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Weekly Tennis Notes.pdf
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ATHLETE OF THE WEEK - SMU's Jenny Langer, a sophomore from Louisville, Ky., went 2-0 on the week, defeating North Texas Sandyha Kanury, 6-3, 6-2 and Tulsas Daniela Muscolino, 6-3, 7-5 (10-5). Langer is now 24-11 in singles on the season, winning her last five matches at the No. 1 and 2 positions.
OTHERS NOMINATED - Chloe Carlotti, Fresno State and Anabella Duque, Louisiana Tech
2003 WAC TOURNAMENT The 2003 WAC Tournament begins April 25, with the championship match on Sunday, April 27. This years tournament will be played at the Appleton Tennis Courts on the campus of Boise State. The 2002 champion Fresno State Bulldogs will look to defend their title. The play in matches will be held on Friday, April 25 at 8:00 a.m. at the Boise Raquet Club.
NOTES FROM AROUND THE LEAGUEBoise State - The Broncos look to change their recent trends, entering the WAC Championship on a three-match skid. Boise State is one of two teams in the WAC to have six players with double-digit singles wins. Jemima Hayward leads the way with a 7-0 record from the No. 1 singles spot, and eight wins from the No. 2. Although a number two seed in 2002, the Broncos fell to No. 3 SMU in the semifinals, 4-2 of last seasons championship.
Fresno State - The Bulldogs are back to defend their title from 2002 and pick up their third overall. They are led by All-American Chloe Carlotti who is 17-2 this season from the No. 1 singles position. Carlotti has moved all the way to eighth in the ITA rankings, helping Fresno State earn in its 22nd national ranking. With six wins in as many matches to close out the regular season, the Bulldogs are the team to beat in 2003.
Hawaii - The Rainbow Wahine are 10-12 on the season including a seven-match home stand where they picked up five wins. Lauren Fitzgerald, who has played the No. 1 position all season, has 12 wins, which is second on the team. Hawaii rounded out the season playing a quad, falling to WAC foes UTEP and Nevada, but defeating San Jose State for the second time this season.
Louisiana Tech - The Lady Techsters managed a 15-match schedule even with four matches getting cancelled. Anabella Duque was the lone Techsters to reach the 10-win plateau, going 10-4 from mainly the No. 3 spot. In the final match of the year, Louisiana Tech faced its only WAC opponent, falling to SMU.
Nevada - Even though the Wolf Pack only have six wins on the season, three have come against WAC opponents. Nevada has wins against UTEP, San Jose State and Hawaii. The Wolf Pack travels to Boise winning four of their final five. Vania Apodaca, Biljana Trpeska and Ines Zouabi have been strong down the stretch with each player picking up atleast 10 wins this season.
Rice - The Owls have been unable to string together wins, but had a tough 2003 schedule. With matches against Fresno State, Stanford and San Diego State, Rice pickued up eight wins on the season. Lauren Archer, Blair DiSesa and Karen Chao all pitched in at spots one through four, for a combined 35 wins.
San Jose State - The Spartans suffered losses in their only two conference matches this season, falling to Nevada and Hawaii. San Jose State won its first-round match-up last season, but then fell to eventaul champion, Fresno State.
SMU - The Mustangs picked up five conference wins this season to lead the WAC. In winning four of its final five regular-season matches, SMU picked up wins over Tulsa and Rice, looking to return to the finals, matching the success from 2002. Led by stong play from Jenny Langer and Nadia Vaughan, the Mustangs finished the regular season, 18-10.
UTEP - The Miners were led this year by Elisa Bjrklund who went a combined 12-7 in dual play. UTEP finished the season with seven wins, four of which came in the final five matches. During that run, the Miners knocked off Hawaii and Nevada.
Tulsa - The Golden Hurricane, who fell to 2002 Champion Fresno State in the semifinals, travel to Boise with a 13-10 record and the second best ITA ranking in the conference at 47. Tulsa looks to keep with its trend, winning seven on its final nine matches. Senior Alicia Pillay has been ranked among the nations best singles players all season, coming in 26th to lead the Hurricane.
ITA RANKINGS - Fresno State is currently ranked 22nd in the nation, the highest WAC team. Tulsa is 47th, while Boise State is currently 58th. SMU jumped into the top-75 at 75 with a win over Tulsa. Fresno State sophomore, Chloe Carlotti remains the eighth-ranked player in the nation with the release of the April 9th ITA rankings, marking her highest ranking during her career. Tulsa senior Alicia Pillay fell to 26th in the nation.