February 26, 2003
| 49ER WOMEN'S TENNIS | | Sat., March 1 at UC Irvine, 10 am, Irvine, CA |
Check out the 2003 Schedule
Check out the 2003 Roster
The Records: Long Beach State is 4-4 on the young season and 2-0 vs. Big West Conference foes. The Beach will travel to Orange County to face Big West rival UC Irvine on Saturday at 10 am. The 49ers are ranked #74 in the country this week. UCI is 5-5 overall and 2-0 in the Big West and are ranked #62 in the latest ITA Rankings.
The Coach: Head Coach Jenny Hilt (UCLA, 1994) is 72-52 (.581) in her sixth year in charge of the 49er program. She was selected as the 2001 Big West Conference Coach of the Year and has led The Beach to back-to-back 20-plus win seasons.
Series Record: The 49ers are 7-28 lifetime vs. UC Irvine, but snapped a 19-match losing skid to the Anteaters with a 4-2 win over UCI in the championship match of the 2002 Big West Conference Tournament at Ojai. UCI won last season's regular season match, 5-2 at LBSU.
In The Rankings: The 49ers are taking on their toughest schedule in school history this season as nine opponents are ranked, or have been ranked, in the ITA Top 75. UCLA is the highest ranked opponent, as the Bruins are currently #8 in the country. San Diego State is #29, Penn #40, Washington State #42, Boise State #60, UC Irvine #62, Sacramento State #73 and CS Northridge is tied for #75. Loyola Marymount was ranked #67 when the 49ers played them, but have since dropped out of the poll. The 49ers were ranked #72 in the pre-season poll, dropped to #74 on January 29, fell out of the poll for three weeks and just re-entered the poll on Feb. 26 at #74.
Big Win Over LMU: The 49ers picked up their biggest win over the young season on Feb. 22 with a 6-1 win at #67-ranked Loyola Marymount. The 49ers won all three doubles matches, for just the second time this season, to earn the doubles point. Laura Thomas and Megan Biorkman won at the #1 spot, 8-4 over Perka Fileva and Patrycia Hubl. In singles the 49ers won five matches, capturing four in straight sets. Alena Kovalchuk won at the #1 spot, 7-5, 6-2, over Fileva, while Thomas prevailed at #2 singles, 6-3, 6-3 over Edit Pakay. Alanah Carroll breezed to an easy 6-0, 6-0 win at the #6 spot and Lindsey Marvel won 6-3, 6-0 at #3. Kelly Chan was the lone 49er to not win in straight sets, but she defeated Hubl 7-5, 4-6, 10-4 in a super tiebreaker.
Three In A Row: After beginning the season 1-4, with all four losses coming to nationally-ranked teams, the 49ers have won their last three matches impressively, defeating Hawai'i (6-1), CS Northridge (5-2) and #67-ranked Loyola Marymount (6-1). Last year the 49ers had a school-record 16-match win streak as they finished the season at 21-3 overall, including their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance.
Thomas Thrives At #2 Spot: Sophomore Laura Thomas (London, England) stepped into a difficult role to begin the season, playing at the #1 singles spot. Thomas, who was 6-5 in the fall in singles, struggled to a 1-5 mark against some of the top players in the country. Since the addition of Alena Kovalchuk, Thomas has now moved to the #2 spot and has responded with two solid victories. She defeated Rani Setiawati of CS Northridge, 7-5, 6-4, and then routed LMU's Edit Pakay last Saturday, 6-3, 6-3. Thomas was 20-2 last year in the spring in singles, registering an 18-1 mark at the #4 spot.
Kovalchuk Shines: Newcomer Alena Kovalchuk (Kiev, Ukraine) has made an immediate impact to the 49ers thus far. Kovalchuk, a transfer from UT-San Antonio, has stepped into the #1 singles spot and won both of her matches. She defeated Tereza Simonyan of CS Northridge 6-3, 6-0 and then downed Perka Fileva on LMU, 7-5, 6-2 last Saturday. Kovalchuk competed in the fall at UTSA and played in two doubles tournaments, winning both, and one singles tournament, which she also won. In doubles, she is teamed with Lindsey Marvel at the 3# spot and the duo is currently 2-0.
Carroll Off To A Strong Start: Freshman Alanah Carroll (Belrose, New South Wales, Australia) is currently 5-3 in singles action this season. Carroll is 2-1 at the #5 spot and 3-2 at #6 singles for an overall singles record of 5-3. After dropping her first two singles matches of the year (UCLA, San Diego State), she has won five of her last six matches, including three in a row. Carroll is a true freshman who graduated from Brigidine College St. Ives in November of 2002
49ERS IN THE ITA RANKINGS | | January 13: #72 | | January 29: #74 | | February 5: Not Ranked | | February 12: Not Ranked | | February 19: Not Ranked | | February 26: #74 | | March 5: | | March 12: | | March 19: | | March 26: | | April 2: | | April 9: | | April 16: | | April 23: | | April 30: | (Poll Administered by the ITA) |
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