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49ers Head South To Wilson/ITA Fall Regionals
Beach Will Travel Majority Of Squad To San Diego
October 18, 2006
This Week: The Long Beach State women’s tennis
team will travel down to San Diego for the annual Wilson/ITA West Regional
Championships. The University of San Diego and San Diego State are the
host schools for the tournament which begins on Thursday, October 19 and
runs through Monday, October 23.
Wilson/ITA Brackets: Seven singles players and three doubles
teams are entered at this weekend’s Wilson/ITA West Regional Championships
in San Diego for the 49ers. Hannah Grady is the No. 7 seed in the singles
bracket, while Katy Williams is the No. 17 seed. Grady, Williams and Rachael
Porsz all have first round byes. Competing on Thursday morning (10 am)
in singles are Stephanie Bengson, Nina Burgoon, Denise Liebschner and
Emmanuelle Tabatruong. The doubles teams entered are: Tabatruong and Burgoon,
Porsz and Liebschner and Williams and Bengson. Doubles action begins on
Thursday morning at 8 am.
Grady & Weeks At Riviera: Hannah Grady and Jessica Weeks
competed at the Riviera All-American Championships in early October. In
singles play, Grady won her opening match, defeating No. 117-ranked Austin
Smith of North Carolina 5-7, 7-6 (1), 6-3. In the second round, No. 38-ranked
Grady fell to Fresno State’s Renata Kuckerova 7-5, 7-5. In doubles,
the duo of Grady and Weeks advanced to the finals of the consolation bracket.
They fell in their opening match to No. 25 Bercek and Plotkin of Duke,
8-3. In the consolation bracket, Grady and Weeks (No. 23 nationally) defeated
No. 37 Schofield and Vuckovic of South Carolina 9-8 (3). They then advanced
to the championship match due to a walk-over. In the consolation title
match the 49ers fell to the No. 15-ranked squad of Zalameda and Schnack
of UCLA, 8-6.
Beach At Fullerton Intercollegiates: The 49ers sent five
players to the CS Fullerton Fall Intercollegiates. In the singles bracket,
both Katy Williams and Jessica Weeks advanced to the semi-finals. Williams
was the No. 1 seed in the draw. She defeated Shawnell Russell (LMU) 6-1,
6-2; Kristy Fournell (CS Northridge) 3-6, 6-5, retired; and Shannon Brady
(Cal Poly) 6-4, 6-1 to advance to the semi’s. Williams fell in the
semi’s to Brittany Blalock of Cal Poly 6-3, 7-5. Weeks defeated
Devin Peek (Cal Poly) 6-1, 6-0; Carol Erickson (Cal Poly) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
and Diane Filip (Cal Poly) 6-4, 6-4. In her semi Weeks fell to Pepperdine’s
Jill Braverman 6-2, 6-2. In doubles, the 49er duo of Emmanuelle Tabatruong
and Denise Liebschner won the back draw title. After dropping their second
round match, Tabatruong and Liebschner came back on Sunday to defeat Andrews/Inglis
(CS Fullerton) 8-2 and Le/Domela (CS Fullerton) 8-5 to capture the title.
The Coach: Head Coach Jenny Hilt-Costello (UCLA, 1994)
is 138-81 (.630) in her tenth year at Long Beach State. Hilt-Costello
has led the 49ers to six consecutive appearances in the Big West Tournament
Championship match, winning championships in 2002, 2004, 2005 and 2006.
She was voted the Big West Coach of the Year in 2001, 2004, 2005 and 2006,
and she was the 2004 ITA West Region Coach of the Year. Three of Hilt-Costello’s
players have won Big West Conference Player of the Year Awards. Her teams
are the only 49er tennis teams to have ever been nationally-ranked, reach
a conference final, win a conference title and reach the NCAA Tournament.
She currently possesses the school-record for single season and career
coaching victories at Long Beach State.
