Long Beach State Women’s Tennis Set For A Pair Of Matches Against San Diego State And UC San Diego

Friday, February 16

San Diego, Calif.

1:00 PM

Long Beach State University

San Diego State

Photo by: John Fajardo

Long Beach State Women’s Tennis Set For A Pair Of Matches Against San Diego State And UC San Diego

2/15/2024 4:37:00 PM | Women's Tennis

The Beach play at San Diego State on Friday, Feb. 16 at 1 p.m., before hosting Big West foe UCSD at home on Saturday, Feb. 17 at noon

By: Lindy Zamora, Associate Athletic Communications Director

LONG BEACH, Calif. – Long Beach State Women's Tennis (2-1, 1-0 Big West) takes on a pair of San Diego schools this weekend. The Beach will travel down to San Diego State (4-1) for a Friday, Feb. 16 match up at 1 p.m., before hosting Big West opponent UC San Diego (2-6, 0-1 Big West) at Rhodes Tennis Center on Saturday, Feb. 17 at 12 noon.

Fans can watch the live stream on Friday by clicking HERE.

For Saturday's match, fans can follow live stats updates by clicking HERE.

ABOUT THE BEACH

Long Beach State is looking to get back on the winning track after dropping a closely contested match against Loyola Marymount last week. The Beach came up just short, falling 5-2 to LMU at Rhodes Tennis Center.
The setback dropped LBSU to 2-1 on the year.
In Big West action, Long Beach State is 1-0 after having swept UC Riverside, 7-0, on Feb. 2 on the road.
LBSU opened the season with a 7-0 sweep of Fresno Pacific on January 26.
The Beach are 1-0 in Big West action as they knocked off UC Riverside last Friday in straight sets.
Rhona Cook was excellent against the Highlanders as she clinched the match for the Beach with a 6-2, 6-1 over Brionna Nguyen at flight one.
Versus LMU, the Beach got off to a strong start winning the doubles point. Justine Dondonay was solid in singles action as she earned Long Beach State's lone singles victory.
At UCR, Dondonay saw action at flight six in singles and rolled past Kei Kato 6-0, 6-0.
Mathilde Tranberg shined in the season opener dropping just one game in doubles action, before winning 6-0, 6-0 in singles.
During the fall, the Beach played in four tournaments and turned in solid performances in each of them.
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 403-189 for an impressive .681 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 (.681).

SCOUTING SAN DIEGO STATE

San Diego State comes into the week with a 4-1 overall record.
The Aztecs opened the 2023-24 dual season with a 4-0 loss at No. 6 Pepperdine on Friday, Jan. 26. Since then, SDSU has won their next four straight with wins over LMU (4-2), UC San Diego (5-2), Maryland (4-2), and Hawaii (7-0).
When playing at the Aztec Tennis Center, San Diego State is 2-0 this season.
San Diego State is 13-3 in singles during its winning streak as the top three spots in the Aztec lineup have gone a combined 7-0 during that span.
The Aztecs are coached by Peter Mattera, who is the longest-tenured head coach at San Diego State.

THE SERIES: THE BEACH VS. THE AZTECS

In the all-time series, San Diego State leads Long Beach State 24-14.
Last season, the Beach dropped a 4-0 contest to the Aztecs at the Rhodes Tennis Center.
SDSU has won the last two matches against LBSU as the Beach are looking for their first win over the Aztecs since 2020 when Long Beach State knocked off San Diego State, 4-1, at Rhodes Tennis Center.

SCOUTING UC SAN DIEGO

UC San Diego comes into the week with a 2-6 overall record and a 0-1 Big West mark.
The Tritons opened the 2023-24 dual season with four-straight losses, before picking up a 4-3 victory over Pomona-Pitzer on Feb. 3.
Most recently, UCSD defeated Point Loma, 6-1, on Wednesday, Feb. 14.
The Tritons are looking for their first Big West victory after having dropped a 7-0 contest to Hawaii on Monday, Feb. 12.
When playing on the road this season, the Tritons are 0-4.
San Diego State is coached by first-year head coach Sebastian Bader, who was the team's assistant coach the last two years.

THE SERIES: THE BEACH VS. THE TRITONS

In the all-time series, Long Beach State leads UC San Diego, 10-4.
Last season, the Beach defeated the Tritons, 6-1, on the road.
LBSU has won the last two matches against SDSU as the Beach downed the Tritons, 6-1, in 2023 and 7-0 in 2022.

DOUBLES DOMINANCE

The Beach has won the doubles point in all three dual matches they've played thus far.
Long Beach State's doubles dominance began in the Fall Season, as the Beach 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.
At the Beach Tennis Winter Invite, LBSU doubles remained strong as the Beach captured the Doubles Title in a 6-2 win from Peppi Ramstedt and Rhona Cook.

BIG WEST WOMEN'S TENNIS PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Junior Peppi Ramstedt was named Big West Player of the Week on Wednesday, January 25 after a solid week in which she captured three doubles victories and a pair of singles wins at LBSU's Beach Tennis Winter Invite.
Ramstedt partnered with senior Rhona Cook and the duo picked up a convincing 6-2 win against Nevada's Amahee Charrier and Anastasia Luneva to win the Doubles Title. Prior to the pair's championship win, they also earned a 6-2 win over Pacific and a 6-2 triumph over Big West opponent, CSUN.
In singles action, Ramstedt downed Nevada's Lou Anne Guerbert 6-1, 6-1, before taking down Pacific's Alexis Sam, 7-5, 6-0.

WALTZING MATHILDE

Mathilde Tranberg kicked off the dual season in a big way. The senior from Horsholm, Denmark waltzed her way through a 7-0 sweep over Fresno Pacific last week.
Tranberg cruised to three wins over the Sunbirds as she, along with doubles partner, Paulina Franco Martinessi, downed FPU's tandem of Halle Faherty and Malia Mitchell, 6-1.
Tranberg then faced Faherty in singles action and never gave up a game as she cruised to a 6-0, 6-0 victory to help ensure the Beach sweep.

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.
Most recently, Dondonay picked up the Beach's lone singles victory against LMU as she defeated Anastasia Bozova, 6-3, 6-4.

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 host Sacramento State at Rhodes Tennis Center on Saturday, Feb. 24 at 11 a.m. Live stats will be available via BeachLiveStats.com.