LBSU Hosts Beach Tennis Winter Invite This Weekend At Rhodes Tennis Center

LONG BEACH, Calif. – The Long Beach State Women's Tennis team hosts the final tournament before the dual season begins. LBSU will welcome CSUN, Pacific, and Nevada to Rhodes Tennis Center for the Beach Winter Invite which will take place from Friday, Jan.19 – Sunday, Jan. 21. The tournament will begin at 11 a.m. each day. Admission is free of charge.

TOURNAMENT MATCH UPS
Friday, January 19
Doubles
LBSU vs. CSUN
Pacific vs. Nevada

Singles
LBSU vs. Nevada
Pacific vs. CSUN

Saturday, January 20
Doubles
LBSU vs. Nevada
CSUN vs. Pacific

Singles
LBSU vs. Pacific
CSUN vs. Nevada

Sunday, January 21
Doubles
LBSU vs. Pacific
CSUN vs. Nevada

Singles
LBSU vs. CSUN
Pacific vs. Nevada

ABOUT THE BEACH

Long Beach State comes into the Beach Tennis Winter Invite after a competitive fall season.
During the fall, the Beach played in four tournaments and turned in solid performances in each of them.
LBSU kicked off the year at the Cal Fall Tournament where they were led by senior Rhona Cook. Cook sailed through the Gold Draw on her way to capturing the title as she defeated Cal's Lan Mi, 6-4, 6-3.
In October, LBSU hosted the Beach Tennis Fall Tournament. In their home tournament, the Beach breezed through doubles action setting up an all Long Beach State final.
The duo of Justine Dondonay and Paulina Franco Martinessi won the Black Draw Doubles Title, while tandem Mathilde Tranberg and Hana Becirovic Novak claimed the Gold Draw Doubles Title.
In singles action at the Beach Tennis Fall Tournament, Dondonay defeated teammate Doga Akyurek, 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, for the White Draw Championship.
The Beach then took part in the ITA Southwest Regionals in San Diego, Calif. The highly competitive tournament gave Long Beach some good reps under their belt against several Big West opponents, as well as some non-conference counterparts.
To close out the fall season, Long Beach State saw action at the UNLV Watanabe Classic in November. In Vegas, the Beach saw a pair of tandems crowned doubles champions, while Tranberg won the No. 4 Singles Draw final.
In doubles competition, Peppi Ramstedt along with partner Cook faced UNLV's Cindy Hu and Coco Zhao as they rolled to a 6-2 victory to claim the title.
In the No. 2 Doubles Draw, Akyurek and Becirovic Novak went up against UNLV's Nikol Mircheva and Aura Fang. The Beach duo battled the hosts and earned a hard-fought 7-6 (4) victory for the crown.
Long Beach State Head Coach Jenny Hilt-Costello is in her 27th year at the helm of the Beach Tennis program. She owns an overall record of 401-188 for an impressive .680 winning percentage. The winningest coach in Beach Tennis history, Hilt-Costello holds LBSU tennis coaching records in single-season wins (22), career wins (401), and highest winning percentage (.680).

DOUBLES DOMINANCE

During the Fall Season, Long Beach State won four doubles draws. The Beach picked up a pair of doubles victories at the Beach Tennis Fall Tournament before winning two more doubles flights at the UNLV Watanabe Classic.
Leading the way for LBSU was Hana Becirovic Novak who, along with two different partners, won two doubles events.
In the Beach Tennis Fall Tournament, Becirovic Novak was paired with Mathilde Tranberg as the duo defeated CSUN's Sofia Dermenjyan and Cydney Tolmoyan, 6-4.
In Vegas, Becirovic Novak teamed up with Doga Akyurek and won the UNLV Watanabe Classic No. 2 Doubles Draw, 7-6 (4).
Also earning doubles wins for the Beach during the fall season were Justine Dondonay and Paulina Franco Martinessi, who won the Black Doubles Draw at the Beach Tennis Fall Tournament by a score of 6-3.
Rounding out the doubles winners for Long Beach State during the fall season were Rhona Cook and Peppi Ramstedt who claimed the No. 1 Doubles Draw Title at the UNLV Watanabe Classic, 6-2.

