Beach Ranked No. 49 In Nation
Long Beach Hosts Brown and Pacific This Weekend
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March 30, 2004 The Records: The Long Beach State women's tennis team, ranked No. 49 this week in the latest ITA Rankings, won two matches last week to improve to 12-5 overall and a perfect 5-0 vs. Big West Conference foes. The No. 49 national ranking is the highest-ever for the 49ers. The 49ers have won 10 matches in a row and play host to Brown (Apr. 2) and No. 70 Pacific (Apr. 3) this weekend at the 49er Campus Courts.
The Coach: Jenny Hilt-Costello (UCLA, 1994) is 95-61 (.609) 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 Brown 4-1. The Beach defeated the Bears 5-2 last year in Long Beach. The 49ers trail in their series with Pacific by a 10-6 margin. Long Beach has won the last three meetings between the Big West rivals, including a 5-2 win last year in Long Beach.
Playing The Best: Of the 22 NCAA Division I programs on the 2004 49er spring schedule, 12 are currently ranked in the Top 75 in the latest ITA Tennis rankings. Listed in order are: USC (8), Michigan (20), Oregon (31), Sacramento State (39), Pepperdine (44), Boston College (47), Marshall (48), Cal Poly (60), Pacific (70), San Diego State (71), LMU (74) and UC Irvine (T75).
10 In A Row: Since losing 6-1 on February 28 to Michigan in Hawai'i, the 49ers have reeled off 10 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 beat them. The win over No. 51 Marshall on March 14 was the highest-ranked opponent the 49ers have ever beaten. The school record for consecutive wins is 17 consecutive wins set in 2001.
Doubles Prowess: The play of all three doubles teams has picked up since the beginning of March. The 49ers have swept the doubles in their last four matches, and in six of its last seven. The duo at No. 1 doubles of Nicole Bouffler and Sandra Rocha are 11-6 overall this spring, but have won four in a row and six of seven. At No. 2 doubles, Kelly Chan and Alanah Carroll are 10-1, having won 10 matches in a row. At No. 3 doubles, Lindsey Marvel and Krystina Katayama are 6-1 this spring.
Chan/Carroll: The duo of Kelly Chan and Alanah Carroll first paired up on Jan. 31 at San Diego State, the 49ers third match of the year, and lost 8-2. Carroll then teamed up with Lindsey Marvel for the next four matches, before Chan and Carroll took the court on Feb. 29 at Hawai'i. The pair won that match 8-4 over Boutet/Jaros, and have been on a roll ever since, reeling off 10 consecutive victories. In eight of the victories they have lost four games or less. Their biggest test during the run was a 9-8 win over Marshall's Nzudie/Sukner on March 14.
Bouffler At 10 In A Row: Junior Nicole Bouffler, like her team, has won her last 10 matches at No. 1 singles this spring, improving her overall record to 21-7, and 12-5 in the spring. Bouffler began the streak with a 7-6, 2-6, 6-3 win over Hawai'i Lauren Fitzgerald. Seven of the 10 wins have come in straight sets. Bouffler is 4-1 vs. Big West foes this spring, including picking up a pair of 6-2, 6-1 wins this past weekend over the No. 1 players from CS Northridge and Idaho.
Chan On Doubles Chart: Thanks to an 10-1 record at No. 2 doubles with Alanah Carroll this spring, senior Kelly Chan has recorded 18 doubles wins this year (spring and fall) and currently is tied for first all-time at LBSU with 63 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 98 career wins (35 singles/63 doubles) to tie for fourth all-time. Frljuckic holds the record with 133 career wins, Antonia Wolff is second with 118, Lindsey Marvel third with 107 and Christine Bragg fourth with 98.
2004 Schedule & Results (12-5)
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 W, 6-1
Sat. 27 *Idaho W, 5-2
APRIL
Fri. 2 Brown 2 pm
Sat. 3 *Pacific (70) 11 am
Thr. 8 *at Cal Poly (60) 1:30 pm
Fri. 9 *at UCSB 1:30 pm
Thr. 15 Hawai'i 2 pm
Fri. 16 Oregon (31) 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 | #49 | 8.52 |
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