April 17, 2006
SAN DIEGO -
SDSU Women's Tennis Weekly Release in PDF Format
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SDSU Women's Tennis Wraps Up Regular Season With San Diego At Home For Senior Day
San Diego State women's tennis (15-7; 6-2 Mountain West Conference) will close its regular season at Aztec Tennis Center with a match against city-rival San Diego, Wednesday, April 19, at 2 p.m. PDT. The Senior Day contest will be the final home match for SDSU's lone senior, Dita Hauerlandova. Not only will the Aztecs be looking to send Hauerlandova out on a high note, they will also be looking to go into the MWC tournament with a win.
SDSU returns to Montezuma Mesa having split its two matches this past weekend in Albuquerque, N.M. The Aztecs defeated No. 48 New Mexico, 4-3, in their first match of the trip setting up a meeting with first-place and No. 20 TCU. San Diego State went into the match with the Horned Frogs looking for a share of the league title, but fell short as the Frogs shutout the Aztecs, 7-0. As a result, SDSU finished the conference slate in a three-way tie for second with UNLV and Brigham Young.
Following the San Diego contest, the Aztecs will prepare for the MWC Tennis Championships at Barnes Tennis Center set for April 27-29.
A Look at San Diego
San Diego has won three of its last four with its most recent outcome being a 5-2 defeat at 29th-ranked Fresno State. The Toreros have not played a match since April 3 and come into the match with San Diego State sporting a 9-5 record. Similar to the Aztecs, this will be USD's final regular-season match before heading north to Moraga, Calif., for the West Coast Conference Championships. Leading the way for the Toreros is nationally-ranked Emma Murphy. The senior from Ireland is ranked No. 42 as of April 4 and defeated 19th-ranked Melanie Gloria of Fresno State to extend her personal winning streak to 11 matches. In doubles, Murphy and Lauren Perl combine to form the No. 57 doubles tandem in the nation, but lost its most recent match to the Bulldogs' fifth-ranked duo. Last year, the Aztecs went to USD's West Tennis Courts and posted a 4-3 victory to close the regular season. In school history, SDSU is 22-12 all-time vs. the Toreros.
Hauerlandova/Nielsen Knock Off No. 3 Doubles Team
San Diego State's No. 1 doubles team of Dita Hauerlandova and Sisse Nielsen pulled off one of the biggest victories in SDSU's storied history as they defeated the nation's No. 3 ranked doubles team in Maja Kovacek and Iva Gersic, 8-3. The win was the pair's season-best sixth straight victory and second over a nationally-ranked doubles tandem this year. The two also beat No. 30 Barbara Orlay and Alejandra Guerra of 38th-ranked North Carolina State, 8-2, on March 9.
Aztecs Break Losing Streak to Lobos
With its 4-3 win over New Mexico, the Aztecs snapped its three-match losing skid to the Lobos. In its previous three losses, SDSU has been somewhat overmatched. Last year, UNM posted a 5-2 victory last year by winning the doubles point and then four of six singles matches. In 2004, the Aztecs were shutout twice, losing 4-0 in the semifinals of the MWC tournament and 7-0 in the regular season. Prior to the losing streak, San Diego State had won five consecutive, dating back to the 2000 campaign.
Six is Super
In the seven-year history of the Mountain West Conference, San Diego State has won at least six conference matches four times (2001, 2002, 2003, 2006). This year, SDSU finished league play with a mark of 6-2. Of the previous three occasions, the Aztecs reached the title match of the conference tournament each time, winning the crown in their most recent appearance (2003) and advanced to the NCAA tournament in 2002 and 2003.
Hauerlandova Earns MWC Player of the Week Award
San Diego State senior Dita Hauerlandova was named the Mountain West Conference women's tennis player of the week on April 12. The award was her first of the season and second of her career and comes after posting a perfect 6-0 combined singles and doubles record in SDSU's victories over Colorado State, Wyoming and Air Force.
Against the Rams, Hauerlandova posted her second win of the season against a ranked opponent when she defeated No. 121 Emily Kirchem at No. 1, 6-2, 5-7, 7-5. The win was Hauerlandova's 50th overall singles victory in her two-plus years on Montezuma Mesa. Earlier in the afternoon, she and Sisse Nielsen had no trouble with Anne Andersen and Kirchem at No. 1 doubles, posting an 8-2 win. SDSU won the match, 5-2.
The next day in the Aztecs' 6-1 victory over Wyoming, Hauerlandova and Nielsen cruised to an 8-1 win over Andrea House/Karolina Rowinski at No. 1 doubles to begin the day. Then in singles, Hauerlandova was first off the court to give the Aztecs a 2-0 lead with her 6-1, 6-2 performance over Rowinski at first singles.
Then in the weekend finale vs. Air Force, Hauerlandova and Nielsen won a hard-fought battle against the Falcon's Kat Bushey/Christine Abayan at No. 1 doubles, 9-7. Later in singles action, Hauerlandova clinched the match for SDSU when she beat Bushey, 6-2, 6-2, at No. 1 singles. The Aztecs wound up pocketing a 5-2 win for its third straight victory.
