Feb. 21, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

Briefly
The 71st-ranked Loyola Marymount women's tennis team plays host to No. 36 UC Irvine this week at the LMU Tennis Center. The Lions will play the Anteaters on Friday at 1:30 p.m.

LMU This Season
The Lions will be counting on 2007 WCC Player of the Year, senior Pavla Mesterova, and fifth-year senior Tamara Tanner for leadership this season. They also return four sophomores in Bliss Nixon, Audrey Bulkley, Audra Silman and Maria Garcia-Planas Albert, and two more seniors, Natalie Tejada and Shawnell Russell. In addition, head coach Jamie Sanchez also welcomes three freshmen, Jasmin Heckel, Caroline Nothnagel and Shauna Morgan, along with one transfer student, whose collegiate tennis experience could prove invaluable. Junior Tina Razloznik (University of Arizona) will bring two seasons of Division I experience to the Lions. "The biggest plus is that we have a good player at the top of the line-up. Having that top player is an indication of any good Division I team. We also have a good amount of depth, which is the second ingredient of a good team," Sanchez said. "We are tough and strong going after the number one spot. The team feeds off of the tenacity and experience that players like Pavla, Tamara and Tina bring". The Lions had a tough go of it early on as the first seven matches were against top national programs. LMU began their season by traveling to then No. 8 USC (lost 6-1), followed by two matches at Tulsa, one against the No. 46 Hurricanes of the University of Tulsa (lost 6-1), and the second against 59th-ranked Oklahoma State (lost 4-0). Then, LMU played at No. 46 San Diego State (lost 5-2), before returning home for their home opener against 56th-ranked Sacramento State where they lost a heartbreaker (4-3). Last week, the Lions hit the road again for a tough match at No. 8 UCLA (lost 7-0), followed by visits from No. 67 Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (lost 4-3), and Texas-San Antonio where they got their fist win of the season, 6-1. Over the course of the spring 2008 season, the Lions will face a total of 13 teams that appear in the national rankings.