Playing The Best: This year’s spring schedule is
full of nationally-ranked opponents once again. Of the 23 matches, 12
of the opponents finished the 2006 season nationally-ranked (USC #3, VCU
#12, Pepperdine #14, Fresno State #20, Iowa #33, Florida International
#35, San Diego State #38, Pennsylvania #42, UNLV #50, UC Irvine #53, LMU
#65, UCSB #70).
National Ranking: The 49ers finished the 2006 season ranked No.
26 in the country. The Beach was nationally-ranked all season, recording
a season-high ranking of No. 18. The pre-season rankings for 2007 will
not come out until January 9, 2007. The 49ers have finished the season
nationally-ranked the past six years.
Pre-Season Individual Rankings: The pre-season women’s
singles and doubles ranking were released on September 8 and the 49ers
are well represented. Hannah Grady is ranked No. 38 in the nation in singles,
while Katy Williams checks in at No. 85. In doubles, the team of Grady
and Jessica Weeks ranks No. 23.
Hannah Grady: Begins the 2006-07 season ranked No. 38 in singles
in the ITA pre-season poll. Grady, a sophomore, kicked off her fall schedule
at the Riviera All-American Championships. She won her opening singles
match 5-7, 7-6 (1), 6-3 over No. 117-ranked Austin Smith of North Carolina.
The victory was her sixth win against a nationally-ranked opponent in
her 49er career. Grady then fell in the second round to Renata Kucerkova
of Fresno State 6-4, 7-5. In doubles, she and Jessica Weeks went 1-2,
playing three nationally-ranked opponents. The No. 23-ranked 49er duo
dropped their opener to No. 25-ranked Bercek/Plotkin of Duke 8-3. They
then rebounded to defeat No. 37 Schofield/Vuckovic of South Carolina,
9-8 (3). Grady was the 2006 Big West Conference Player and Freshman of
the Year. She qualified for both the NCAA Singles and Doubles Individual
Championships. Grady went 19-6 in singles play with five wins over nationally-ranked
opponents. She finished the season ranked No. 53 in singles and she was
the ninth-ranked freshman in singles. In doubles, she and Weeks went 19-2,
earning a trip to the NCAA Championships, while finishing the year ranked
No. 46.
Katy Williams: Williams begins her sophomore season ranked No.
85 in singles. She competed in the pre-qualifying bracket of the Riviera
All-America Championships falling to Renata Kuckerova of Fresno State,
6-1, 6-0. This past weekend she was the No. 1 seed at the CS Fullerton
Fall Intercollegiates. After a first round bye, she won three consecutive
matches to advance to the semi-finals. In the quarterfinals she defeated
Cal Poly’s Shannon Brady 6-4, 6-1. A first team all-conference selection
in singles and doubles, Williams finished last season at 28-9 with four
nationally-ranked wins and a national ranking of No. 118. In doubles,
she and Rocha were 23-13 overall and were ranked No. 53 nationally. Her
28 singles victories tied the school record for victories in a single
season.
Stephanie Bengson: Began the season strong at the Cal Nike Invitational
(Sept. 29-Oct. 1) winning the Back Draw Doubles title with Rachael Porsz
and then claiming the White Bracket Consolation Singles title. Bengson
defeated Arizona State’s Laila Abdala in convincing fashion (6-0,
6-2) to claim that title. She did not compete at the Fullerton Intercollegiates.
The 2005 Big West Freshman of the Year, Bengson was a second team selection
in 2006 in singles and she also earned honorable mention honors in doubles.
Bengson went 15-7 in singles last season and 19-4 in doubles with Rachael
Porsz. She also received an ITA Academic Student-Athlete award in 2006.
Sandra Rocha: Rocha enters her fourth year as a 49er, the lone
player to earn that distinction. Rocha earned second team all-conference
honors in singles last year and has been a first team all-league selection
in doubles three consecutive years. Last season she and Katy Williams
earned a No. 53 national ranking in doubles. Rocha’s 50 career singles
wins ranks No. 5 all-time at Long Beach State while her 66 doubles wins
ranks No. 2 and her 116 overall victories ranks No. 3 all-time.
