April 3, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

Briefly
Loyola Marymount University women's tennis will play the last two matches is their season ending four-match homestand this week as they host Cal State Northridge and UC Santa Barbara at the LMU Tennis Center. Thursday, LMU will play the Cal State Northridge Matadors at 1:30 p.m., followed by their final home match of the season against the UCSB Gauchos Saturday at noon.

LMU This Season
The Lions has been counting on 2007 WCC Player of the Year, senior Pavla Mesterova, and fifth-year senior Tamara Tanner for leadership this season. They also returned 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 welcomed three freshmen, Jasmin Heckel, Caroline Nothnagel and Shauna Morgan, along with one transfer student, whose collegiate tennis experience has proven to be invaluable. Junior Tina Razloznik (University of Arizona) brings 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". Over the course of the spring 2008 season, the Lions will have faced a total of 13 teams that appear in the national rankings.

Last Week Recap
Loyola Marymount women's tennis had little trouble with Cal State Fullerton on Thursday, taking a 7-0 victory in a non-conference match at the LMU Tennis Center. LMU swept all three matches in doubles play to earn the first point of the day. At No. 1, Pavla Mesterova and Tamara Tanner had no trouble with Fullerton's Karina Akhmedova and Shelly Injejikian, beating them, 8-0. Jasmin Heckel and Tina Razloznik defeated Erin Wiesener and Jerusha Cruz on court two, 8-3, and Shauna Morgan and Bliss Nixon won their match at No. 3 doubles, taking the victory from Breanna Stowell and Brandy Andrews, 8-5. The Lions continued to dominate in singles, taking all six matches for the sweep. No. 67 Mesterova beat Wiesener at the No. 1 slot (6-1, 6-1), Tanner was the only Lion to go to three sets where she beat Injejikian (6-2, 2-6, 10-5) and Razloznik defeated Akhmedova (6-2, 6-0). In other singles, Heckel won her match at the No. 4 position, beating Cruz (6-1, 7-6), Bulkley defeated Andrews in straight sets (6-1, 6-3) and Morgan took an easy win over Stowell (6-0, 6-0). LMU hosted WCC rival San Diego on Saturday at the LMU Tennis Center. The Toreros took the doubles point, along with three singles matches en route to a 4-3 win over the Lions. USD won the doubles point with Alexandra Demidova and Helene Lindstrand defeating Tina Razloznik and and Shauna Morgan at No. 2, 8-4, and Tammy Kevey and Justine Perl beating Audrey Bulkley and Bliss Nixon, 8-5. Pavla Mesterova and Tamara Tanner won their match at No. 1 doubles, defeating Carla Tamborini and Milou Teeling, 8-0. The LMU duo improves their record to 12-6 in doubles so far this season. 67th-ranked Mesterova won her fourth consecutive match at No. 1 singles, defeating Monica Wiesener, 6-1, 6-3. Razloznik was next off the court, beating Teeling in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1. Four matches went into three sets for the Lions. Tanner lost on court two to Lindstrand (6-2, 4-6, 6-3), Bulkley fell to Demidova (6-7, 6-0, 6-4) and Morgan was defeated by Kevey (2-6, 6-3, 7-5). Nixon earned the Lions their third point of the day with her win over Ellie Faulkner at No. 6 singles (3-6, 7-6, 6-3).

About Cal State Northridge
The Cal State Northridge women's tennis team lost to No. 53 UC Irvine, 5-2, Saturday afternoon in a Big West Conference tennis match. Freshman Brooke Doane had the Matadors' only the singles victory and also won in doubles with senior Kanykey Koichumanova. Doane won the No. 6 singles match over Heidi Kaloi, 6-2 and 7-5, to move her season record 8-4 on the season. She and Koichumanova also improved their doubles record to a team-best 13-1 in doubles play for the season, defeating Inna Agababian and Kaloi, 8-2. The Matadors did win the doubles' point in the match, as junior Victoria Brymer and senior Canna Furuta won the No. 1 match, 8-5, over Becky Bernhard and Clare Fermin. In the No. 3 match, Lisa Shih and Jessica Broadfoot defeated the tandem of junior Sandra Kukla and sophomore Kristy Fournell, 8-6. In singles play, the Anteaters took the top five matches. Bernhard defeated Brymer, 6-1 and 6-0, in the No. 1 match, while Koichumanova also lost 4-6, 6-4 and 7-5, in the No. 2 match. For the season, Brymer is 3-11 in singles play while Koichumanova is 7-9. In the next two matches, Kukla saw her five-match winning streak snapped as she fell 4-6, 6-4 and 6-4 in the No. 3 match. Furuta also lost her No. 4 match in three sets, falling 4-6, 7-5 and 6-1. Finally, Fournell lost in the No. 5 match, 5-7, 6-3 and 6-2. Furuta is 6-7 on the season, Fournell stands at 4-4 and Kukla now sits at 9-3. The Matadors are 9-6 on the season under head coach Gary Victor.

About UC Santa Barbara
The UC Santa Barbara women's tennis team has been struggling of late, losing three of four since returning from final exams. The Gauchos did what they were supposed to in sweeping cross-town NAIA rival Westmont College, 9-0. The following day, UC Santa Barbara hosted No. 46 Boise State and fought hard, but were outlasted by the Broncos 5-2. The Gauchos then traveled North and were defeated in a rain-shortened match against San Francisco, 4-2, and were bounced by St. Mary's, 6-1. With the three consecutive losses the Gauchos now find themselves at 7-11 overall, and 2-2 in Big West conference play. Since starting the season 3-4, Long Beach State has been on a roll winning nine of eleven matches for an overall record of 12-5. By toppling Cal State Northridge this past Friday 6-1, the 49ers are the only remaining unbeaten team in the Big West at 5-0. Long Beach State boasts the No. 31 ranked doubles pair in the country of Hannah Grady and Stephanie Bengson. The potent duo are 16-6 overall, and 11-4 in dual competition at the No. 1 slot for the 49ers this year. Pete Kirkwood is in his 14th year as head coach of the UC Santa Barbara women's tennis program.

Mesterova Earns WCC Player Of The Month
Senior Pavla Mesterova has been named West Coast Conference Singles Player of the Month for March, it was announced by the Conference office Tuesday. Mesterova went 5-2 in No. 1 singles play with two wins coming over nationally ranked opponents. 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. This is Mesterova's third consecutive Singles Player of the Month selection.

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. 67 out of the top-125 singles players in the country. She earns her spot with a record of 11-5 at No. 1 singles, while beating four nationally-ranked opponents, No. 41 Katrina Zheltova from Sacramento State, 71st-ranked Julia Trunk from San Diego State, No. 81 Sophie Kobuch from Hawaii and 117th-ranked Jessica Hoath from Saint Mary's.

ITA Poll
It has become an annual expectation for the Loyola Marymount women's tennis program. The Lions were 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.