April 17, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

Briefly
Loyola Marymount women's tennis (9-13, 2-2) earned the No. 3 seed in the 2008 West Coast Conference Championships and will take on sixth-seeded San Francisco in the first round on Friday, April 18 on the campus of Saint Mary's in Moraga, Calif. The match is scheduled to begin at 3:00 p.m.

Leading LMU This Season
The Lions have been led by 75th-ranked senior Pavla Mesterova this season. Mesterova is 21-11 on the season and has won seven of her last eight matches, going 14-6 at No. 1 singles in dual matches. She was named the WCC Player of the Month for March, going 5-2, winning her last four matches to close the month. Mesterova won all five of her matches in straight sets, including her wins over No. 81 Sophie Kobuch from the University of Hawai'i and 117th-ranked Jessica Hoath from Saint Mary's College. Her only two losses came against No. 53 Jenni Heinser from San Francisco, and 63rd-ranked Sylvia Kosakowski from Pepperdine. Mesterova's career record has improved to 70-28 in three seasons at LMU heading into the WCC Championships. On the doubles side, Mesterova is 16-11 at No. 1 doubles, going 14-8 in dual play with teammate Tamara Tanner. Mesterova's doubles record has improved to 54-37 in three seasons. Junior transfer Tina Razloznik has had a solid 2007-08 season, going an impressive 18-12 at No. 3 singles, earning a 12-9 mark in dual action. She has won four of her last six matches, with wins against two conference opponents. Razloznik also has an 11-15 record playing mostly at No. 2 doubles.

Last Week Recap
The Lions ended their regular season on the road against two ranked opponents, No. 37 Long Beach State and 15th-ranked Fresno State. LMU faced 37th-ranked Long Beach State Friday at the El Dorado Park Tennis Courts. The 49ers won all three doubles matches, and continued their dominance in singles to cruise to a 5-2 victory over the Lions. The 49ers swept the doubles matches to earn a 1-0 lead to begin the day. Stephanie Bengson and Hannah Grady, ranked 39th nationally, defeated Pavla Mesterova and Tamara Tanner at the No. 1 spot, 8-3, Stephanie Jeanes and Jessica Weeks won on court two over Jasmin Heckel and Shauna Morgan, 8-2, and Caroline Nothnagel and Tina Razloznik lost to Deborah Armstrong and Lisa Sutton at No. 3 doubles, 8-4. In singles, the Lions earned points at the No. 1 and 6 positions. 75th-ranked Mesterova improved her singles record to 21-10 on the season as she defeated No. 94 Grady, 6-2, 6-3, and Nothnagel won her match against Sutton in straight sets, 7-6(5), 6-1. The 49ers recorded wins on courts two, three, four and five. Tanner lost to Bengson (6-0, 6-0), Armstrong defeated Razloznik in a thrilling match on court three, (7-6 (11), 6-7 (10), 6-2), Jeanes came from behind to beat Heckel in three sets (4-6, 6-2, 6-2) and Bulkley lost to Weeks, also in three sets, at No. 6 singles (6-4, 3-6, 6-1). The Lions played their last match of the regular season Sunday at 17th-ranked Fresno State. The Bulldogs swept the doubles point and carried their momentum into singles for a 6-1 win over the Lions. Fresno State began the day with a bang, winning all three doubles matches. At the No. 1 spot, Melanie Gloria and Tinesat Rowe, ranked third nationally, defeated seniors Pavla Mesterova and Tamara Tanner, 8-3 freshmen Jasmin Heckel and Shauna Morgan lost to 25th-ranked Renata Kucerkova and Anastasia Petukova on court two, 8-2, and The Bulldogs' Danon Beatty and Jacqueline Haskett beat freshman Caroline Nothnagel and junior Tina Razloznik, 8-5. The Lions got their only point of the day at No. 6 singles where Nothnagel defeated her opponent, Bruna Paes 6-0, 6-1. The Bulldogs earned wins in five-of-six singles matches with No. 16 Gloria taking the match from 75th-ranked Mesterova at No. 1 (6-0, 6-1), No. 20 Petukhova defeating Tanner at the No. 2 slot (6-0, 6-1), and Kucerkova beating Razloznik on court three (6-4, 6-4). On courts four and five, Heckel lost to Rowe (6-3, 6-4) and Bulkley fell to Beatty in straight sets (6-1, 6-0).

