In last year?™s WAC Tournament, Fresno State claimed its fourth-straight championship, defeating Rice, 4-0, at the Hawaii Tennis Complex in Honolulu. The second-seeded Bulldogs used their best match of the year to knock off top-seeded Rice. Fresno State ties BYU for most overall WAC titles with five and for consecutive titles with four.
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This year, the Bulldogs are once again the top seed with a 15-6 record. They also have a stellar 10-1 record at home. The Bulldogs have won seven in a row as they head into the conference tournament.
BOISE STATE is Megan Biorkman, Alanah Carroll and Hadley MacFarlane have given the Broncos outstanding play at the first through third positions, as well as the senior leadership that a young team needs. Biorkman is 15-7 in dual competition this year, while Carroll is 8-5 and MacFarlane is 18-3. The trio have combined for 65 victories this season.
FRESNO STATE looks to win its fifth consecutive WAC title. The last team to win the conference championship other than Fresno State was TCU in 2001. The Bulldogs won their first title in 1999. Fresno State, No. 23 in the country, boasts rankings in both singles and doubles this year. Freshman Melanie Gloria is at No. 21 with a record of 15-4 and Katharina Winterhalter entered the rankings for the first time this season at No. 96 just a few weeks ago. Winterhalter has now won 10-straight, knocking off four ranked opponents including Elisa O?™Riain of Harvard. In doubles, Lucia Sainz and Winterhalter are ranked fourth with an overall record of 31-8 and 15-5 in dual matches.
HAWAI'I returns only one starter from last season and its roster includes four underclassmen and two transfers. First-year head coach Jun Hernandez took over the program in January after spending the previous six seasons as an assistant at California. The Rainbow Wahine picked up their first dual victory of the season against Wisconsin-Green Bay, snapping a 16-match winless streak.
IDAHO was 8-15 in its first season in the WAC. The Vandals do have wins against San Jose State, Pacific and Gonzaga. The Vandals?™s best finish at the Big West Championships was second in 1997. Patricia Ruman was an honorable mention all-Big West selection for singles in 2005.
LOUISIANA TECH head coach Jay Butler is in his first year as the head tennis coach at Louisiana Tech. Butler served as the assistant women?™s basketball coach at Centenary prior to coming to Tech and also works as the head of the North Louisiana Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Louisiana Tech has played the majority of the 2005-06 season with less than six players due to injuries.
NEVADA is looking for its best WAC Tournament finish. The Wolf Pack?™s top finish is tied for fifth, a mark set in 2002, 2003 and 2004. Nevada is looking for its best WAC Tournament finish. The Wolf Pack?™s top finish is tied for fifth. The Wolf Pack are led by Caroline Bailly who has a record of 16-4 this season. Myriam Bouchlaka is 13-7 this season. Head coach Sylvain Malroux is in his first season as the Wolf Pack leader.
NEW MEXICO STATE is playing its first year in the WAC. Simone Bock is the Aggies only three-time first team all-conference (Big West) selection in school history. The Aggies best finish at the conference championship in the Sun belt was in 2005 when they finished fourth overall. New Mexico State defeated Idaho, 7-0, for its lone shutout of the season. The Aggies also have three 6-1 wins this season.
SAN JOSE STATE has finished tied for fifth in each of the last two WAC Championships. For the first time since joining the WAC, San Jose State will have a pair of returning all-conference entries. Ashley Tavita was a second-team all-WAC pick in 2005 as a freshman. Tavita and Courtney Koenigsfeld were second-team all-conference in doubles a year ago.
UTAH STATE sophomore Courtney Anderson leads USU in singles and doubles victories. At one point Anderson won seven-straight matches. Junior Lindsey Bennion earned Big West Conference honorable mention honors in singles and doubles play during the 2004-05 season.The USU women finished eighth in the 2005 Big West Conference Championships.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK ?“ Boise State?™s Tiffany Coll has been named the Xbox Live Western Athletic Conference Women?™s Tennis Player of the Week for the week of April 17. This is her first honor and third for the spring.
Coll, a junior from Fountain Hills, Ariz., went 2-0 in singles competition, and 3-0 in doubles competition last week, helping the Broncos sweep their three matches against WAC schools Nevada, Idaho and Utah State. Coll has won 12 consecutive singles matches, and has not lost since Feb. 25. Her doubles play has contributed to 36 consecutive wins in doubles competition by the Broncos. Against Idaho, Coll and freshman Tatiana Ganzha posted the first victory for the Broncos, putting the team in position to clinch the doubles point. The duo beat the Vandals?™ Kareen Konishi and Efrat Leopold, 8-0, at the second position, improving their perfect spring record to 8-0.
Coll?™s 11th consecutive singles victory came against Utah State?™s Dee-Dee Nelson, 6-0, 6-0. The shutout marked the third time she had blanked an opponent in her previous five matches. Her 12th consecutive victory came against Nevada?™s Bach-Lan Pham, 7-5, 6-2. Coll is now 22-4 this season in singles competition.
Other women?™s tennis nominees: Lucia Sainz of Fresno State defeated won her 99th career doubles match as the Bulldogs shut out Santa Clara, 7-0 … Courtney Koenigsfeld of San Jose State helped the Spartans to a 4-3 win over UC Davis.
WAC TOURNAMENT SEEDS
1. Fresno State
2. Boise State
3. New Mexico State
4. Nevada
5. Idaho
6. San Jose State
7. Utah State
8. Hawai'i
9. Louisiana Tech