49ers Head To NCAA Regionals
Long Beach Tangles With UCLA In 1st Round On May 14
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May 6, 2004 The Record: Long Beach State won the 2004 Big West Conference Women's Tennis Championship (April 23-25) with consecutive 4-2 wins over UCSB, Cal Poly and UC Irvine. The 49ers are 18-8 on the season and are currently ranked No. 54 in the country. LBSU has been nationally-ranked all season. All eight losses this year have come to teams which are nationally-ranked, plus the 49ers have seven wins over ranked teams. The 49ers opponent in the first round will be UCLA (16-7). The Bruins are the No. 9 national seed in the tournament and ranked No. 8 in the ITA Poll. Pepperdine (14-9) and BYU (22-5) are the other teams selected to participate in the UCLA Regional.
The Coach: Jenny Hilt-Costello (UCLA, 1994) is 101-64 (.612) in her seventh year as the head coach at Long Beach State. Hilt-Costello has led the 49ers to four consecutive appearances in the Big West Tournament Championship match, winning titles in 2004 and 2002. She was named the 2004 Big West Coach of the Year.
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,, making this the toughest 49er schedule in school history. Listed in order are: USC (6), Michigan (26), Oregon (32), Sacramento State (35), Pepperdine (37), Marshall (55), Cal Poly (57), Boston College (59), Pacific (63), UC Irvine (68), San Diego State (70) and Nebraska (74).
All-Conference Honors: The 49ers fared well when the All-Big West teams were announced on April 27. Head Coach Jenny Hilt-Costello was named the Big West Coach of the Year. Junior Nicole Bouffler earned first team all-league honors in singles, Kelly Chan was second team in singles and Alanah Carroll earned honorable mention honors. In doubles, Bouffler and Sandra Rocha were named first team all-league and Chan/Carroll were named second team.
49ers Win Big West Tournament: The 49ers won all three matches by identical 4-2 scores at the Big West Tournament, the 49ers second league crown in the past three years. The 49ers won the doubles point each day, which proved to be extremely important, and sophomore Alanah Carroll dominated throughout going 3-0 at the No. 3 singles spot, winning all three matches in straight sets.
UCSB: The 49ers won the doubles point, winning at the No. 1 and No. 3 spots. In singles play, Nicole Bouffler, Alanah Carroll and Emmanuelle Tabatroung won their singles matches. Bouffler sealed the win with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 win at the No. 1 spot over Marielle Gruenig.
Cal Poly: The match seemed to turn in the 49ers favor after Bouffler/Rocha rallied from a 7-1 deficit at No. 1 doubles to win 9-7 and give the doubles point to LBSU. In singles play, Bouffler, Chan and Carroll all won in straight sets to give the 49ers the 4-2 win.
UC Irvine: For the third straight day the 49ers won the doubles point, this time winning at the No. 1 and 2 spots. Carroll won her singles match at the No. 3 spot and UCI won at the five and six singles spots to tie the match at 2-2. The final three singles matches all went to a third set. Tabatruong was able to come away with a 6-2, 1-6, 6-2 win at No. 4 singles and then 49ers then won the match as Kelly Chan rallied from a 4-2 deficit in the third set to win 7-5, 1-6, 6-4 and clinch the title.
Second NCAA Appearance: The 49ers will be making their second NCAA Tournament appearance. In 2002 the 49ers were sent to Palo Alto, CA to tangle with Pepperdine in a first round match. The 49ers lost to the Waves 4-1 in a tightly-contested match.
Chan No. 1 In Doubles: Thanks to an 14-5 record at No. 2 doubles with Alanah Carroll this spring, senior Kelly Chan has recorded 22 doubles wins this year (spring and fall) and has moved into first all-time at LBSU with 67 doubles victories. The previous record-holder is Havaja Frljuckic's 63 wins from 1984-87. In overall wins (both singles and doubles) Chan has accumulated 107 career wins (40 singles/67 doubles) to rank fourth all-time and her overall winning percentage of .582 (107-77) in all singles and doubles matches is No. 10 all-time at LBSU.
Bouffler With 24 Doubles Wins: Junior Nicole Bouffler is 27-7 this season at the No. 1 doubles position. She is 20-6 with Sandra Rocha and went 7-1 in the Fall with Tammy Day. The 27 doubles wins is tied for first on the 49er single season chart. Bouffler is tied with Lindsey Marvel who was 27-8 in 2002 in doubles action.
Bouffler Ranked: Nicole Bouffler also found her way into the national rankings, thanks in a large part to her 6-3, 6-3 win over Oregon's Daria Panova on April 16. Panova was ranked No. 9 in the nation at the time (now is ranked No. 12). Bouffler is currently ranked No. 88 nationally. Bouffler also has a win over No. 47 ranked Emma Murphy (USD) in the Fall. Bouffler has played eight players who are currently nationally-ranked and is 2-6 in those matches (12-Panova, Oregon; 27-Braverman, Pepperdine; 42-Karnaukhova, Sacramento State; 47-Murphy, USD; 53-DaCosta, Michigan; 77-Vermeulen, USC; 105-Zsiros, UNLV; 121-Mrazovic, Pacific).
Carroll Looks Good: Sophomore Alanah Carroll had a big weekend at the Big West Championships. Carroll, who competes at the No. 3 singles position, won all three of her matches. In the quarterfinals she beat UCSB's Mio Fukushima 6-2, 6-4. In the semi's she beat Cal Poly's Sheila Lewis 6-1, 6-4 and in the championship match she beat UC Irvine's Hui Leow 6-0, 6-1. Carroll as 19-7 this spring in singles play and 25-12 overall. She began the spring playing at the No. 5 spot (10-4), moved to No. 4 spot (4-1) in March and then took over at No. 3 singles (5-2) on April 8. The 25 singles wins is tied for fifth all-time in 49er history.