The Prague, Czech Republic, native is the second Aztec to win the league's weekly award this season joining Alesya Vidov, who earned the honor on March 9.
Brooms and Dustpans
Besides the Aztecs winning all three matches at Aztec Tennis Center vs. Colorado State, Wyoming and Air Force, April 7-9, others, individually, had a perfect run. Dita Hauerlandova and Sisse Nielsen both went 3-0 in singles and together as a team, went 3-0 at No. 1 doubles. Hauerlandova, playing at No. 1 singles, posted a three-set victory over No. 121 Emily Kirchem of CSU and then went on to tally straight-sets wins over her counterparts from Wyoming and Air Force. Nielsen only dropped 10 games in her three matches, all straight-sets victories. Alesya Vidov and Milana Yusupov also went 3-0 in doubles action.
200-Win Club
Head coach Peter Mattera reached the 200-win plateau on April 8 with SDSU's 6-1 victory over Wyoming. Mattera, in his 13th season on Montezuma Mesa, currently has a record of 202-122 with this season being his 11th with double digit victories. Mattera still has a long way to go to catch his predecessor, Carol Plunkett, as she has 299 career wins. In his previous 12 years, the Aztecs have never finished outside of the ITA rankings and only twice has SDSU not finished the season with a record of .500 or better. Adding to his already impressive resume is the fact that he has guided eight Aztec teams to the NCAA Tournament.
Hagiwara Steps In
With the Aztecs down a player, Yuki Hagiwara stepped into the Aztec lineup and filled in admirably going 2-1, winning her final two matches over the weekend of April 7-9. Despite losing to Jasmin Singh of Colorado State, Hagiwara bounced back the next day vs. Wyoming, defeating Amy Senko, 6-2, 6-2, at No. 6. The win clinched the match for SDSU and was her first win of the season. Then with the outcome already decided and with the rest of her team rooting her on, the junior transfer pulled out the 4-6, 6-2, 11-9 win over Meghan Kiser of Air Force to give the Aztecs their fifth team point.
Hauerlandova Earns Ranking
Senior Dita Hauerlandova is ranked as the No. 84 singles player in the country according to the latest ITA poll released April 4. She is 10-12 on the season, all at No. 1, and is coming off three straight wins (April 7-9) and a victory over 18th-ranked Olga Boulytcheva of BYU on March 25. This is the second time Hauerlandova has cracked the poll with her first and highest ranking of No. 81 coming on Feb. 24, 2004.
Underclassmen Contributions
The Aztecs are getting the most out of their underclassmen this season with four currently holding positions in the singles and doubles lineup. The quartet owns a singles record of at least .500 or better with sophomore Eliska Krausova owning an 14-5 record, while winning 11 of her last 13 matches. Freshman Esther Cadua is 12-10 overall with an 10-6 mark at No. 6, while classmate Milana Yusupov is 13-9 in her first season and has won eight of her last 12. Sophomore Sisse Nielsen, who had a great fall, has won 11 of her last 13 and is 14-7 in the spring. Altogether, the underclassmen have a singles record of 53-31. In doubles, the quartet has played at all three positions with different partners over the course of the season.
Doubles Advantage
Winning the doubles point has been a measure of success for the Aztecs as they have gone 11-1 when winning the doubles point this season. On the flip side, San Diego State is 4-6 when dropping the doubles point.
Eight-Match Winning Streak
San Diego State's eight-match winning streak earlier this season was the school's longest since the 2003 season. That squad also posted eight straight victories en route to a 22-6 record, the MWC Championship title and a berth in the NCAA Tournament. Ironically, that team started MWC play with a 2-0 record and similar to this year's squad, had its winning streak snapped by UNLV in Las Vegas. Following the loss to the Rebels in 2003, the Aztecs lost only once more before losing in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Strong Play at No. 3
Eliska Krausova recently had her nine-match winning streak snapped, but has won 11 of her last 13 matches. Krausova, who plays the majority of the time at No. 3 singles, currently is 14-3 at the position with her only losses coming at Long Beach State, at UNLV and vs. TCU. For the season, the sophomore is 14-5 with her other two losses coming at No. 2 against opponents who were ranked inside the top-20 nationally at match time (No. 3 Amanda Fink (USC) and No. 19 Suzi Fodor (California)).
Climbing the Polls
At the beginning of March, the Aztecs were the No. 54 team in the nation and defeated unranked Idaho, No. 38 Washington and No. 36 Oregon. As a result of those three wins, the ITA moved SDSU up 14 spots to No. 40 the following week and promptly beat 38th-ranked North Carolina State and Wisconsin. Following two more victories, SDSU moved up to 29th nationally in the poll released March 14. That ranking is the Aztecs' best since being ranked No. 25 last season after defeating No. 28 Michigan and No. 8 Washington in consecutive matches. The latest poll released April 11 has San Diego State tabbed 33rd.