Last Week Recap
The LMU women's tennis team played seventh-ranked UCLA last Wednesday at the Los Angeles Tennis Center. The Bruins controlled the match from the start, cruising to a 7-0 victory. UCLA swept in doubles play with the Bruins duo of Anna-Viktoria Lind and Riza Zalameda defeating Pavla Mesterova and Tamara Tanner at the No. 1 position, 8-3. Bliss Nixon and Tina Razloznik fell to Elizabeth Lumpkin and Stephanie Wetmore at No. 2, 8-0, while Ashley Joelson and Andrea Remynse beat Audrey Bulkley and Shauna Morgan, 8-5. The Bruins continued their dominance in singles, winning all six matches in straight sets. At No. 1, Mesterova faced her third consecutive nationally-ranked opponent, losing to No. 25 Zalameda (7-5, 6-4), while Tanner was swept by her opponent, No. 28 Remynse (6-0, 6-0) at the No. 2 slot. Razloznik fell to Joelson (7-5, 6-3), Lumpkin defeated Bulkley (6-1, 6-0), Lind defeated Morgan at No. 5 singles (6-0, 6-2) and Wetmore took the match from Nixon (6-1, 6-1) at the No. 6 position. Diana Filip and Maria Malec took the match from Audrey Bulkley and Shauna Morgan, 8-3. The Lions faced No. 67 Cal Poly San Luis Obispo on Friday at the LMU Tennis Center where Cal Poly (4-5) took the doubles point, along with three-of-six singles matches to earn a 4-3 victory over LMU. The Lions got a win at No. 1 doubles with Pavla Mesterova and Tamara Tanner beating the Mustang duo of Brittany Blalock and Steffi Wong, 8-6. However, Cal Poly won at the No. 2 and 3 slots stealing the doubles point from the Lions. Amy Markoff and Shannon Brady defeated Tina Razloznik and Jasmin Heckel in a close match, 9-7 and Diana Filip and Maria Malec took the match from Audrey Bulkley and Shauna Morgan, 8-3. In singles action, At. No. 1, Mesterova won the first match of the day for the Lions, beating Blalock (6-3, 6-1), while Razloznik took the match from Peterson in straight sets at the No. 3 spot (6-4, 6-4). Tanner lost to Wong at the No. 2 position (6-3, 6-4) and Morgan fell to Markoff on court six (7-6, 6-1). In other singles play, two matches went into three sets, with both Bulkley and Heckel coming from behind to force a third. Bulkley came out on top, defeating Malec (1-6, 6-4, 6-4), but Heckel could not hang on, falling to Filip (4-6, 6-1, 6-1). To cap off weekend play, and still looking for their first win of the season, the Lions hosted the University of Texas at San Antonio on Sunday. The Lions dominated from the beginning to cruise to a 6-1 victory. LMU came away with the doubles point, with Pavla Mesterova and Tamara Tanner beating Caroline Dedering and Karen Scida at No.1, 8-4, and Tina Razloznik and Jasmin Heckel defeating Monika Drabkova and Tanya Hasking, 8-4. At No. 3, the Roadrunners duo of Nathalie Wallin and Holly Phillips earned the win in a close match over Audrey Bulkley and Bliss Nixon, 8-7. In singles, the Lions continued their stellar play as they won five of the six matches in straight sets. Leading the way, at the No. 1 position, Mesterova defeated Scida (6-4, 7-5), Tanner beat Wallin (7-6, 6-2) at No. 2, and Razloznik was victorious against Drabkova (6-2, 6-3). In other singles action, Heckel played at the No. 4 position, beating Dedering (6-1, 6-4), while Nixon got her first win of the season defeating Hasking on court six (6-3, 6-2). The Roadrunners got their only point of the day at No. 5 singles where Bulkley faced Phillips. Bulkley won the first set, Phillips took the second, but before the third set began to determine the winner, Bulkley had to retire due to injury. The win is the first of the season for the Lions who improve to 1-7.

About No. 36 UC Irvine
The Anteaters went 1-1 on the week with a 6-1 loss to No. 14 Fresno State and a 6-1 win over UC Santa Barbara. All six Anteaters went 1-1 on the week in singles. Senior Jessica Broadfoot (Honolulu, Hawaii/Punahou School) defeated No. 43 Tinesta Rowe of Fresno State in the biggest win for UCI. The Bulldogs swept the doubles matches to take a 1-0 lead. No. 1 Melanie Gloria and Tinesta Rowe defeated senior Becky Bernhard and junior Clare Fermin 8-4 in the doubles match. In singles, senior Jessica Broadfoot defeated No. 43 Tinesta Rowe 6-4, 7-5 in the No. 4 slot to give the `Eaters their lone win of the day. No. 39 Melanie Gloria beat Becky Bernhard 6-3, 6-0 in No. 1 singles. No. 11 Anastasia Petuckhova defeated senior Inna Agababian 6-0, 6-2 in the No. 2 match. The Anteaters defeated UC Santa Barbara 6-1 Sunday afternoon in Big West Conference play at Anteater Tennis Stadium. They won two of the three doubles matches to take a 1-0 lead. Seniors Inna Agababian and Jessica Broadfoot defeated Jill Damion and Asagi Onaga 8-6 in No. 2 doubles. Juniors Ali Borowicz and Heidi Kaloi beat Brittany Kausen and Tova Hausman 9-7 in the No. 3 slot. In singles, Ali Borowicz gave UCI a 2-0 lead as she beat Juliette Mutzke 6-0, 6-0 in the No. 6 match. Junior Clare Fermin put the `Eaters up 3-0 as she beat Charlotte Scatliffe 6-1, 6-2 in No. 3 singles. Heidi Kaloi clinched the overall win for UCI as she beat Tova Hausman 6-2, 6-2 in the No. 5 match. Asagi Onaga put UCSB on the board as she beat Jessica Broadfoot 0-6, 7-6, 10-8 in the No. 4 slot. Senior Becky Bernhard put UCI up 5-1 as she beat Marta Simic 6-4, 7-6 in No. 1 singles. Inna Agababian closed out the match with a 6-4, 6-7, 14-12 win over Jill Damion at the No. 2 slot. The Anteaters are ranked 36th in the country by the ITA rankings. UCI had it's highest preseason ranking ever as they started the year off ranked 37th. Anteaters finished the 2006-07 season ranked 35th nationally after a first round loss to Texas in the NCAA Tournament to finish with a 21-5 record. UCI was ranked as high as No. 28 in the country during the season as the team won the Big West regular season championship with a perfect 7-0 record in conference play. UC Irvine is 2-4 this season, as head coach Mike Edles leads the Anteaters in his 12th season.

