49ers Head To Las Vegas
Beach Tangles With Three Nationally-Ranked Opponents
February 20, 2007
PDF Version of Release This Week:
Friday, Feb. 23 at #39 Nevada-Las Vegas, 10 am, Las Vegas
Saturday, Feb. 24 vs. #31 Florida International, 10 am, Las Vegas
Sunday, Feb. 25 vs. #18 Fresno State, 10 am, Las Vegas
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This Week: The Long Beach State women's tennis team, 5-1 on the season and winners of five consecutive matches, will head to Las Vegas this weekend to play three nationally-ranked opponents. The 49ers open play on Friday taking on #39 UNLV. Saturday the 49ers tangle with #31 Florida International and on Sunday they conclude play against #18 Fresno State. The 49ers are ranked #27 in the country in this week's ITA Collegiate Poll. UNLV is 6-0 on the season, Florida International is 4-1 and Fresno State is 3-2.
Last Year: The 49ers were 22-5 last year, won their third consecutive Big West Conference Championship and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Championships. Long Beach concluded the season ranked No. 26 in the country, its highest final ranking in school history.
The Series: Long Beach State trails in its series with UNLV by a 7-1 count. The last meeting was in the 1996 season when the 49ers fell 5-0 to UNLV in the second round of the Big West Championships. The 49ers are 0-1 vs. Florida International, losing to the Golden Panthers 6-1 last year in Long Beach. The 49ers are 1-11 vs. Fresno State. Last season the Bulldogs defeated the 49ers 5-2 in Fresno. Long Beach has lost 11 in a row to the Bulldogs with the lone win coming in the 1986 campaign (7-2).
The Coach: Head Coach Jenny Hilt-Costello (UCLA, 1994) is 143-82 (.636) 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 (22 wins in 2001 and 2006) and career (143) coaching victories at Long Beach State.
49ers Win At San Diego State: The 49ers defeated #49 San Diego State 5-2 on Friday in San Diego, beating the Aztecs for the second consecutive season. Long Beach lost two of the three doubles matches to fall behind 1-0. But, the 49ers depth at singles proved to be too much as they won five of the six singles matches to come away with the win. Hannah Grady won at #1 singles 6-2, 6-3 over #51-ranked Holly Bagshaw. Katy Williams also beat a nationally-ranked opponent at #2 singles, downing #69 Eliska Krausova 6-2, 6-4. Stephanie Bengson, Emmanuelle Tabatruong and Sandra Rocha all claimed victories.
49ers Sweep UC Riverside: The 49ers defeated UC Riverside 7-0 on February 17 at the 49er Campus Courts. Long Beach won all three doubles matches and prevailed in all six singles matches. Five of the six singles matches were won in straight sets. The 49ers shifted their lineup vs. UCR, sitting Katy Williams and Sandra Rocha in singles play. That gave Rachael Porsz and Denise Liebschner opportunities in singles. Porsz, playing at #5 singles, defeated Catrisha Cabanilla 6-0, 6-4. Liebschner, in her first action this spring, won at #6 singles 6-2, 6-4 over Alex Khoury.
Playing The Best: This year's spring schedule is full of nationally-ranked opponents once again. Of the 23 matches, 12 of the opponents are nationally-ranked (USC #5, VCU #14, Fresno State #18, Pepperdine #19, Florida International #31, Penn #36, UNLV #39, UC Irvine #42, San Diego State #49, Iowa #61, LMU #70, and Nevada #75). The 49ers are ranked No. 27 in the country in the FILA Collegiate Tennis Rankings, administered by the ITA (2/13/07).
Individual National Rankings: In the women's singles and doubles rankings, which were released on January 9, the 49er doubles team of Hannah Grady and Jessica Weeks were ranked No. 48 in the country. In the pre-season rankings (September 8) Grady was ranked No. 38 in the nation in singles, while Katy Williams checked in at No. 85. In doubles, the team of Grady and Weeks ranked No. 23. The next individual rankings will be release on February 21.
