PLAYER OF THE MONTH - Fresno State’s Anastasia Petukhova has been named Western Athletic Conference Women’s Tennis Player of the Month for the month of October.
Petukhova, a junior from Moscow, Russia (A.M. Gorky), won the ITA Northwest Regional Doubles title and the ITA National Indoor doubles title with doubles partner Renata Kucerkova. She finished the fall season with an 8-1 doubles record. The junior also defeated No. 15 Megan Falcon of LSU in the first round of the ITA National Indoor Championships in singles play.
Other female nominees included: New Mexico State’s Natalia Salum Soto qualified into the main draw at the ITA Central Region Championship with two straight-set victories and then reached the round of 32 after beating Wichita State’s Anna Egorova, 6-4, 6-2. Boise State’s Pichittra Thongdach reached the quarterfinals in the singles tournament before losing to No. 16 seeded Anouk Tigu in three sets. Nevada’s Caroline Bailly reached the round of 16 at the ITA Regional Championships.
Thongdach Brings Home Title from Matador Invitational - Junior Pichittra Thongdach finished up her fall season with a singles title as she and sophomore Lauren Megale competed at the Matador Inviatational, Nov. 11. The title is the first singles title for Thongdach this year, who also won a doubles title this year at the Racquet Club Invitational in October.
Bulldogs Dominate National Indoor, Win Title - The Fresno State women’s tennis team concluded the fall season in the best possible way, returning from the 2008 ITA National Indoor Championships with a national title courtesy of juniors Renata Kucerkova and Anastasia Petukhova.
Kucerkova and Petukhova capped off a dazzling run through the doubles tournament with a victory over Tefft/Frilling of Notre Dame. The Bulldog tandem finished an incredible fall season with an ITA Northwest Regional championship, an ITA National Indoor championship, and a record of 12-1. The `Dogs lone loss came in the finals of the ITA All-American tournament
Kobuch and Peter Win Consolation Championship at ITA West Regional - Junior Sophie Kobuch and freshman Anja-Vanessa Peter won the doubles consolation championship at the Wilson/Intercollegiate Tennis Association West Region Championships, Sunday, at the Barnes Tennis Center. Five singles players and two doubles teams represented UH in this tournament.
Kobuch and Peter won two doubles matches to earn the championship. The duo advanced to the final after the team of Danielle Steinberg and Jane Huh of Arizona withdrew due to administration problems. Kobuch and Peter next squeezed past Lisa Sutton and Deborah Armstrong of Long Beach State, 8-6 to clinch the championship. The Hawai`i duo went 6-1 in doubles play this week.
COHEN and MACIOCHA Advance To Quarterfinals Of The Collegiate Clay Court Nationals - Daniela Cohen advanced to the quarterfinals in the singles draw. Cohen and partner Basia Maciocha moved on to the semifinals of the doubles draw.
Cohen advanced to the singles semifinals at the EWU/Gonzaga Fall Invitational in October. Cohen and Maciocha also played doubles at the EWU/Gonzaga Fall Invitational and advanced to the quarterfinals before bowing out.
Techsters Sweep Grambling State - LTU swept Grambling State in its inaugural match at its new home facility Sunday to win their first match of the fall season.
Louisiana Tech got things started with a clean sweep of doubles action with the No. 1 team of freshman Maartje De Wit and sophomore Rocio Juarez winnig their match 8-3 and the Techsters’ No. 2 team of Ashley Wedderburn and Ada Makowska winning their match 9-8 (7-2).
In her first career match as a Lady Techster, de Wit played in the team’s No. 1 spot and was impressive winning 6-3, 6-2.
Three at ITA Regional for Wolf Pack - Senior and No. 91 Caroline Bailly, sophomores Florence De Vrye and Caroline Stevens fell Saturday on the second day of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Regional Championships in Stanford, Calif. In the round of 16 singles, Bailly, who was seeded 15th in the tournament draw, fell 6-1, 6-1 to second seed and No. 7 ranked Marina Cossou of California. Bailly reached the round of 16 defeating St. Mary’s Sabine Gunnarsson 6-1, 6-2.
In the round of 16 doubles, De Vrye and Stevens fell 8-5 to eight seed Jana Juricova and Marion Ravelojaona of California.
Salum Soto’s Run Ends at Regional - Utah’s Erin Monson defeated New Mexico State’s freshman Natalia Salum Soto on Nov. 17 in the Round of 32 at the ITA Central Region Championships, ending her run in the Aggies’ final tournament of the fall season.
Monson, who defeated the tournament’s No. 9 seed on Thursday, came out and ended Salum Soto’s three-match run at regional’s with her 6-1, 6-4, victory.
Silverstone excels at Regional - Senior Amber Silverstone defeated Catalina Visico of California in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3, in the consolation bracket of the ITA Northwest Regional Championship at Stanford University on Saturday.
Anna Guzman, a sophomore, drew Sarah Oudomvilay of San Francisco and extended her to three sets before falling, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1. Despite those losses it was a big weekend for the team. The squad got two wins against Pac-10 opponents, one in doubles and another in consolation singles today.
Aggies fall at ITA Regional in Salt Lake City - In the first round, senior Bridgette Strickland fell to Jana Mackova of Boise State, 6-3, 6-2 while teammate Monica Calleja lost to Oklahoma’s Marie-Pier Huet, 6-2, 6-2. Sophomore Taylor Perry fell 6-3, 6-2 to Nebraska’s Maria Ring. Also falling in the first round was freshman Carla Limon losing, 6-1, 6-2, to Lisa Johnson of Utah.
In doubles action, Strickland and Swenson went head-to-head with Jana Mackova and Rocio Frej of Boise State, but fell, 8-4 in the first round.
WAC TOURNAMENT TO BE HELD IN honolulu - This season, the Western Athletic Conference Tournament will return to Honolulu, Hawaii on the campus of Hawai?i, April 23-26. The 2008 champion, Hawai?i, will look to defend its’ crown after it earned its first-ever WAC title with a 4-2 win over second-seeded Fresno State.