49ers Host CS Northridge On Saturday
Beach Ranked No. 28 In Nation
February 6, 2007
PDF Version of Release This Week:
Saturday, Feb. 10 vs. CS Northridge, 12 pm, Campus Courts
Next Week:
Friday, Feb. 16 at #46 San Diego State, 2 pm, San Diego, CA
Saturday, Feb. 17 vs. UC Riverside, 11 am, 49er Campus Courts
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This Week: The Long Beach State women's tennis team, ranked No. 28 in the nation in the latest ITA Poll, will play just one match this week as they host Cal State Northridge on Saturday afternoon (12 pm) at the 49er Campus Courts. The 49ers are 2-1 on the season after a 7-0 sweep at Cal State Fullerton last Friday. Cal State Northridge is 1-1 on the season.
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 lead in its series with Cal State Northridge by a 20-12 margin. The 49ers defeated the Matadors twice last year, winning 6-1 in the regular season at CSUN and then defeating them 4-1 in the semi-finals of the Big West Championships. Long Beach has won the past nine meetings with the Matadors.
The Coach: Head Coach Jenny Hilt-Costello (UCLA, 1994) is 140-82 (.631) 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 (140) coaching victories at Long Beach State.
49ers Sweep CS Fullerton: The 49ers won their first Big West Conference match last week with a 7-0 sweep at Cal State Fullerton. The 49ers won all three doubles matches. Hannah Grady and Jessica Weeks prevailed at the number one spot with an 8-3 win over Gina Le and Mai-Ly Tran. In singles play, the 49ers won all six singles matches in straight sets. Grady downed Le at one singles, 7-5, 6-1, while Katy Williams won at number two singles 6-3, 6-2 over Katrina Domela. After Grady's 7-5 win in her opening set, no other Titan player won more than three games in any set.
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 #12, Pepperdine #13, Fresno State #24, Florida International #32, Penn #37, UNLV #40, UC Irvine #43, San Diego State #46, LMU #67, UCSB #73 and Nevada #75). The 49ers are ranked No. 28 in the country in the FILA Collegiate Tennis Rankings, administered by the ITA (2/6/07).
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.
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 last Friday against CS Fullerton, moving her to first on the 49er career chart. Rocha and Emmanuelle Tabatruong defeated CS Fullerton's Domela/Cruz, 9-8. Rocha also has etched her name in the 49er record books for singles wins and overall wins. Her 51 career singles wins is tied for number four all-time and her 119 total wins in 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, began the spring season at 2-1. She fell to number nine-ranked Sarah Fansler of USC 6-2, 6-3 in her opener, but rebounded to defeat USF's Emma Taylor 6-2, 6-1 on Friday. Grady then downed Gina Le of CS Fullerton 7-5, 6-1 last Friday. Grady was 3-2 in singles action in the fall and a combined 5-3 for the season. 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. In doubles, Grady and Jessica Weeks, who are ranked No. 48 nationally, are 2-1 this spring. They fell 8-3 to USC's Smekodub and Anastasiu, defeated Pamart and Martin of USF 8-2 and defeateed Le/Tran of CS Fullerton 8-3. In the fall, Grady and Jessica Weeks went 1-2, playing three nationally-ranked opponents. The 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 improved to 2-1 this spring in singles action recording a 6-3, 6-2 win over Katrina Domela of CS Fullerton. Williams began the year ranked No. 85 in singles. She was 4-4 in the fall in singles competition. Williams 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. Thus far in doubles this spring, Williams has teamed with two different partners. Against USC she teamed with Rachel Porsz, and that duo fell 8-1 to No. 23-ranked Matias/Fansler. Against USF she teamed with Stephanie Bengson and that pair won 8-0 over Sperry and Taylor. Friday at CS Fullerton she and Bengson won 8-4 over Andrews/Injejikian. 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 picked up her first singles win of the spring with a 6-3, 6-1 win over CS Fullerton's Mai-Ly Tran. Bengson went 3-3 in the fall in singles. 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 2-0 after an 8-4 win over CS Fullerton's Andrews/Injejikian. 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. She was 15-7 in singles and 19-4 in doubles with Rachael Porsz.
Sandra Rocha: Rocha enters her fourth year as a 49er, the lone player to earn that distinction. Rocha picked up wins in singles and doubles last Friday at CS Fullerton. She won 6-2, 6-2 at number six singles over Jerusha Cruz. In doubles, she and Emmanuelle Tabatruong won 9-8 over Domela/Cruz. 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.
Jessica Weeks: Weeks improved to 2-1 at number four singles after a 6-1, 6-2 win over CS Fullerton's Shelly Injejikian. Weeks, who was 3-1 in singles play in the fall, is 5-2 in singles action this year. In doubles this spring, Weeks and Grady are 2-1 at number one doubles. They defeated Le/Tran of CS Fullerton last week,8-3. In the fall at the Riviera All-American Championships, Weeks and Grady 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). 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 Hannah 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 0-1 this spring in singles, falling 6-0, 6-1 to USC's Julie Smekodub. She did not play against USF or CS Fullerton. Porsz ended the fall season at 3-4 in singles play. She competed at the Cal Nike Invitational and then played three matches at the ITA Regionals. She teamed with Stephanie 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 improved to 2-1 this spring in singles action with a 6-2, 6-3 win at number five singles last week over CS Fullerton's Brandy Andrews. In doubles, she teamed with Sandra Rocha at the number three spot. They are 2-0 this spring in doubles, including an exciting 9-8 win last Friday over CS Fullerton's Domela/Cruz.. Tabatruong was 3-4 in singles action in the fall. She 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. 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. She went 1-2 at the ITA West Regionals.
Denise Liebschner: A true freshman out of Dresden, Germany, Liebschner compiled a 1-4 singles mark in her first semester of competition. 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 on Sunday 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. For five consecutive years (2001-05) she was rated the Best Saxonian Player under 18.
49er Career Chart
Singles Wins...
1. Havaja Frljuckic 70
2. Antonia Wolff 61
3. Lindsey Marvel 53
4. Jennifer Slattery 51
4 . Sandra Rocha 51
Doubles Wins...
1. Sandra Rocha 68
2 . Kelly Chan 67
T11. Rachael Porsz 40
T11. Stephanie Bengson 40
Overall Wins...
1. Havaya Frljuckic 133
2 . Sandra Rocha 119
3. Antonia Wolff 118
T15. Rachael Porsz 80
T18. Stephanie Bengson 75 |
2007 Schedule
2007 Roster
ITA Tennis Website
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