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Long Beach State University Athletics
49ers Headed to Westwood to Take on Denver
4/29/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 29, 2008
LONG BEACH-- No. 41-ranked Long Beach State (19-6), winners of the Big West Conference's automatic berth for the fifth-straight year, will open up NCAA play on Friday, May 9 against No. 28-ranked and Sun Belt Champion Denver (22-2) on the campus of UCLA. The Bruins (18-5), who finished tied for the Pac-10 title, are ranked No. 7 nationally, and will face un-ranked Buffalo (12-8), who upset Western Michigan to win the Mid-American Conference.
The 49ers are making their sixth trip to the NCAA Tournament over the last seven years and will be playing on the UCLA campus for the third time. The 49ers reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2006 after defeating New Mexico. That match was played on USC's campus, where the 49ers have played another two times.
This year's team, featuring three freshmen in it's starting six, swept through the Big West this year, winning all eight regular season matches, before sweeping through last weekend's tournament in Indian Wells by identical 4-0 scores in each of the three rounds.
No. 81-ranked Hannah Grady leads the club with a 26-9 record overall at the No. 1 position, while senior Stephanie Bengson (21-11), the school's all-time win leader, and freshmen Deborah Armstrong (23-15) also have 20-win seasons. In doubles, Grady and Bengson are ranked No. 53 nationally, going 21-8. The team's No. 3 doubles team of freshmen Lisa Sutton and Armstrong, are 19-4.
Long Beach State will open against Denver at 10 a.m. on Friday, and with a win will play Saturday at 3 p.m. Individual and doubles pairings for the NCAA Tournament will be announced on Wednesday.
Players Mentioned