Regional Rankings: In the final fall West Regional Rankings (12/8/06), Hannah Grady was ranked No. 15 in the region and Katy Williams checked in at No. 26. In doubles, Grady and Jessica Weeks were No. 6 while Stephanie Bengson and Katy Williams were No. 12.
Academic Success: The 49er women's tennis team has succeeded in the classroom as well as on the court. This past fall the team had cumulative gpa of 3.56, tops among all 49er athletic teams. Four student-athletes earned a perfect 4.0 gpa in the fall 2006 semester. Last season the 49ers were selected as an ITA All-Academic Team (as well as in 2003 and 2005) and had four student-athletes named as ITA Scholar-Athletes (Stephanie Bengson, Krystina Katayama, Rachael Porsz, Jessica Weeks).
Rocha Owns Doubles Record: Senior Sandra Rocha earned her 68th career doubles win on February 2 against CS Fullerton, moving her to first on the 49er career chart. She currently stands in first place with 71 doubles wins, thanks to two victories last week over San Diego State and UC Riverside. Rocha also has etched her name in the 49er record books for singles wins and overall wins. Her 53 career singles wins is tied for number three all-time and her 124 total wins is number two all-time. Holding down the number one spot for career total wins is Havaja Frljuckic with 133.
Hannah Grady: Began the 2006-07 season ranked No. 38 in singles in the ITA pre-season poll. Grady, a sophomore All-America candidate, is currently 5-1 this spring in singles. Last week she defeated #51 ranked Holly Bagshaw of San Diego State 6-2, 6-3. The win was Grady's seventh against a nationally-ranked opponent in her 49er career. She also recorded a win over UC Riverside's Erynne Oki 2-6, 6-0, 6-1. Grady has won her last five singles matches after dropping her opener to #9-ranked Sarah Fansler of USC 6-2, 6-3. Grady was 3-2 in singles action in the fall and a combined 8-3 for the year. Grady began the fall season at the Riviera All-American Championships where she won her opening singles match, 5-7, 7-6 (1), 6-3 over No. 117-ranked Austin Smith of North Carolina. In doubles, Grady and Jessica Weeks, who are ranked No. 48 nationally, are 4-2 this spring. They defeated Oki and McCullough of UC Riverside 8-1, but fell last Friday to SDSU's Vidov and Krausova 8-5. In the fall, Grady and Jessica Weeks went 1-2, playing three nationally-ranked opponents. The fall win came against No. 37-ranked Schofield and 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 improved to 4-1 this spring in singles action with a 6-2, 6-4 win over San Diego State's #69-ranked Eliska Krausova. Williams didn't play the next day against UC Riverside. She began the year ranked No. 85 in singles and she was 4-4 in the fall in singles competition and stands at 8-5 overall this year. Thus far in doubles this spring, Williams is 2-2 at #2 doubles with Stephanie Bengson. That pair fell 9-8 last Friday to San Diego State's Bagshaw and Nielsen. Williams was a first team all-conference selection in singles and doubles last year, finishing 28-9 in singles with four nationally-ranked wins and a national ranking of No. 118. In doubles, she and Sandra 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: Bengson improved to 4-2 this spring in singles after winning two matches last week. Friday at San Diego State she defeated Alesya Vidov 6-2, 6-0 at the #3 spot. Saturday vs. UC Riverside she competed at #2 singles and won 6-3, 6-2 over H.R. Espiritu. Bengson was 3-3 in the fall in singles and stands at 7-5 overall this year. In the fall she defeated Arizona State's Laila Abdala in convincing fashion (6-0, 6-2) to claim the White Bracket Singles title at the Cal Nike Invitational. In doubles, Bengson and Katy Williams are 2-2 this spring after falling to Bagshaw and Nielsen of San Diego State, 9-8. Saturday vs. UCR, Bengson teamed with Rachael Porsz at #2 doubles and that pair won 8-3 over Espiritu and Plata. Bengson and Williams ended the fall ranked No. 12 in the West Region in doubles. Bengson was a second team selection in 2006 in singles and she also earned honorable mention honors in doubles.
