ATHLETE OF THE WEEK - SMUs Nadia Vaughan was named the Western Athletic Conferences womens tennis Player of the Week. This is her first honor of the spring.
Vaughan, a senior from Newport Beach, Calif., (Corona del Mar), was tremendous last week, leading SMU to back-to-back victories over WAC opponents Rice and UTEP. Against Rice on April 17, Vaughan's 2-6, 6-2, 6-4, victory at No. 4 singles helped propel the Mustangs to a big 4-3 win over the Owls on their home court in Houston. The following morning, Vaughan dominated play, winning easily at No. 4 against UTEP with a 6-0, 6-0 score. The Mustang senior also paired up with teammate Lynsie Jones to beat UTEP's No. 2 doubles team 8-3.
OTHERS NOMINATED Lucia Tallo, Fresno State; Tracie Chong, Rice and Daniela Muscolino, Tulsa.
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.
NOTES FROM AROUND THE LEAGUE
Boise State - In Boise State's final home match of the season, the Broncos defeated Weber State 7-0. Boise State swept all three doubles matches and then went on to sweep all six singles matches in straight sets. The Broncos' doubles line-ups were Jemima Hayward and Erin Polowski at No. 1, Alissa Ayling and Megan Biorkman at No. 2, and Carolina Pongratz and Tiffany Coll at No. 3. Boise State's winning singles line-up was Hayward at one, Polowski at two, Ayling at three, Biorkman at four, Pongratz at five and Anna Curtolo at six. Next up for the Boise State Broncos is the WAC Tournament, April 30 - May 2 in Houston.
Fresno State - The Fresno State women's tennis team dropped two spots to 15th while the men stayed at 46th in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings, released this morning. The Bulldogs wrapped up their regular season on Sunday with a 7-0 win over No. 58 Pacific. That victory came on the heels of the season's most surprising loss, a 6-1 defeat at the hands of Sacramento State, currently ranked 33rd. Prior to that loss, the Bulldogs had risen as high as No. 10 in the nation. The Bulldogs remained the highest ranked women's tennis team in the WAC. Other league schools to appear in the latest poll include No. 42 SMU, No. 46 Tulsa and No. 74 Rice. Individually, Jelena Pandzic and Lucia Tallo remained in both the singles and doubles rankings. Pandzic checked in at No. 15 and is still the nation's highest ranked freshman.
Hawaii - For the fourth time this season, the Hawai'i women's tennis team had a tennis match cancelled. Rain washed out the Rainbow Wahine's regular season finale at UC Riverside, Saturday, at the UCR Student Recreation Center Tennis Courts during doubles competition. Due to UH's travel plans, the coaches decided to cancel the match. The Rainbow Wahine end the regular season with an 8-12 mark and will take the next 12 days off before the 2004 WAC Championships in Houston, Texas. Also on the road trip, the Rainbow Wahine fell to Long Beach State, 5-2, and Cal State Fullerton, 4-3.
Louisiana Tech - Louisiana Tech closed out the 2004 regular season tennis campaign on a positive note Monday as the Techsters took a 5-1 win over Southern University at the SU tennis courts. Tech finished the regular season at 9-11 and will play in the Western Athletic Conference Championship Tournament on April 30-May 2 in Houston. Louisiana Tech and Southern played singles matches only after Tech took enough points in individual play to secure the overall win, eliminating the need for doubles play. The win over Southern was Louisiana Tech's sixth victory in the Techsters' last nine matches. Sahrai Uriarte won for Tech in No. 1 singles, Holly Ready took the No. 2 match, Monica Kelly picked up the No. 3 win, Anabella Duque captured the No. 4 match and Andrea Moncada netted a No. 6 singles win for the Lady Techsters.
Nevada - Nevadas women's tennis team dropped its final two regular season matches on April 3 when it lost to San Jose State, 5-2 and San Francisco, 7-0. The loss to the Spartans was the first WAC defeat for Nevada this season who now stumbles to 1-15 for the season. The WAC Championships is all that is left on the schedule for the Pack this year. Last season, Nevada picked up its first win in the tournament since joining the conference in 2001 with a 4-0 defeat of La Tech. This year the tournament will be hosted in Houston, Texas on April 29-May 2.
