49ers Tangle With Big West Foes
Beach Takes On CS Northridge And Idaho
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March 23, 2004 The Records: The Long Beach State women's tennis team, ranked No. 59 this week in the latest ITA Rankings, improved to 10-5 overall with victories over Utah (5-2) and No. 70 Nebraska (7-0) last week. The Beach has won eight consecutive matches and will tangle with two Big West foes this week when they play at CS Northridge on Friday and host Idaho on Saturday.
The Coach: Jenny Hilt-Costello (UCLA, 1994) is 93-61 (.604) in her seventh year as the head coach at Long Beach State. Hilt-Costello has led the 49ers to three consecutive appearances in the Big West Tournament Championship match, winning the crown in 2002.
The Series: The 49ers lead in their series with CS Northridge by a 15-12 count, but the 49ers have won the last four in a row, including a 5-2 win last season in Long Beach. The 49ers are 4-1 all-time against Idaho, having won the last four meetings. Last year the Beach beat the Vandals twice, winning 5-2 in Moscow, ID and 4-0 in the first round of the Big West Conference Championships.
Playing The Best: Of the 22 NCAA Division I programs on the 2004 49er spring schedule, 10 are currently ranked in the Top 75 in the latest ITA Tennis rankings. Listed in order are: USC (8), Michigan (19), Oregon (29), Pepperdine (37), Boston College (46), Sacramento State (48), Marshall (57), Pacific (64), San Diego State (68), Cal Poly (69). This week's rankings were the first computer rankings.
Eight In A Row: Since losing 6-1 on February 28 to the University of Michigan in Hawai'i, the 49ers have reeled off eight wins in a row, including four wins over nationally-ranked squads. Boston College (64), UC Riverside (T75), Marshall (51) and Nebraska (70) were all ranked when the 49ers played them, and beat them. LBSU also earned wins over Hawai'i, Charlotte, LMU and Utah. The win over No. 51 Marshall on March 14 was the highest-ranked opponent the 49ers have ever beaten. Last season the 49ers won six consecutive matches and in 1992 and 1996 the 49ers won seven straight. The school record is 17 consecutive wins set in 2001.
Bouffler On A Host Streak: Junior Nicole Bouffler has won her last eight matches at No. 1 singles this spring, improving her overall record to 19-7, and 10-5 in the spring. Bouffler began the streak with a 7-6, 2-6, 6-3 win over Hawai'i Lauren Fitzgerald. Five of the eight wins have come in straight sets. Bouffler is 2-1 vs. Big West foes this spring, with her only loss coming to UC Irvine's Tiffany Chang, 4-6, 6-2, 4-6. Last week she defeated Utah's Whitney Eber 6-1, 6-1 and Nebraska's Milena Schulz-Gartner 2-6, 6-4, 10-7.
Tabatruong Fitting In: Freshman Emmanuelle Tabatruong has moved in to the starting singles lineup and is 7-2 thus far. Tabatruong is 3-1 at the No. 5 spot and 4-1 at No. 6 singles. Six of her seven wins have come in straight sets. Last week she bounced Utah's Jenessa Jackson 6-1, 6-1 at the No. 6 spot and then she came back to win at No. 5 singles over Nebraska's Katie Garcia, 6-4, 6-2.
Chan On Doubles Chart: Thanks to an 8-1 record at No. 2 doubles with Alanah Carroll this spring, senior Kelly Chan has recorded 16 doubles wins this year (spring and fall) and currently ranks second all-time at LBSU with 61 doubles victories. The current record-holder is Havaja Frljuckic's 63 wins from 1984-87. In overall wins (both singles and doubles) Chan has accumulated 95 career wins (34 singles/61 doubles) to rank fifth all-time. Frljuckic holds the record with 133 career wins, Antonia Wolff is second with 118, Lindsey Marvel third with 105 and Christine Bragg fourth with 98.
Marvel Rebounds: Senior Lindsey Marvel won both of her singles matches last week and has won four of her last five since moving back into the starting lineup. Marvel defeated Utah's Rachel Alder 6-2, 6-1 at No. 4 singles and then beat Nebraska's Rose Ketmayura 6-2, 6-4 at the No. 3 spot. She also has teamed with Krystina Katayama at No. 3 doubles to go 4-1. Marvel has recorded 105 career victories (52 singles/53 doubles) at LBSU to rank No. 3 all-time, while her 52 singles wins also stands at No. 3.
2004 Schedule & Results (10-5)
JANUARY
Thr. 22 at USC (6) L, 0-7
Sat. 24 at Pepperdine (42) L, 1-6
Sat. 31 at San Diego State (28) L, 2-5
FEBRUARY
Sat. 14 *CS Fullerton W, 7-0
Sun. 15 *UC Irvine (65) W, 5-2
Fri. 20 Sacramento State (53) L, 2-5
Sat. 28 vs. Michigan (19) L, 1-6
Sun. 29at Hawai'i W, 6-1
MARCH
Thr. 4 Boston College (64) W, 4-3
Fri. 5 *at UC Riverside (T75) W, 6-1
Fri. 12 Charlotte W, 6-1
Sat. 13 LMU W, 4-3
Sun. 14 Marshall (51) W, 4-3
Fri. 19 Utah W, 5-2
Sat. 20 Nebraska (70) W, 7-0
Fri. 26 *at CS Northridge 2 pm
Sat. 27 *Idaho 11 am
APRIL
Fri. 2 Brown 2 pm
Sat. 3 *Pacific (64) 11 am
Thr. 8 *at Cal Poly (69) 1:30 pm
Fri. 9 *at UCSB 1:30 pm
Thr. 15 Hawai'i 2 pm
Fri. 16 Oregon (29) 2 pm
Th.-Su. 22-25 at Big West Championships
(Indian Wells, California)
*Big West Match Home Matches In Bold
(Rankings at time LBSU played each team)
49ERS IN THE ITA RANKINGS | Date | Ranking | Points | | January 13 | #58 | 414 | | January 27 | #60 | 119 | | February 10 | #61 | 96 | | February 24 | #65 | 55 | | March 2 | #63 | 72 | | March 9 | #64 | 64 | | March 16 | #55 | 130 | | March 23 | #59 | 6.91 | | March 30 | | |
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