JUSTINE SHINES AT HOME

Senior Justine Dondonay led Long Beach State at the Beach Tennis Fall Tournament as she came away with both a singles and doubles title in during the three-day competition.
Dondonay paired with sophomore Paulina Franco Martinessi and secured the Black Draw Title with an impressive 6-1 win over LBSU teammates Peppi Ramstedt and Rhona Cook.
In singles action, Dondonay was excellent as she captured the White Draw Championship with an exciting battle against Akyurek. After dropping the first set, 6-3, Dondonay came back to win, 7-5, 6-2, in a gritty three-setter.

RHONA IS COOKING

Senior Rhona Cook kicked off her senior season in a big way. The Chester, United Kingdom native turned in an incredible performance to open the year at the Cal Fall Invitational as she captured the Gold Draw Title.
Cook faced junior Lan Mi from host school, Cal, in the Finals of the Gold Draw. She promptly took down Mi in the first set, 6-4. In the second set, the two battled out an epic rally of 32 strokes before Cook went down the line to win 6-3.
While Cook shined in singles action, she also was solid in double play. She teamed up with Peppi Ramstedt and the duo defeated Gonzaga's Carolina Wernli and Lia Espinal with a convincing 8-2 victory.

ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE

Long Beach State Women's Tennis had an excellent Fall off the court as well. The Beach Tennis team finished the semester with an impressive 3.74 grade point average to win the LBSU Athletics Team Academic Award.
All eight players on the roster were named Academic All-Stars, while two were named to the Dean's List, and three earned President's List honors.
In addition, Long Beach State boasted three players with perfect 4.0 GPAs during the fall semester.

RHODES TENNIS CENTER

The Terry L. Rhodes Tennis Center is the home of the nationally recognized Long Beach State Tennis Program.
The 12-court complex, which opened in the Fall of 2008, features a unique design with four feature courts divided by a 40-foot-wide public concourse. Grandstands for spectator seating have been placed on four of the six varsity courts. All six of which are lighted.
Two gifts from Long Beach State alums have resulted in the construction of the on-campus tennis complex for the Beach Tennis team. Terry Rhodes, a 1962 graduate, generously gifted $1.25 million dollars to enhance the new tennis complex and endow multiple women's tennis scholarships.
The Beach also play in front of a full-sized electronic scoreboard, courtesy of a generous gift from the Hendricks family. It was dedicated in memory of former LBSU Women's Tennis Coach Gloria Hendricks and her husband, Bob. The family also includes former Long Beach State tennis player Cindy (Hendricks) Robbins, her husband Les Robbins, both 1974 alums, and brother John Hendricks. The 40-foot-high scoreboard displays match scores on all six competition courts via wireless controls.

STAYING SOCIAL

Follow Long Beach State Women's Tennis on Instagram and Twitter at @LBSUTennis. Fans can stay up-to-date on all things Long Beach State by following @LBSUAthletics via Twitter. Be sure to "like" us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter at @LBSU.

TENNIS TRADITION

The traditional player cheer pre-match and each time the team wins a match point is "Here We Go Beach!" All Beach fans are encouraged to follow the team's cheer with their own "Here We Go Beach!"

NEXT UP

Long Beach State will open the dual season on Friday, January 26 against Fresno State. First serve is set for 10 a.m. at Rhodes Tennis Center. Live stats will be available for the contest via BeachLiveStats.com.

Calendar

LBSU Hosts Beach Tennis Winter Invite This Weekend At Rhodes Tennis Center

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Doga Akyurek

Hana Becirovic Novak

Rhona Cook

Justine Dondonay

Paulina Franco Martinessi

Peppi Ramstedt

Mathilde Tranberg

Long Beach State University Athletics

LBSU Hosts Beach Tennis Winter Invite This Weekend At Rhodes Tennis Center

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Doga Akyurek

Hana Becirovic Novak

Rhona Cook

Justine Dondonay

Paulina Franco Martinessi

Peppi Ramstedt

Mathilde Tranberg

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