Boise State), 8-3.
No. 2 - Robertson-C. Shields (Boise State) def. Chirico-Spencer (Texas A&M), 8-5.
No. 3 - (41) Koenke-Roberson (Boise State) def. Bain-Makowski (Texas A&M), 8-5.
ORDER OF FINISH
Doubles: 1, 3, 2
Singles: 3, 6, 4, 2, 1, 5*