Lions In The Rankings
Loyola Marymount women's tennis has been in the ITA National team rankings since the start of the 2007-08 spring season. Starting the year at 64th in the nation, the Lions have most recently placed 71st out of the top-75 teams. Senior Pavla Mesterova's consistent play so far this season has earned her a spot in the ITA women's individual singles rankings. Mesterova sits at No. 92 out of the top-100 singles players in the country. She earns her spot with a record of 4-3 at No. 1 singles, while beating two nationally-ranked opponents, No. 36 Katrina Zheltova from Sacramento State and 71st-ranked Julia Trunk from San Diego State.

ITA Poll
It has become an annual expectation for the Loyola Marymount women's tennis program. The Lions have been ranked No. 64 in the first poll of the spring 2008 season by the Fila Collegiate Tennis Rankings administered by the ITA. Since 2000, LMU has held a NCAA National Ranking in seven of the last nine years. The Lions are coming off a third place finish (tied with San Diego) in the 2007 season after rain dominated the WCC Championships and halted the match.

Mesterova Already Makes Her Mark
The Lions roster returns two players who earned All-WCC honors on either the singles or doubles side. Leading the way is senior Pavla Mesterova, who earned the 2007 WCC Player of the Year honor, working her way to a No. 40 preseason ranking entering the 2007-08 season. Last season, she led the Lions with a 27-6 record, going 19-3 in dual matches at No. 1 singles. The 27 wins rank fifth all-time in LMU history for victories in a single season, while her .818 winning percentage is the best in program history. She is currently ranked 14th in the West Region. Mesterova also earned first-team All-WCC honors in doubles with former teammate Robyn Baker. Since the beginning of the 2007-08 women's tennis season, Mesterova has been on a roll, having been selected to compete in the Riviera All-American Tournament followed by the ITA National Indoor Championships. Her play in the ITA Regionals made her eligible for the at-large bid for the Indoor Championships. The ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships is the second of three national tournaments for singles and doubles during the collegiate tennis season. The other two include the ITA All-American Championships in October and the NCAA Championships in May. Playing in the tournament marked a first for Mesterova and for LMU, since it is the first time in her career, and in school history that the Lions have had a representative selected to play in the Indoor National Tournament.

Tanner Is Back
Senior Tamara Tanner returns for her fifth and final year of eligibility for the Lions. After earning honorable mention All-WCC honors in doubles play last year, Tanner's experience and leadership will serve a key role in leading the Lions this season.

Head Coach Jamie Sanchez
Jamie Sanchez is in his 33rd season as head coach of the Loyola Marymount women's tennis program. Sanchez, the program's only coach since its inception, began coaching the team in 1975 and has posted a career record of 418-378. In 2002, Sanchez guided the Lions to their first ever WCC Championship with a 4-2 win over Pepperdine. For the first time in program history, Sanchez and the Lions advanced to the NCAA playoffs as a team, and were represented in the Individual NCAA playoffs with the doubles duo of Andrea Lord and Angelina Zdorovytska. He was named the WCC Coach of the Year for the second straight year in 2002, and in 2006 he earned his third honor.