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Long Beach State University Athletics
Tennis faces three ranked opponents in important weekend
2/22/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Feb. 22, 2012
Long Beach, Calif. - Long Beach State travels to Las Vegas this weekend to play three matches that will have a big impact on the No. 47 49ers' chances to potentially earn an at-large bid for this season's 2012 NCAA Tournament. The 49ers will face the host UNLV Rebels on Friday before playing Utah and Texas Tech Saturday and Sunday respectively.
At No. 47, the 49ers will be the lowest ranked team in Las Vegas this weekend, and will have the most to gain from a good showing on the weekend.
The highest ranked team of the three teams Long Beach State will play is No. 32 Texas Tech. The Red Raiders are 6-1 with their only loss coming at the ITA Indoor Championships to No. 21 Arizona State. The doubles pair of Adams/Kilgo is ranked No. 57 in the nation, the only doubles pair ranked from the four teams. Long Beach State closes out the round robin by playing Texas Tech at 10 a.m. on Sunday.
Long Beach State continues the weekend by facing No. 36 UNLV on Saturday, which is led by the highest ranked singles player of the four teams, #50 Lucia Batta, though Aleksandra Josifoska is the highest ranked singles player in the Mountain Region, and has been playing No. 1 singles for the Rebels, who enter the weekend undefeated.
No. 39 Utah has the most players ranked of the four teams playing this weekend in Nevada. Anastasia Putilina enters the week ranked # 69, while Sarah Pham comes in in at #104. Utah is well-represented in the Mountain region rankings however, with four singles players ranked in all, as well as a pair of doubles teams. The Beach will take on the Utes at 10 a.m. on Saturday.
Senior Rachel Manasse remains as Long Beach State's only ranked player in singles, coming in at #110 nationally. Manasse, Anais Dallara and Klaudia Malenovska are all ranked regionally in singles. A good weekend for Manasse and Laura Bernard in doubles could potentially lift the pair into the rankings, as they have started off the season 5-0 in dual matches.
Long Beach State will finally return home after the three matches this weekend. The 49ers host No. 52 San Diego State at 2 p.m. on March 2 in their return to the Rhodes Tennis Center.
Players Mentioned
