Feb. 21, 2011

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -

Briefly: The women's tennis team earned their first win of the season this past week against UC Riverside. This week, the Lions will go on the road for three back-to-back matches against Cal State Fullerton, San Jose State and Santa Clara University. After facing some of top nationally-ranked opponents in their first matches of the season, the Lions are looking to rally back this week and earn more wins.

Inside the Lions: The Lions welcomed five new faces to their roster this season. They have a young, but talented team who's fresh competitive drive has already shown an impact in both their preseason play and so far in their competitive spring season. The WCC recognized the improvements to their roster, picking the Lions to finish 5th in the WCC Preseason Coaches Poll even after going 0-9 in conference last year. The Lions have already seen strong play from April Bisharat, a transfer from UC Irvine, Bisharat has played at the Lion's number one position all season going 2-3 in singles play against nationally ranked players. Miya Jin has also started off with stellar play as just a freshman in both singles and with doubles partner Ashely Anderson, a transfer from University of Washington. The Lions have had four home matches and two on the road this season against four nationally ranked teams.

Lions to Watch: The Lions saw their first win of the season this past Thursday against UC Riverside. After clinching the doubles point, Melissa Valenzuela, Miya Jin and Ashley Anderson earned singles wins for the Lions to give LMU the overall win 4-3. In doubles play, Elisaveta Pironkova and Reka Rohonyi quickly defeated Sakhakorn/McKay of UC Riverside 8-1 to set their doubles record to 3-3 overall. Pironkova and Rohonyi have recorded wins over University of Nevada Reno, Arizona, and Riverside. Freshman Miya Jin and Ashley Anderson also earned a doubles win to secure the doubles point for the Lions defeating Raney sisters of UC Riverside 8-3 also setting their record to 3-3. Anderson and Jin have wins over Arizona, Long Beach State, and Riverside. In singles Melissa Valenzuela earned her first win in only her second singles competition of the season. While Ashely Anderson earned her first singles win of the season after winning doubles with partner Miya Jin earlier that day. Finally Miya Jin continued her winning streak with both a doubles and singles win setting her singles record to 4-3 in her first collegiate season. After a tough schedule so far this season, the women's tough competitive play finally paid off with a victory. The Lions saw strong play in doubles today, almost winning on all three courts, while in singles they were able to hold strong and get wins on three courts.