United Athletic Conference

Related Material

Tournament Bracket.pdf

HOUSTON - The Fresno State women held off a determined SMU squad to win their third consecutive Western Athletic Conference Women's Tennis Championships crown Sunday at the Jake Hess Stadium on the Rice campus in Houston. The Bulldogs stopped the Mustangs, 5-2.

The Bulldogs took the early lead when Katharina Winterhalter and Lucia Sainz blasted the Mustangs' Lynsie Jones and Nadia Vaughan 8-1 at No. 2 doubles. Fresno State then secured the first point of the day with Jelena Pandzic and Lucia Tallo's 8-5 win against Kit Carson and Jenny Langer at No. 1.

Pandzic then upped the score to 2-0 with her 6-1, 6-4 win at No. 1 singles against Svetlana Kouzmenko. Langer got SMU on the scoreboard with her 6-2, 6-3 win over Winterhalter at No. 3, before Courtney Jantz put Fresno State on the brink of victory after her 6-2, 6-2 win against Halley Rambally at No. 6. Then things got interesting.

Sainz was serving for the match, and the team title, up 5-3 in the second set at No. 5. The Mustangs' Jones held her off and knotted the score at 6-6, forcing a tiebreaker. Jones fended off three match points to win the break 9-6 and force a third set. While Jones was fighting to keep her team alive, Vaughan struck again for SMU, taking a 1-6, 6-0, 6-1 victory over Vlatka Jovanovic at No. 4 and closing the team score to 3-2.

But the Bulldogs would not be denied. Sainz recovered in the third set to score a 6-4, 6-7 (7), 6-4 victory, while her teammate, Tallo was also leading at No. 2 against Carson, 7-6 (4), 5-4 when the match was suspended.

Pandzic was selected as the WAC freshman and player of the year, while Fresno State head coach Simon Thibodeau was named the coach of the year.

(1) Fresno State 4, (2) SMU 2

Doubles
1. Pandzic/Tallo (FS) def. Carson/Langer (SMU), 8-5
2. Winterhalter/Sainz (FS) def. Jones/Vaughan (SMU), 8-1
3. Jantz/Jovanovic (FS) def. Kouzmenko/Allison Leuszler (SMU), DNF

Singles
1. Jelena Pandzic (FS) def. Svetlana Kouzmenko (SMU), 6-1, 6-4
2. Lucia Tallo (FS) led Kit Carson (SMU), 7-6 (4), 5-4, DNF
3. Jenny Langer (SMU) def. Katharina Winterhalter (FS), 6-2, 6-3
4. Nadia Vaughan (SMU) def. Vlatka Jovanovic (FS), 1-6, 6-0, 6-1
*5. Lucia Sainz (FS) def. Lynsie Jones (SMU), 6-4, 6-7 (7), 6-4
6. Courtney Jantz (FS) def. Halley Rambally (SMU), 6-2, 6-2

2004 WAC Postseason Honors
First Team Singles
Blair DiSesa, So. Rice
Jemima Hayward, Sr., Boise State
Svetlana Kouzmenko, So., SMU
Daniela Muscolino, So., Tulsa
Jelena Pandzic. Fr., Fresno State
Lucia Tallo, Jr., Fresno State

Second Team Singles
Lauren Archer, So., Rice
Kit Carson, Sr., SMU
Santie Delport, Fr., Tulsa
Lauren Fitzgerald, Jr., Hawaii
Ilona Somers, So., Tulsa
Katharina Winterhalter, So., Fresno State

First Team Doubles
Jemima Hayward / Erin Polowski, Boise State
Daniela Muscolino / Ilona Somers, Tulsa
Jelena Pandzic / Lucia Tallo, Fresno State

Second Team Doubles
Alissa Ayling / Megan Biorkman, Boise State
Karen Chao / Tracie Chong, Rice
Lynsie Jones / Nadia Vaughan, SMU
Lucia Sainz / Katharina Winterhalter, Fresno State

Freshman of the Year: Jelena Pandzic, Fresno State
Player of the Year: Jelena Pandzic, Fresno State
Coach of the Year: Simon Thibodeau, Fresno State