Jessica Weeks: Weeks advanced to the semi-finals of the CS Fullerton
Fall Intercollegiates this past weekend. Weeks defeated three opponents
from Cal Poly en route to the semi’s. At the Riviera All-American
Championships, Weeks and Hannah Grady (ranked #23) went 1-2 playing three
nationally-ranked opponents. After dropping their opening match, they
came back to defeat No. 37-ranked Schofield/Vuckovic of South Carolina
9-8 (3). Weeks earned first team all-league honors in 2006 in doubles
with Hannah Grady as that duo went 19-2 on the year and were ranked No.
46 in the nation. Weeks’ 26 total doubles victories last year tied
for the second-most single season doubles victories in school history.
An ITA Academic Scholar-Athlete in 2006, Weeks was a combined 44-19 in
singles and doubles action last year.
Rachael Porsz: Competed at the Cal Nike Invitational two weekends
ago, but did not play at Fullerton this past weekend. Teamed with Stephanie
Bengson to win the Gold Bracket Back Draw Championship. After dropping
opening match, the pair won three consecutive matches, including an 8-3
win in the title match over Aloia and Charlot of Saint Mary’s. Earned
honorable mention all-league honors in doubles last year with Bengson.
Her 36 career doubles wins ranks No. 13 all-time on the 49er career chart
and her 73 overall wins ranks No. 18. Last year she went 23-12 in singles
play and a combined 24-10. She was also one of four players to earn and
ITA Academic Student-Athlete award.
Emmanuelle Tabatruong: Tabatruong competed at the CS
Fullerton Fall Intercollegiates in both singles and doubles this past
weekend. In singles play she dropped her opening match in the main draw,
but came back to win twice in the back draw. She defeated Jerusha Cruz
(CS Fullerton) 8-2 and Natalie Tejada (LMU) 8-1. In doubles, she and Denise
Liebschner won the back draw title. They defeated Andrews/Inglis (CS Fullerton)
8-2 and Le/Domela (CS Fullerton) 8-5 on Sunday to claim the title. Tabatruong
bounced back last year after missing the 2004-05 season due to injury.
She went 8-8 in singles action. As a freshman in 2004, Tabatruong posted
a 15-4 singles record with 13 victories coming in straight sets. She was
also a 2006 ITA Academic Student-Athlete award winner.
Nina Burgoon: One of two true freshmen on the 2006-07
squad. Burgoon hails from Gastonia, NC where she prepped at Ashbrook High
School. She was ranked No. 160 by TennisRecruiting.net as a senior in
2006 and played in the 2006 ITA College Summer Circuit going 6-2 in the
Circuit, reaching the semi-finals at Greensboro. Burgoon was named conference
Player of the Year twice and was team MVP twice. She saw her first action
this past weekend at the CS Fullerton Fall Intercollegiates. In singles
she advanced out of the first round due to a walk-over. In the second
round she fell to Cal Poly’s Shannon Brady 7-6 (2), 6-0. In doubles
she teamed with Jessica Weeks and the duo went 1-1. They defeated Silman
and Russell of LMU 8-0 in the first round on Friday, but then defaulted
their second round next match on Saturday.
Denise Liebschner: A true freshman out of Dresden, Germany.
Liebschner is ranked No. 23 in Germany in the 18's rankings. She was the
winner of the 2005 Berlin Junior Open and the Dresden International Under
18 Tournament. Liebschner reached No. 11 in the German junior under-14
rankings and for five consecutive years (2001-05) she was rated the Best
Saxonian Player under 18. She competed at the CS Fullerton Fall Intercollegiates
in singles and doubles. In singles play she went 0-2, but played two tough
opponents from Pepperdine. In her opener she fell to Anete Bandere 6-2,
6-2. In the back draw she fell to Alicia Poladin 9-7. In doubles, she
and Emmanuelle Tabatruong won the doubles back draw. They defeated Andrews/Inglis
(CS Fullerton) 8-2 and Le/Domela (CS Fullerton) 8-5 on Sunday to claim
the title.
PDF version of this release
2006-07 Roster
2006-07 Schedule
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