49er Win Streak At 10 In A Ros
Beach Moves Up To No. 25 Nationally
March 7, 2006
PDF Version of Release Long Beach State Tennis (10-2 / 4-0 Big West ) (#25) | Boston College at Long Beach State
Tuesday, March 7, 2 pm, 49er Campus Courts | Long Beach State at UC Riverside
Friday, March 10, 2 pm, Riverside, CA |
The Records: The Long Beach State, ranked No. 25 in the country, currently stands at 10-2 overall after convincing home wins over No. 68 UC Irvine (6-1) and No. 63 Pacific (7-0) last week. This week the 49ers host No. 52 Boston College on Tuesday at 2 pm and then travel to the Inland Empire to take on UC Riverside on Friday at 2 pm. Boston College is 4-1 on the year, ranked No. 56 nationally and was rained out at CS Fullerton on Monday. UC Riverside is 3-8 overall and 0-2 vs. Big West foes and will host Providence and East Tennessee State this week before the 49ers call on Friday.
The Coach: Head Coach Jenny Hilt-Costello (UCLA, 1994) is 126-78 (.618) in her ninth year at Long Beach State. She became the winningest women's tennis coach in school history with the 49ers 7-0 win over CS Fullerton on February 10. Hilt-Costello has led the 49ers to five consecutive appearances in the Big West Tournament Championship match, winning championships in 2002, 2004 and 2005. She was voted the 2004 Big West Coach of the Year and the ITA West Region Coach of the Year.
The Series: The 49ers are 1-2 all-time against Boston College. The last meeting between the two came in the 2004 campaign as the 49ers won 4-3 in Long Beach. The 49ers lead their series with UC Riverside, 7-0. Last year the 49ers defeated the Highlanders 6-1 at home.
Playing The Best: This year's schedule is full of nationally-ranked opponents once again. Of the 22 matches, 13 of the opponents are ranked in the current FILA/ITA Rankings. The 49ers are ranked #25 nationally.
National Ranking: The 49ers are ranked No. 25 in the nation this week, its highest ranking in school history. The 49ers began the season in the pre-season poll ranked No. 57. From there they were ranked No. 47, No. 45, No. 46, No. 35 and No. 25 this week.
Grady Named Player of Week: Freshman Hannah Grady was selected last week (3/1) as the Big West Conference Female Athlete of the Week. Grady won all three of her singles matches, including picking up victories over No. 44 Dominika Dieskova of Oregon 1-6, 7-6, 6-2 and No. 59 Suzana Maksovic of Denver 6-1, 6-3. She also teamed up at No. 2 doubles to win three matches. It is the second straight week she has won the league honor.
Double Your Pleasure: This spring the 49ers have excelled in doubles play. The Beach is a combined 29-7 (.806) in doubles matches and have won the doubles point in 11 of its 12 spring matches. Hannah Grady and Jessica Weeks are 10-0 this year with nine wins coming at the No. 2 spot and one at No. 1 singles. Rachael Porsz and Stephanie Bengson are 10-0 at No. 3 doubles. At the No. 1 spot, Sandra Rocha and Katy Williams are 6-5 and 1-0 at the No. 2 spot.
Hannah Grady: Freshman Hannah Grady (Coventry, England) has made her presence felt in a short amount of time. The Big West Female Athlete of the Week on February 21 and March 1, she competes at No. 1 singles and is currently 8-4 on the season having won her last seven matches. Two weeks ago she picked up two wins against nationally-ranked opponents. She beat Oregon's No. 44-ranked Dominika Dieskova 1-6, 7-6, 6-2. She then came back to beat Denver's No. 59-ranked Suzana Makosvic 6-1, 6-3.
Katy Williams: Freshman Katy Williams (Stevenage, Herfordshire) has won nine of her last 10 singles matches at the No. 2 spot, winning eight of those in straight sets. On Saturday she defeated Pacific's Natalia Kostenko 7-5, 6-1. Williams is ranked No. 91 in the nation in singles action. In doubles, Williams and Sandra Rocha are 7-5 overall, with a 6-5 mark at No. 1 singles. The duo racked up an impressive 8-5 win on January 28 defeating Pepperdine's Sylvia Kosakowski and Merve Asimgil, who were ranked No. 22 at the time.
Stephanie Bengson: The reigning Big West Freshman of the Year, Stephanie Bengson (Albion Park, NSW, Australia), is back and healthy after missing the fall due to shoulder surgery. Bengson was named the Big West Co-Athlete of the Week on February 14. She is competing at the No. 3 spot and is 9-3, having won nine of her last 10 matches. All nine of her wins have come in straight sets. In doubles, Bengson is teamed with Rachael Porsz at the No. 3 spot and that duo is an impressive 10-0 thus far this spring.
Sandra Rocha: Junior Sandra Rocha (Pomona, CA) had her best fall as a 49er compiling a singles mark of 6-3 and teaming with Katy Williams in doubles to post an 8-2 mark. Rocha is 8-3 in singles play this spring, competing at the No. 4 spot, having won eight of her last nine matches. Her last seven victories in singles have come in straight sets. In doubles she teams with Katy Williams at the No. 1 spot. They are currently 7-5 this spring with a big victory over No. 21-ranked Sylvia Kosakowski and Merve Asimgil of Pepperdine, 8-5.
Rachel Porsz: Junior Rachael Porsz (St. Ives, Cambridgeshire, England) is off to a great start this fall. Porsz is 9-2 in singles action this spring (3-0 at No. 5, 6-2 at No. 6), having won eight of her last nine matches. Porsz competed at the No. 6 singles spot in the opener at USC and won her match 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 over Whitney Peterson. Porsz is teamed with Stephanie Bengson at the No. 3 doubles spot and that duo is an impressive 10-0 thus far.
Jessica Weeks: Another newcomer who has cracked the starting line-up is freshman Jessica Weeks (Beckenham, Kent, England). Weeks is 8-2 this spring in singles action thus far, having won her last eight matches. Weeks is 1-0 at the No. 4 spot and 7-2 at No. 5 singles. She has teamed with Hannah Grady at the No. 2 doubles spot and that duo is an impressive 10-0 thus far. They defeated the No. 22-ranked team of Dulgheru/Dickes of Pepperdine 8-5 on January 28.
Emmanuelle Tabatruong: Sophomore Emmanuelle Tabatruong (Bagneux, France) has played three matches at the No. 6 singles spot this spring and is 2-1. She defeated Fenja Shaw of Hawaii 6-0, 6-3 in her latest match on Feb. 18. On Feb. 10 she defeated Ashley Dunbar of CS Fullerton 6-1, 6-0.
2006 Roster
2006 Schedule/Results
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