.png&width=20&height=20&type=webp)
Long Beach State University Athletics
49ers Close Out Regular Season at No. 15 Fresno State
4/16/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 16, 2008
LONG BEACH--No. 37-ranked Long Beach State (16-5), winners of five straight and 13 of their last 14, will close out the regular season at No. 15-ranked Fresno State (14-7) at 1:30 p.m. on Friday.
The Bulldogs feature No. 16-ranked Melanie Gloria (19-8), who is 13-5 in the spring and No. 20-ranked Anastasia Petukhova, who is 31-6 overall and 18-3 in dual play this season. Gloria is 11-5 at the No. 1 position, Petukhova is 14-3 at the No. 2. And at the No. 3 position, Renata Kucerkova is 12-6 and 21-10 overall.
In doubles Gloria and Tinesta Rowe are the No. 3-ranked team nationally, going 24-8, while Kucerkova and Petukhova are 17-3 at the No. 3 postion, ranking No. 25 nationally and are 31-7 overall.
Some records could be broken in the near future by the 49ers, following Stephanie Bengson's career-record setting run past the all-time singles record. She is two combined wins from that record, while herself and Hannah Grady as a doubles team are 20-7, three wins away from the single-season record. The duo is ranked No. 36 nationally. Grady meanwhile is 24-8 on the year, four wins away from the single-season record and is ranked No. 94 nationally.
The Big West Tournament in Indian Wells, starting on April 24 has already been set with the 49ers opening on April 25 against the winner of the 8/9 game between UC Riverside (8-9) and CS Fullerton (3-18). The 49ers, who are the top seed after a perfect 8-0 record against the rest of the field, are followed by No. 57-ranked UC Irvine (13-8, 6-1), CS Northridge (11-7, 6-2), Cal Poly (11-10, 5-3), UC Santa Barbara (8-13, 4-4), UC Davis (11-10, 3-5) and Pacific (2-6, 6-12). LBSU has won five of the last six Big West Tournaments.
TOP-SIX SINGLES PLAYERS FOR LBSU
No. 1 Hannah Grady
THIS YEAR: 24-8
CAREER SINGLES: 65-23
The two-time Big West Player of the Year is 24-8 overall during the season... ranking No. 94 this week in the national rankings at the No. 1 position... she is a two-time Big West Player of the Week, earning the honors a conference tying record nine times... has won at least 20 games in two consecutive seasons and is four wins away from the single-season record... she has six wins in the spring over ranked opponents and has won 12 of her last 14... in the fall she won the CS Fullerton Invite and reached the third round of the West Regional, overall she went 9-2... two of her losses this year have come to Cal's Suzie Babos, who was ranked No. 10 when Babos won on January 26 and four of the six losses in the spring have been to ranked opponents.... went undefeated against the rest of the Big West in singles play.... her 24 wins is four away from the single-season record and surpasses in 2007 total (22-9).
No. 2 Stephanie Bengson
THIS YEAR: 20-10
CAREER SINGLES: 72-34
The two-time first team All-Big West pick is the all-time record holder for singles wins (was 70)... she is two wins away from the combined record (147)... broke the singles record with a straight set victory against LMU on April 11... has won 20 matches in consecutive seasons, joining Grady and Armstrong on this year's team... has won her last seven decisions and is 15-5 in the spring after beginning the semester 3-4... Bengson is 2-1 against ranked opponents in the spring... 12 of her 15 wins in the spring have been in straight sets... went undefeated against the rest of the Big West in singles play.
No. 3 Deborah Armstrong
THIS YEAR: 22-13
CAREER SINGLES: same
One of three freshmen in the starting lineup, she is the 14th player to record at least 22 wins in a single season... is 13-8 in the spring having gong 5-3 over her last eight matches... won five matches in a row from February 17 to March 8... reached the semifinals of the consolation bracket of the Cal Fall Invite and went 9-5 overall.
No. 4 Stephanie Jeanes
THIS YEAR: 16-5
CAREER SINGLES: same
Spring freshman has gone undefeated against the rest of the Big West in both singles and doubles this season (8-0 in both)... her winning percentage of .762 is second to No. 1 player, Grady, on the team... after starting the season 3-4, has won 13 of 14, including the last four straight... during the current streak she has had straight set wins 10 times... six of her Big West opponents have been defeated in straight sets... clinched the 4-3 victory over UC Santa Barbara on April 3 with a straight-set win... one of three freshmen in the starting lineup and along with Lisa Sutton, came to campus in January.
No. 5 Jessica Weeks
THIS YEAR: 17-14
CAREER SINGLES: 53-36
Junior has gone 17-14 during the season, including a 12-11 mark in the spring, rebounding after a 2-5 start to win eight of her last 10... currently on a three-match win streak... will need three more wins to become the fourth 20-match winner on the squad... has gone to three sets six times, going 4-2.... went 5-5 in the fall.
No. 6 Lisa Sutton
THIS YEAR: 12-6
CAREER SINGLES: same
One of three freshmen in the starting lineup and the second of two who came in at the semester, Sutton has gone 12-6 during the spring.... has won three of her last four... went a stretch in February and March where she won four-straight, all in three sets.
TOP-THREE DOUBLES TEAMS FOR LBSU
No. 1 Bengson/Grady
THIS YEAR: 20-7
Grady is a two-time all-BWC doubles player, Bengson is a three-time honoree, as the duo have combined to rank No. 36 this week...they are the third-highest ranked doubles team in school-history, as this is their highest ranking of all-time... one of just eight doubles team all-time to win 20 games in a season... the single-season record is 23... at one point won 10-straight and overall have gone 15-5 in the spring... they won the Fullerton Fall Invite.
No. 2 Jeanes/Weeks
THIS YEAR: 14-6
Played together for the first time in January and went undefeated against the rest of the Big West (8-0)... have won the last five-straight and 11 of the last 13... Weeks is a two-time All-Big West doubles player... four of the team's six losses this year have come to opponents ranked in the top-20.
No. 3 Armstrong/Sutton
THIS YEAR: 14-5
The second doubles team to play for the first time in January, the two freshmen won 14 of 19 matches in the spring.. one of the hottest teams all spring, they won 10 straight and 13 of the last 16 matches at the No. 3 position... the 10-game win streak included four wins over ranked opponents.
Players Mentioned