Tabatruong A Welcome Addition: True freshman Emmanuelle Tabatruong has made quite an impact for the 49ers this spring. Tabatruong joined the team in January and is now competing at the No. 4 singles spot. Overall she has compiled a 15-4 singles mark (7-1 at No. 6, 4-2 at No. 5, 4-1 at No. 4). She won two matches at the Big West Championships, defeating UCSB's Jen Kuhle 6-4, 6-2 in the quarterfinals and UCI's Kristina Boss in the finals 6-2, 1-6, 6-2. In the semi's vs. Cal Poly she dropped the first set to Kristen Grady, but was winning the second before the match was stopped. In doubles she has teamed with fellow freshman Krystina Katayama at the No. 3 spot and that duo is 5-2.
11-Match Win Streak: The 11-match win streak the 49ers recorded this season (Feb. 29-Apr. 2) was the third longest in 49er women's tennis history. The school record is 17 in a row set during the 2001 season.
20-Plus Singles Wins: The 49ers have two players who have hit 20 singles wins this year (fall and spring). Junior Nicole Bouffler is 26-10 in singles action this year, while sophomore Alanah Carroll is 25-12. The 26 victories is tied for third all-time in school history. The record is 28 singles wins set by Alena and Anastasia Dvornikova in 2002.
Fourth Straight Winning Season: The 49ers record this year of 18-8 marks the fourth straight year the 49ers have finished above the .500 mark. In 2001 LBSU was 22-3, 21-3 in 2002 and in 2003 they finished at 15-8 as well. This is the first time in school history that the women's tennis team has strung together four consecutive winning seasons. They have had three straight winning seasons two different times (1984-1986 and 1996-1998).
49ers Announce Signee: Jenny Hilt-Costello announced on May 3 the signing of Nicoletta Ratiu to a National Letter-Of-Intent. Ratiu will be an incoming freshman in the fall for the 49ers and hails from Bistrita, Romania. She had an ITF World Junior doubles ranking of #167 and a singles ranking of #252.
UCLA Facts: The Bruins (16-7) are ranked No. 8 in the latest ITA Poll and are the No. 9 seed in the tournament. UCLA went 6-2 in the Pac-10, good for third place. Leading the way at No. 1 singles is freshman Daniela Bercek who is ranked No. 31 in the country and Jackie Carleton at No. 2 singles who is ranked No. 18 nationally. Two Bruin doubles teams are nationally ranked with Lauren Fisher/Bercek at No. 23 and Feriel Esseghir/Carleton at No. 43.
Pepperdine Facts: The Waves are 14-9 overall and ranked No. 37 in the country. Pepperdine won the West Coast Conference title, for the 16th time in the last 17 years, with a 5-2 win over U. of San Diego. Playing at No. 1 singles is Natalie Braverman who is ranked No. 27 nationally. Charlotte Vernaz, ranked No. 100, plays at the No. 3 singles spot for the Waves.
BYU Facts: The Cougars (22-5) are ranked No. 18 in the latest ITA Poll. They captured the Mountain West Conference title with a 4-3 win over top-seeded New Mexico. Senior Barbora Zahnova is 18-6 this year at the No. 1 singles spot, while being ranked No. 36 in the country. Playing at the No. 3 spot is freshman Lauren Jones, who prepped at Capistrano Valley High School in Mission Viejo. The doubles duo of Zahnova and Sofia Holden are ranked No. 18 in the latest ITA Doubles Rankings. Game-By-Game Recaps
2003-04 Individual Statistics
2004 Schedule & Results (18-8)
JANUARY
Thr. 22 at USC L, 0-7
Sat. 24 at Pepperdine L, 1-6
Sat. 31 at San Diego State L, 2-5
FEBRUARY
Sat. 14 *CS Fullerton W, 7-0
Sun. 15 *UC Irvine W, 5-2
Fri. 20 Sacramento State L, 2-5
Sat. 28 vs. Michigan L, 1-6
Sun. 29at Hawai'i W, 6-1
MARCH
Thr. 4 Boston College W, 4-3
Fri. 5 *at UC Riverside W, 6-1
Fri. 12 Charlotte W, 6-1
Sat. 13 LMU W, 4-3
Sun. 14 Marshall W, 4-3
Fri. 19 Utah W, 5-2
Sat. 20 Nebraska W, 7-0
Fri. 26 *at CS Northridge W, 6-1
Sat. 27 *Idaho W, 5-2
APRIL
Fri. 2 Brown W, 6-1
Sat. 3 *Pacific L, 3-4
Thr. 8 *at Cal Poly L, 2-5
Fri. 9 *at UCSB W, 4-3
Thr. 15 Hawai'i W, 5-2
Fri. 16 Oregon L, 3-4
Fri. 23 &UCSB W, 4-2
Sat. 24 & Cal Poly W, 4-2
Sun. 25 & UC Irvine W, 4-2
MAY
Fri. 14 at UCLA, 1 pm (NCAA 1st Round)
Sat. 15 vs. BYU/Pepperdine, 3 pm (If win on Friday)
& 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 | | April 6 | #51 | 10.10 | | April 13 | T#59 | 8.22 | | April 20 | #63 | 7.72 | | Apr. 27 | #56 | 9.79 | | May 4 | #54 | 10.88 |
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