Sandra Rocha: After sitting out the fall season, Rocha is starting to put things together this spring. She improved to 3-1 in singles after defeated San Diego State's Ozge Atalay 6-3, 6-4 last Friday. She did not compete in singles vs. UC Riverside. She has won three singles matches in a row. In doubles, Rocha and Emmanuelle Tabatruong are a perfect 5-0 at number three doubles. The picked up two wins last week, defeating SDSU's Kitts and Cadua 8-4 and UCR's Cabanilla and Yoshimoto 8-1. 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 has set her name in the 49er career record books. She is number one in career doubles wins (71), number two in career wins (124) and tied for number three in career singles wins (53).
Jessica Weeks: Weeks is 4-2 this spring in singles action after going 3-1 in the fall (7-3 overall). Last week she lost to SDSU's Esther Cadua 6-3, 6-4, but then she rebounded to defeat UC Riverside's Donna McCullough 6-3, 6-3. In doubles this spring, Weeks and Grady are 4-2 at number one doubles. They defeated Oki and McCullough of UCR 8-1, but lost to Vidov and Krausova of San Diego State 8-5. In the fall at the Riviera All-American Championships, Weeks and Grady went 1-2 playing three nationally-ranked opponents. They defeated No. 37-ranked Schofield/Vuckovic of South Carolina 9-8 (3). Grady and Weeks are ranked No. 48 nationally and No. 6 in the West Region. Weeks earned first team all-league honors in 2006 in doubles with Grady as that duo went 19-2 and finished 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.
Rachael Porsz: Porsz is 1-1 this spring in singles as she defeated UC Riverside's Catrisha Cabanilla at #5 singles 6-0, 6-4. Porsz ended the fall season at 3-4 in singles play. In doubles, Porsz teamed with Stephanie Bengson on Saturday to win at #2 doubles 8-3. In the fall she teamed with Bengson to win the Gold Bracket Back Draw Championship at the Cal Nike Invitational. 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. Last year she went 23-12 in singles play and a combined 24-10 in doubles.
Emmanuelle Tabatruong: Tabatruong continues to impress in both singles and doubles. Tabatruong is 5-1 this spring in singles, playing mainly at the #5 spot. Last week she defeated San Diego State's Sisse Nielsen 1-6, 6-2, 10-4 and then she won at #4 singles on Saturday against UCR's Yasaman Sakhakorn 6-1, 6-1. Tabatruong was 3-4 in the fall in singles, and now stands at 8-5 on the year. In doubles, she has teamed with Sandra Rocha at the number three spot. They are 5-0 this spring in doubles, including an 8-4 win over San Diego State's Kitts and Cadua last Friday. Tabatruong competed at the CS Fullerton Fall Intercollegiates in both singles and doubles. In singles play she dropped her opening match in the main draw, but came back to win twice in the back draw. 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 to claim the title.
Denise Liebschner: A true freshman out of Dresden, Germany, Liebschner saw her first action this spring on Saturday against UC Riverside. She played at #6 singles and defeated Alex Khoury 6-2, 6-4. Liebschner compiled a 1-4 singles mark in the fall. She went 0-2 at the CSUF Fall Intercollegiates and 1-2 at the ITA West Regionals in San Diego. In doubles, she was 1-1 with Rachael Porsz at the ITA West Regionals. She teamed with Emmanuelle Tabatruong at the at the CS Fullerton Fall Intercollegiates and that duo won the doubles back draw. They defeated Andrews/Inglis (CS Fullerton) 8-2 and Le/Domela (CS Fullerton) 8-5 to claim the title. Liebschner was 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.
49er Career Chart
Singles Wins...
1. Havaja Frljuckic 70
2. Antonia Wolff 61
3. Sandra Rocha 53
3. Lindsey Marvel 53
5 . Jennifer Slattery 51
Doubles Wins...
1. Sandra Rocha 71
2 . Kelly Chan 67
T11. Rachael Porsz 41
T11. Stephanie Bengson 41
Overall Wins...
1. Havaya Frljuckic 133
2 . Sandra Rocha 124
3. Antonia Wolff 118
T14. Rachael Porsz 82
18. Stephanie Bengson 79 |
2007 Schedule
2007 Roster
ITA Tennis Website
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