Saturday, March 2
Honolulu, Hawaii
6:00 PM
Long Beach State University
at
Hawai'i Pacific
Photo by: John Fajardo
Women’s Tennis Travels To The Hawaiian Islands For A Pair Of Matches at Hawaii Pacific, Hawaii
3/1/2024 4:59:00 PM | Women's Tennis
Long Beach State will play a pair of matches against Hawaii Pacific on Saturday and Hawaii on Sunday
LONG BEACH, Calif. – The Long Beach State Women's Tennis team (3-3, 2-0 Big West) is set to take on Hawaii Pacific and Hawaii this weekend on the island of Oahu. LBSU and Hawaii Pacific will square off on Saturday, March 2 at 4 p.m. (HT) / 6 p.m. (PT) at the Kailua Tennis Club. The following day, Sunday, March 3, the Beach and the Rainbow Wahine face off in a Big West contest at the UH Tennis complex at 2:30 p.m. (HT) / 4:30 p.m. (PT).
ABOUT THE BEACH
WALTZING MATHILDE
ABOUT THE BEACH
- Long Beach State looking to bounce back after dropping a hard-fought, 4-3, decision to Sacramento State last Saturday at Rhodes Tennis Center. In the match against the Hornets, the Beach rallied to come back and tie the match at 3-3, before coming up just short.
- The Beach are now 3-3 on the year and 2-0 in Big West action.
- Against UCSD, junior Peppi Ramstedt led the way as she teamed with Rhona Cook to take down the Tritons' Katelyn Vu and Kelly Leung, 6-1, to give the Beach the doubles point. Ramstedt then clinched the match for Long Beach with a 6-2, 6-4 win at flight three.
- 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 404-189 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 (404), and highest winning percentage (.681).
- Hawaii Pacific comes into the week with a 1-0 record after having opened the season with a 7-0 victory over Chaminade on Friday, Feb. 23.
- This week, the Sharks host a pair of Big West opponents as they face Cal State Fullerton on Friday, March 1, before going up against Long Beach State on Saturday, March 2.
- HPU is a Division II school and a member of the PacWest Conference.
- In their lone dual match of the season, Hawaii Pacific cruised to a straight-set victory over Chaminade. The Sharks breezed through doubles action with a pair of 6-0 performances to win the doubles point. HPU, then cruised through singles competition winning each game in two sets and never allowing their opponent to score more than three points in a single set.
- The Sharks are coached by Hendrick Bode who is in his 10th season at the helm of HPU. He coaches both the women's and men's tennis teams. In 2016, he led the men's program to its first-ever National Championship title.
- In the all-time series, Long Beach State leads Hawaii Pacific, 4-0.
- In their last meeting in 2022, the Beach edged the Sharks, 4-3, on the islands.
- The Sharks are looking for their first-ever win over Long Beach State.
- Hawaii comes into the week with a 4-4 overall record and a 3-0 Big West mark.
- The Rainbow Wahine will host Michigan and Long Beach State this week. The Bows and the Wolverines will face off on Friday, March 1, before the two Big West foes meet on Sunday, March 3.
- Hawaii is coming off of a close 4-3 victory over Cal State Fullerton on Wednesday, Feb. 28. With the win, the Bows remained unbeaten in conference action.
- When playing at home, Hawaii owns a 3-2 overall record.
- The Bows are coached by Jun Hernandez who is in his 19th year at the helm of Hawaii.
- In the all-time series, Long Beach State leads Hawaii 19-15.
- Last season, the two teams faced off twice and the Bows won both of those matches.
- Hawaii has won the last four contests against Long Beach State.
- The Beach are looking for their first win over the Bows since a 4-3 victory in 2019 to capture The Big West Championship and punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament.
- The Beach has won the doubles point in four of six dual matches they've played thus far.
- The duo of Paulina Franco Martinessi and Mathilde Tranberg have been solid posting a 5-1 doubles record during the dual season thus far. The pair have played all their matches at flight three.
- 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.
- 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
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 on Friday, Jan. 26.
- 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.
- 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.
- Dondonay picked up the Beach's lone singles victory against LMU as she defeated Anastasia Bozova, 6-3, 6-4.
- This season, Dondonay is 3-1 in dual action. She is 2-0 when playing singles at flight six and 1-0 when playing at flight four. Her lone singles loss came at flight five.
- 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 doubles play. She teamed up with Peppi Ramstedt and the duo defeated Gonzaga's Carolina Wernli and Lia Espinal with a convincing 8-2 victory.
- In dual season action, Cook is 3-2 this year at flight one in singles competition.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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!"
- The Beach return to Long Beach, Calif., for an eight-match homestand that begins on Wednesday, March 6 against Penn State at 2 p.m., at Rhodes Tennis Center. Live scoring will be available via BeachLiveStats.com.
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