Feb. 29, 2008
SAN DIEGO -
Complete Release in PDF Format
AZTECS TRAVEL TO ARIZONA FOR SUNDAY MATCH
The 51st-ranked San Diego State women's tennis team (5-5) will head to Tucson, Ariz., to take on the No. 52 Wildcats at 9 a.m. PT on Sunday, March 2. The match will be played at LaNelle Robson Tennis Center on the University of Arizona campus.
In a mid-week game on Wednesday, Feb. 27, SDSU put forth a solid effort but couldn't quite pull off the upset at No. 35 UC Irvine, falling 5-2. The Scarlet and Black jumped out to an early 1-0 lead after winning two of three doubles contests, but the Anteaters came back in singles play to take a 3-1 advantage. Junior Holly Bagshaw brought the Aztecs back within one point (3-2) by coming from behind to defeat Becky Bernhard, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, at the No. 1 position, but UCI went on to clinch the match as senior Sisse Nielsen was unable to complete her own comeback, dropping a 6-2, 6-7, 6-3 decision to Brooke Bartlett on court five. Senior Eliska Krausova and junior Esther Cadua also went three sets but came out on the wrong end of the stick in their respective singles matches.
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
The University of Arizona (5-6) got off to a quick start, winning five in a row, but are now looking to snap a six-match losing streak. The Wildcats fell to Colorado, 5-2, on Friday afternoon, and will take on UC Santa Barbara (Mar. 1) before the Aztecs make their way to Tucson.
Last weekend, the 'Cats fell to No. 7 UCLA and No. 12 USC by a 6-1 count. Sophomore Katie Orletsky picked up Arizona's only point against UCLA, while junior Danielle Steinberg won her singles match vs. USC. Steinberg also acheived a No. 60 ranking in the latest ITA singles poll released Feb. 20.
UA has yet to make a road trip in 2008, as the Wildcats' first 13 matches of the spring season have been in the confines of LaNelle Robson Tennis Center.
Vicky Maes is in her seventh year at the helm of the Arizona women's tennis program.
SERIES HISTORY VS. ARIZONA
San Diego State leads in its all-time series with Arizona by a 12-6 count. Last year, the Wildcats captured the doubles point and won three singles matches to top the Aztecs, 4-3 in San Diego.
PAC-10 WOES
SDSU has struggled against Pac-10 foes, as it holds a 55-140 record vs. the conference. In 2008, the Aztecs have fallen to two schools (USC and Washington) in the league which features several institutions that are consistently ranked among the top 20. The good news is that the Scarlet and Black holds a winning record against two Pac-10 schools, and one of them is Arizona.
AZTECS IN THE POLLS
San Diego State is ranked 51st in the nation according to the poll released Feb. 26 by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA). Individually, freshman Julia Trunk remained among the top 100 singles players in the nation, coming in at No. 71.
SDSU LEADERS
With her triumph on Wednesday, Bagshaw now leads the team with 13 overall singles victories. In dual match play, Bagshaw, Cadua, Nielsen and Milana Yusupov have paced the Aztecs with five wins.
KRAUSOVA IN THE BOOKS
Senior Eliska Krausova ranks 11th on the all-time singles charts with 62 career victories. The Prague, Czech Republic, native is just one win away from breaking into the top 10. Krausova has posted at least 15 victories in each of her three years at SDSU and had a team-high 21 wins in 2006-07.
NIELSEN ON THE VERGE
Senior Sisse Nielsen is three wins away from cracking SDSU's all-time top 10 with 59 career individual doubles victories. The Alleroed, Denmark, native sits just behind Katalina Romero and current Aztec assistant coach Lindsey Gamp, who each have 62 triumphs to their credit. Along with former Aztec Dita Hauerlandova, Nielsen is also tied for sixth in the single-season record books with 19 doubles victories.
MATTERA AT THE HELM
Peter Mattera enters his 27th season at San Diego State and 15th as head coach of the Scarlet and Black. In 14 seasons, the Aztecs' mentor has guided SDSU to 10 postseason appearances, compiling a record of 217-146 (.598) in the process. Equally impressive is the fact that 12 of his 14 squads have finished with an overall record of .500 or better, despite playing one of the toughest schedules in the nation on an annual basis.
FALL RECAP
San Diego State had several outstanding individual performances during the fall season, highlighted by Trunk's run at the ITA West Regionals where she defeated a pair of ranked opponents to reach the semifinals. Also, at the second SDSU Fall Classic, Bagshaw captured the Flight 1 singles title while Colman won Flight 4. Both Trunk and Colman concluded the fall with a team-high nine victories.
2006-07 REVIEW
SDSU finished the 2007 dual-match campaign with a 14-12 overall record and a 6-2 mark in the Mountain West Conference. The Aztecs made their 20th appearance in the NCAA tournament and acheived a final ITA ranking of No. 49.
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
Since the opening of the Aztec Tennis Center in 2005, SDSU has won 69 percent of its home matches, posting a 29-13 record. All 13 defeats have come at the hands of teams ranked in the top 60.
STAY TUNED
San Diego State will return to the Aztec Tennis Center on Saturday, March 8, when it kicks off a three-match homestand by hosting No. 61 University of Pennsylvania. First serve is slated for noon PT.
SDSU will return to the courts in the following weeks with 19th-ranked Wake Forest (Mar. 13) and Harvard (Mar. 25) paying a visit to "America's Finest City."