Feb. 12, 2009

Los Angeles, Calif - LMU Women's Tennis will be on the road this weekend. The Lions will travel to No. 70 Cal Poly and UCSB. The Lions will look for their first win against the Mustangs on Valentine's Day at 11:00am and the Gauchos on Sunday at 11a.m.

Last Week's Recap The Lions were rained out of their home opener last Wednesday. LMU was set to take on Florida International. The Lions ended their first week of play with WCC foe San Diego. The Lions lost 7-0 against the Toreros. Jasmin Heckel and Elisaveta Pironkova scored the only victory for LMU. Heckel and Pironkova beat USD's Juliette Coupez and Samantha Mouly 8-6.

Dedicating the Season to a True Lion The LMU Women's Tennis team has dedicated its 2008-2009 season to the memory of senior associate athletics director Betty Werner. Werner lost her five-month battle with Cancer this past August after serving as head of internal operations for LMU athletics since 2000. Werner was very instrumental in taking the Lions to another level. Under her supervision, LMU saw its conference titles in women's tennis, women's basketball, men's golf, and first-ever NCAA tournament appearances for men and women's soccer. Tennis gave Betty her start in a long 40 plus year career in athletics. At Thomas Jefferson High School in Dallas, TX, the women's tennis coach saw her playing at a boys' basketball practice and suggested she play on the tennis team. She went on to have a successful career, playing No. 1 singles and doubles in the Texas Tennis Circuit and earning the Dallas Tennis Association Sportsmanship Award in 1964. Betty Werner paved the way for women's athletics today and LMU Women's Tennis is proud to dedicate this season to the heart of a true lion.

About LMU Leading the way for LMU women's tennis is the only senior on the team, Tina Razloznik. Her experience in years, results, and consistency will provide the veteran leadership this young international team needs. The Lions consists of 4 juniors, 2 sophomores and two freshman from all over the world including Spain, Germany, Australia, South Africa, Bulgaria, and Slovenia. Even the American players are from all different parts of the country including Illinois, Nevada, and right here in LA, Hermosa Beach native, freshman Estelle La Porte. In her 2007-2008 season, Razloznik was one of only three lions to receive all WCC honors for the #10 team in the region. In singles play, the native of Indrija, Slovenia faired an impressive overall record of 21-12, 15-8 in the #3 singles position. After the departure of #1 and #2 singles player, Pavla Mesterova and Tamara Tanner, Razloznik will most likely take over the #1 singles position this year. Tina will not be alone at the top. She will be aided by Audrey Bulkley. So far this fall, the junior from Springfield, Illinois has proved she will be a force to be reckon with in the WCC. Bulkley has improved from her last season's record of 13-20 at the #5 singles position to upsetting top ranked opponents this fall at one of the most competitive tournaments in one of the toughest regions, the Wilson/ITA West Regional Championship in San Diego.

About No. 70 Cal Poly Cal Poly is 2-1 on the spring season. The Mustangs defeated WCC foe Santa Clara and Big West Conference opponent Cal State Northridge, 6-1, 7-0 but fell to No. 5 Stanford 7-0. Cal Poly was led by Brittany Blalock and Steffi Wong in the victory over Santa Clara. Blalock and Wong, Cal Poly's No. 1 doubles team, led the team in the sweep with their 8-2 win. The duos of Suzie Matsenauer and Amy Markhoff and Diane Filip and Maria Malec also won their respective matches, 8-3 and 8-6. The Mustangs won five of the six singles matches. Matzenauer led the way for Cal Poly. The no. 120 singles player in the country scored a straight set victory of 6-2, 6-2. Cal Poly was equally impressive in their match against Cal State Northridge. Cal Poly opened up conference play with a 7-0 victory over the Matadors. The Mustangs won all six singles matches and two of the three doubles matches. Cal Poly won five of the six singles matches in straight sets. Matzenaurer once again led the way. She posted a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Evgeniya Vertesheva. Malec was also equally impressive in the Big West win. Malec defeated CSUN's Nigora Sirojiddinova, 6-2, 6-0. The Mustangs wouldn't be so lucky against No. 5 Stanford. The Cardinals defeated Cal Poly 7-0 on February 5. Matzenauer was once again the highlight for the Mustangs. She took the No. 26 player in the country, Hilary Barte, to an extra set heartbreaker, 6-1, 4-6, 10-4.

About UCSB The Gauchos are also 2-1 on the season. UCSB defeated Cal State Bakersfield in their season opener, began conference play with a win over UC Davis, and recently loss to Pacific on February 8. UCSB swept both the singles and doubles matches against the Roadrunners for a 7-0 victory. The Gauchos' No. 1 doubles team Michelle Murphy and Jill Damion led the way with an 8-2 victory. Bryanna Ojeda and Natalia Lozano and Asagi Onaga and Sofia Novak also won their respective matches. UCSB opened up conference play with win over UC Davis 5-2. Murphy and Damion once again led in doubles with an 8-2 victory. Novak and Onaga sealed the doubles point with an 8-3 victory over UC Davis' Brady and Kappel. Murphy, Onaga, Novak and Natalia Lozano won their respective singles matches to open the Big West with a win. University of Pacific was too much for the Gauchos. Pacific handed UCSB their first loss of the season. Novak and Lozano had the only wins for UCSB. Novak defeated Pacific's Kateryna Nezhura 6-1, 6-4 and Lozano topped Clara Schumacher 6-2, 6-4.

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 1976 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. Sanchez and the Lions advanced to the NCAA playoffs as a team for the first time in program history. He was named the WCC Coach of the Year for the second straight year in 2002, and in 2006, he earned his third honor.