Loyola Marymount vs. San Francisco
The Lions and Dons will face each other for the second time this season. In their last meeting, LMU defeated San Francisco, 4-3 at the LMU Tennis Center, with then 53rd-ranked Jenni Heinser defeating an unranked Pavla Mesterova. This time around, No. 75 Mesterova will be looking to rebound from that loss, as she and 73rd-ranked Heinser meet again at the No. 1 singles slot in the WCCs. On court two, senior Tamara Tanner (7-20 overall, 5-16 dual) will play Mylene Martin. Martin beat Tanner 6-4, 6-3 in March. Razloznik will continue her play at No. 3 singles in hopes of beating her opponent, Emma Taylor, for the second time this season. At the No. 4 position, Jasmin Heckel (9-13 overall, 8-11 dual), one of two freshman competing, will face USF's Jenny Sperry, whom she defeated last time around, 4-6, 7-5, 6-4. Rounding out the Lions are sophomore Audrey Bulkley (12-19 overall, 5-14 dual) who will be looking to go 2-0 this season against Jessy Mekpoh on court five, and freshman Caroline Nothnagel who has only played in four total matches this season due to injury. Nothangel (2-2 overall, 2-2 dual) will play at No. 6 singles against Sarah Oudomvilay. In doubles action, the LMU duo of Mesterova and Tanner (16-11 overall, 14-8 dual) will play at the No. 1 spot against Heinser and Oudomvilay, Heckel and sophomore Bliss Nixon (1-3 overall, 1-1 dual) will take on Martin and Mekpoh on court two, and Razloznik and Nothnagel (1-2 overall, 1-2 dual) will face Sperry and Taylor at No. 3 doubles. The winner of the match between LMU and USF will move to the Championship bracket and play Saturday at 3:00 p.m. The loser will fall to the Consolation bracket and play Saturday at 11:00 a.m.

Last Season In The WCC Tournament
The Lions placed third (tied with San Diego) in the 2007 season after rain dominated the WCC Championships and halted the match between the two teams. LMU beat Portland in the first round of the rainy tournament to advance to the semifinals where they faced Saint Mary's that same day. Unfortunately, playing in their second match in two hours, the Lions ran out of gas and were defeated, 4-1. LMU ended the season with an 11-12 record.

Lions In The Rankings
Loyola Marymount women's tennis has been in the ITA National team rankings for most of the 2007-08 spring season. The Lions started the year at 64th in the nation, but have fallen out of the rankings in the most recent ITA Poll. 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. 75 out of the top-125 singles players in the country. She earns her spot with a record of 14-6 at No. 1 singles in dual matches, while beating five nationally-ranked opponents, No. 48 Katrina Zheltova from Sacramento State, 71st-ranked Julia Trunk from San Diego, State, No. 79 Sophie Kobuch from Hawaii, 117th-ranked Jessica Hoath from Saint Mary's, and No. 94 Hannah Grady from Long Beach State.

Last Time Out
The Lions are 9-13 this season, with seven matches decided by a 4-3 score. In conference play, LMU has a record of 2-2 with two 4-3 wins over a ranked Saint Mary's team and San Francisco, a 4-3 loss to San Diego, and a 7-0 loss to Pepperdine. The Lions have faced a total of 13 ranked teams throughout the 2007-08 season, four of which rank in the top-20 by the ITA

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 returned for her fifth and final year of eligibility for the Lions in the 2007-08 season. After earning honorable mention All-WCC honors in doubles play last year, Tanner's experience and leadership has served a key role in leading the Lions this season. She has teammed up with Mesterova at No. 1 doubles, earning an overall mark of 16-11, going 14-8 in dual play. Tanner has played at No. 2 singles throughout the year recording wins against the University of Hawai'i, Cal State Fullerton, San Diego State, Texas-San Antonio, UC Santa Barbara and Cal State Northridge.

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.