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ATHLETE OF THE WEEK -Tulsas Ilona Somers was named the Western Athletic Conferences womens tennis Player of the Week. This is the Golden Hurricanes second-straight player of the week.
Somers, a sophomore from Putte, Holland, helped guide the 49th-ranked Golden Hurricane to a 5-2 decision over 67th-ranked Arkansas this week. In singles action, Somers recorded a 6-2, 6-2 mark over Iliana Pacheco in the No. 3 position. Somers owns a 12-5 overall singles record, including a 9-3 dual mark. She also tallies the second-highest win percentage in singles action, winning 70.5 percent of her matches. In doubles action, Somers teams with Daniela Muscolino. The duo has notched a No. 42 ITA doubles ranking. The Tulsa tandem chalked up the only doubles win for Tulsa, a quick 8-2 victory over Melissa Cornett and Whitney Morton in the No. 1 doubles position. The Tulsa duo owns a 14-9 overall record, including a 6-5 dual mark. They have also recorded more than double the victories of any other Tulsa tandem this season.
OTHERS NOMINATED Courtney Jantz, Fresno State; Monica Kelly, Louisiana Tech; Tracie Chong and Rice.
NOTES FROM AROUND THE LEAGUE
Boise State - The Broncos travel to Utah and Hawaii for Spring Break. The Boise State women play Clemson in Ogden, Utah, and will then head to Honolulu for three matches to play Hawaii Pacific (Fri., March 19), Kansas (Mon., March 22), and Hawaii (Tues., March 23). The Broncos had this past week off, a good thing as almost all members of the team had the flu two weeks ago. Once the team returns from Hawaii, the Broncos will be home for three weeks. Boise State will host the Barbara Chandler Classic April 2-4 with BYU and Rice joining the Broncos. Boise State will then host Idaho, Utah State and Weber State in the Bronco Spring Quadrangular, April 9-11. Boise State will host Idaho April 17 in Boise for its final home regular season match of the year.
Fresno State - Fresno State (8-2) begins one its busiest periods of the year on Thursday when it gets
a four-match homestand underway. The 14th-ranked Bulldogs start a stretch of six matches in 12 days on Thursday when they play 72nd-ranked Minnesota at 1:30 p.m. at the Wathen Tennis Center. Fresno State also host No. 48 Missouri on Sunday at 10 a.m.The Bulldogs came away with a 6-1 victory over No. 61 San Diego in their most recent match. Jelena Pandzic once again set the tone, winning in singles and doubles to pace Fresno State. The 18th-ranked freshman is now 10-0 on the year. The victory
improved Fresno State to 8-2 this season.
Hawaii - For the second consecutive match, the Hawai'i women's tennis team dropped a close 4-3 decision, this time to Colorado State, on March 17, at the Central Oahu Tennis Complex. The Rainbow Wahine fell to 7-8 on the year and lost for the first time against a non-ranked team this season. The Rams won two of the three doubles matches, to take the early 1-0 lead. UH's only victory was at the No. 2 court, where the team of Lauren Fitzgerald and Paige Mainor defeated Jasmin Singh and Carla Pallares, 8-5.
Louisiana Tech - Louisiana Tech's win over Lamar was only the second victory of the season for the Techsters and came after a long layoff in the midst of quarter break at Louisiana Tech. Tech didn't play a match between dropping a pair of matches (to Hawa [ii and UTEP) in El Paso on Feb. 14 and defeating Lamar on March 13. Saharai Uriarte is the only Techsters with a winning singles record with a 5-4 mark after going 2-2 in No. 2 singles and 3-2 in No. 3 singles play. Louisiana Tech's Monica Kelly has a .500 record on the season, going 3-2 in No. 2 singles, and 1-2 in No. 3 singles. Anabella Duque has Tech's best singles games record at 81-66, including a 24-1 mark in No. 4 singles.
Nevada - Nevada had another tough weekend when it dropped two straight in Santa Clara, Calif. Friday, March 5 to Santa Clara 6-1 and Cal State Northridge on Saturday March 6, 6-1. Nevada has now lost the last seven straight and are 1-10 this season. The Wolf Pack will next travel to St. Mary's in Moraga, Calif. for a single match against the Gaels on March 20 at 11 a.m.
Rice - With the scored ties 2-2 against Pennsylvania, the Owls were leading in the final two singles matches before play was suspended. The match was started late because of poor weather and relocating indoors, the Quakers had a flight to catch resulting in the stoppage of play.
San Jose State - The San Jose State University womens tennis team defeated Sonoma State by a score of 4-3 in a non-conference match on March 17. The Spartans won every doubles match and three out of the six singles matches. Ana Lukner, Courtney Koenigsfeld, and Elke Harms won in singles action. Lukner did not lose a point posting victorious scores of 6-0, 6-0. The Spartans will return to action Saturday, March 27 against Southern Utah.
SMU - SMU used strong doubles play and some key wins in singles matches to defeat No. 43 Virginia on March 9 at Haggar Tennis Stadium, 5-2. With the win, SMU moves to 9-6 on the year. In singles, SMU won matches at No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 and No. 6 singles to secure the victory over the UVA squad. Svetlana Kouzmenko moved to 15-4 on the year with her 6-4, 6-2 victory at No. 1 singles for the Mustangs. Senior Kit Carson won a three set thriller at No. 2 singles, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, to move to 14-7 on the year. Carson's now 60 career singles victories moves the Florida native past former SMU star Ani Gelatis into ninth place on the all-time singles victories list at SMU.
UTEP - UTEP, plagued by injuries, fell to Broward Community College on March 16 in Davie, Fla. The Miners, who were down a set going into the match, had just five eligible players. Joanna Furdyna and Gilat Barzilai are sidelined with injuries. The Miners (9-6) head to Lubbock, Texas where they will take on Texas Tech on March 19.
Tulsa - Daniela Muscolino and Ilona Somers teamed up to earn a No. 42 ITA doubles ranking. The Golden Hurricane owns a 9-4 mark on the season, notching a 2-0 conference mark and a 4-4 record against ranked opponents this season. Tulsa's 51st-ranked women's tennis team netted a 5-2 victory over 67th-ranked Arkansas in a "border battle" at the Dills Indoor Tennis Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The Golden Hurricane's (9-4) 42nd-ranked doubles tandem, Muscolino and Somers, notched a quick 8-2 victory over Melissa Cornett and Whitney Morton in the No. 1 doubles position. TU dropped matches in the No. 2 and No. 3 slots to give the Razorbacks the doubles point.
WAC TOURNAMENT TO BE HELD IN HOUSTON This season, the Western Athletic Conference Tournament will be held in Houston, Texas at Jake Hess Tennis Stadium on the campus of Rice University, April 30-May 2. The 2003 champion, Fresno State, will look to win its third-straight title.