Rice - Rice was denied a regular-season finale victory as 42nd-ranked SMU edged past the Owls 4-3 on April 17 at the Jake Hess Tennis Stadium. The match, which took four hours, began at 1:30 p.m. with a thrilling round of doubles that had all three matches being decided in tiebreakers. Tracie Chong kept Rice ahead with her 6-1, 6-1 win against Jenny Langer at number three singles, but SMU took the lead with decisions at two, six and four. Yasmin Fisher knotted the score at 3-3 with her 7-6 (4), 6-3 victory against Lynsie Jones at the five position. All eyes then turned to the stadium court where Blair DiSesa and Svetlana Kouzmenko were battling at the top spot. DiSesa rallied in the second to force a third set, but it was not to be as the 76th-ranked Kouzmenko won the decisive match 6-1, 3-6, 6-2.
San Jose State - San Jose State lost 5-2 in a non-conference match to University of Pacific on April 17. June Lee and Courtney Koenigsfeld were the only Spartans to win in singles action. In doubles action, Kathy Van and Koenigsfeld were victorious in the No. 3 spot over Jessica Beauchene and Urska Dvorsek from University of Pacific. The Spartans ended the regular season 6-9.
SMU - SMU dominated play April 18 against WAC foe UTEP, defeating the Miners 7-0 in Houston, Texas. The win was SMU's 15th victory of year. SMU dominated from the beginning Sunday, winning two of three doubles matches to take an early 1-0 lead. Lynsie Jones and Nadia Vaughan made quick work of their opponent at No. 2 doubles, winning 8-3. At the No. 3 slot, Svetlana Kouzmenko and Allison Leuszler won 8-4 to give the Mustangs the early lead. In singles, SMU continued to roll with six wins, taking five of them in straight sets. Kit Carson won at No. 1, while Kouzmenko was a 6-3, 6-1 winner at No. 2 singles. Jenny Langer won at No. 3 singles, 6-2, 6-1, while Vaughan dominated at No. 4 singles with a 6-0, 6-0 victory. Jones and Halley Rambally were victorious as well for the Ponies at No. 5 and No. 6 singles, respectively. SMU's record moves to 15-9 overall and 3-1 on the year in conference play. The Mustangs now gear up for the WAC Championship, held Apr. 28-30 in Houston, Texas.
UTEP - UTEP lost to 42nd-ranked SMU at the James Hess Tennis Stadium in Houston, Texas on April 18. The Miners dropped to 10-11 on the season, 1-3 in WAC play. The Miners started the day with a doubles win at the No. 1 spot when Katherine Palider and Martina Rezar defeated the Mustangs' Kit Carson and Jenny Langer, 8-6. SMU won the next two matches to capture the doubles point. SMU dominated the singles matches, taking the first five spots in two sets. The only three-set match came at No. 6 when Danielle King dropped her match to the Mustangs' Halley Rambally, 3-6, 6-3, 10-5. The Miners have a two-week break before heading to the WAC Championships April 30-May 2 in Houston.
Tulsa - Daniela Muscolino earned a No. 49 ITA singles ranking, while Ilona Somers claims the No.106 slot. The Golden Hurricane is 15-7 on the season, notching a 2-0 conference mark . Tulsa's 46th-ranked women's tennis team captured a 4-3 victory over Oklahoma State on Apr. 13 at the DuBois Tennis Center in Stillwater, Okla., to conclude the regular season with a 15-7 mark. In singles action, Muscolino notched a 6-0, 6-2 victory in the No. 1 slot, as Somers netted a 6-4, 6-0 decision in the No. 2 position. Donata Majauskaite, however, dropped a 6-0, 6-3 mark in the No. 3 slot to knot the dual at two a piece. Delport recorded a 6-1, 7-5 win in the No. 5 position, but Timberly Greenly fell 6-3, 6-4 in the No. 6 slot. Lisette Pereira tallied the winning point for the Golden Hurricane with her 7-5, 7-5 decision in the No. 4 position.