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Long Beach State University Athletics
Beach Tennis Opens 2015-16 Season With Trip To Vegas
9/24/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Long Beach, Calif. - Long Beach State Tennis begins the fall competition season this weekend by traveling to compete in the UNLV Invitational. The Beach will be bringing seven players to compete in this first tournament.
Returning first-team All-Big West selections #100 Maeva Razakasoa and Ebba Unden will highlight the top flight of singles play. With an eight-player draw, the pair of stars for the Beach will aim to meet in the finals of the flight on Sunday. Razakasoa is the only ranked player in the draw, and will be the favorite to capture the title in the opening weekend of the season.
In the second flight, juniors Julie Gerard and Hayley Thompson will represent the 49ers. Both players earned Honorable Mention All-Big West honors a season ago and will look to build on that campaign with a solid start in Las Vegas.
Finally, the Beach will get a look at their two newcomers along with junior Laura Eales in the third flight. Freshman Georgie Sanders and Pacific transfer sophomore Antonella Santeusanio will be paired on the same side and could meet in the semifinals, while Eales opens play against Paula Sanchez of South Alabama.
In doubles, Long Beach State will put two duos into the top flight, with Razakasoa and Gerard teaming up in one half while Thompson and Unden will compete in the bottom half, with again the goal being a meeting in the final round of the tournament's top flight.
Eales and Santeusanio will compete together in the second doubles flight, while Sanders, as an odd-numbered player for the Beach, will team with a UNLV partner to get doubles action while on the trip as well.
The Beach is coming off of another thrilling campaign in 2014-15, where the 49ers won yet another Big West title and tournament championship before advancing to the NCAA Tournament.
Players Mentioned
