WAC WOMENS TENNIS NOTEBOOK
PLAYER OF THE WEEK Rices Blair DiSesa was named WAC Womens Tennis Player of the Week for the March 21. DiSesa led the Lady Owls to a near-upset of Tulane and a win over WAC-foe Boise State.
DiSesa, junior from Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., was unranked in the most recent poll. She swept No. 20 Tulane's Jenny Kuehn, ranked 37th, with a 6-3, 6-4 victory. The win improved DiSesas dual record to 11-4 at the top spot as she has posted four-consecutive straight-set victories. She also dominated Boise State's Alissa Ayling with a 6-2, 6-0 win at the number one spot.
Also Nominated: Fresno States Courtney Jantz had an impressive week as 43rd-ranked Fresno State went 3-0 with wins over Princeton, Syracuse and league-foe SMU ... SMUs Halley Rambally went 2-0 at the No. 6 position last week, as SMU traveled to California for a three match west coast road trip. Rambally defeated Fadazi Masiyazi of Fresno State 2-6, 6-3, (10-5) and Mio Fukushima of UCSB 6-3, 6-2 to improve her record at the No. 6 spot to 8-1.
ITA RANKINGS Rice was the highest ranked WAC team coming in at No. 37. Frensno State, the three-time defending conference champions, was the second-highest ranked WAC school in the latest ITA rankings with a No. 56 ranking. Tulsa is ranked No. 67.
WAC TOURNAMENT TO BE HELD IN HONOLULU This season, the Western Athletic Conference Tournament will be held in Honolulu, Hawaii on the campus of the University of Hawaii, April 21-24. The 2004 champion, Fresno State, will look to win its third-straight title.
NOTES FROM AROUND THE LEAGUE
Boise State lost to 20th ranked Tulane by a score of 7-0. The Broncos will now travel to Southern California where they will play Cal State Northridge on Friday, March 25.
Fresno State begins a tough two-week stretch on Saturday with a match at No. 67 Long Beach State at noon. The 43rd-ranked Bulldogs (7-5) wrap up their trip to LBSU with a neutral-site contest on March 28 against 14th-ranked Harvard. Fresno State is embarking on a string that sees it play its next four matches away from home, each against a nationally ranked opponent. The Bulldogs went 3-0 last week, in the process piecing together the teams first winning streak of the season. Things opened up with a 7-0 win over Princeton on Tuesday and then was followed by 5-2 victories over Syracuse and SMU on Wednesday. Lucia Sainz and Courtney Jantz went 3-0 in both singles and doubles as Fresno State moved a season-high two matches over .500 (7-5).
Hawaii couldn't give head coach Carolyn Katayama the birthday wish she wanted, after falling to Xavier, 4-3, on March 22, at the UH Tennis Complex. A day earlier, despite senior Lauren Fitzgeralds dominant performance against Cornell,the Rainbow Wahine could not overcome the Big Red, losing 6-1 victory. Fitzgerald, ranked No. 86 in the latest ITA national rankings, won both her singles and doubles matches as the Rainbow Wahine dropped to 5-10 on the year. Hawaii concluded its three-match spring break homestand with a 5-2 loss to Loyola Marymount. With the loss, the Rainbow Wahine dropped to 5-12.
Louisiana Tech couldn't stop Centenary's Anja Schmidt, but that didn't prevent the Techsters to rolling to a 5-1 tennis win over the Ladies. Tech moved to 8-6 on the season with the win.
The teams decided to start with singles matches due to windy weather, and Tech's domination ended up erasing doubles play, which became meaningless because of the four-point lead for the Techsters. Tech returns to action on March 26 by playing host to Northwestern (La.) State in a 2 p.m. match on the Techster Tennis Courts.
Nevadas match against Saint Maryswas cancelled due to weather. The Wolf Pack are back in action for the UC Irvine Invitational beginning on April 1.
Despite Blair DiSesas upset at number one singles, the 37th-ranked Rice women were edged 4-3 by 21st-ranked Tulane at the Jake Hess Tennis Stadium. The loss is the Owls first at home this year and drops Rice's record to 10-5 overall and 7-1 at the Jake Hess Tennis Stadium. DiSesa, unranked in the most recent poll, swept the Green Wave's Jenny Kuehn, ranked 37th, with a 6-3, 6-4 victory. The win improved DiSesa's dual record to 11-4 at the top spot as she has posted four-consecutive straight-set victories. Rice also beat conference rival Boise State 4-3 on Friday in the first of a four-game homestand at Jake Hess Tennis Stadium.
San Jose States match against Nevada on March 18 was cancelled due to weather conditions. The Spartans return to action Friday March 25, to face Southern Utah at 1:00 p.m. in Los Gatos,Calif. The Spartans last beat Eastern Washington, 7-0 on March 17.
SMU defeated the Marquette Golden Eagles, 6-1, at Haggar Tennis Stadium. The win was the second in a row for SMU and improved their record to 10-8 on the season. The Mustangs swept the doubles point to begin the afternoon and raced to a 4-0 score in singles to secure the victory. SMUs depth in singles helped seal the win as Nos. 4-6 all won their matches easily in straight sets. With SMU leading 4-0, Marquette grabbed their only point on the day at No 2. The Mustangs then closed out the match with wins at Nos. 1 and 3 to grab the 6-1 victory.
UTEP The UTEP women's tennis team was defeated by No. 39 Wisconsin, 7-0. After taking a 3-0 lead with wins at Nos. 3 and 4 singles slots, the Badgers clinched the match when Weronika Bloczynska was defeated by Caitlin Burke, 6-0, 6-4, at the No. 2 spot. UTEP falls to 5-7 on the season and will return to action on Saturday, Mar. 26. The Miners will play at North Texas before facing WAC foe SMU on Sunday, Mar. 27.
Tulsa head coach Paige McMurray returned to her alma mater as her Golden Hurricane women's tennis team faced No. 37 San Diego State at the SDSU Tennis Stadium. McMurray's trip home did not have a happy ending as the Golden Hurricane lost its 10th match of the season to #37 San Diego State, 4-3. TU is now 7-10 on the season, after losing two of three matches on the west coast tour. Tulsa will enjoy some needed time off in preparing for in-state rival Oklahoma State, Tuesday, March 29 at 2 p.m.