DENVER ? This week, six WAC schools are in action, with two schools set to take on nationally ranked teams. The No. 43 Boise State Broncos make the trip to Wichita, Kan., to compete in the Shocker Classic, taking on Arkansas-Little Rock on Mar. 15 and No. 69 Wichita State on Mar. 16. The Hawai’i Rainbow Wahine welcomes No. 59 New Mexico to Honolulu on Mar. 17 and Tennessee on Mar. 18. Idaho travels to Portland, Ore., to compete with Portland State and Portland, Mar. 14-15, while Louisiana Tech makes the trip to Thibodaux, La., to square off with Nicholls State on Mar. 14, before returning to Ruston to host McNeese State on Mar. 15. The Nevada Wolf Pack will take on No. 32 Long Beach State on Mar. 15, while San Jose State welcomes Southern Utah to San Jose on Mar. 15.
No. 17 Fresno State returns to action next weekend when the Bulldogs host Denver and BYU, Mar. 21-22, while New Mexico State travels to Texas to take on Texas-San Antonio and Texas-Pan American, Mar. 22-23. The Utah State Aggies return to the courts Mar. 28-29 when they welcome Dixie State and Cal State Bakersfield to Logan.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK ? Utah State’s Marie Livingston has been named the Western Athletic Conference Tennis Player of the Week for the week of Mar. 3-9. This is the first career Player of the Week honor for Livingston.
Livingston, a sophomore from Highland, Utah, (Highland), was a perfect 3-0 in singles action, helping the Aggies to two team victories over Montana State-Billings (6-1) and Portland State (4-3). Livingston won each of her matches in straight sets, notching a victory over Victoria Fernandez of Montana State-Billings, 6-4, 6-3, topping Montana’s Jessica Souza, 6-4, 7-5, and beating Caitlin Stocking of Portland State, 6-2, 6-2. Livingston’s three-straight wins came at the No. 6 singles position.
Other women’s tennis nominees included: Pichittra Thongdach of Boise State was a perfect 2-0 in doubles, as the No. 58-ranked pair of Thongdach and Polina Kokoulina topped Justine Perl and Monica Wiesener of San Diego (8-1) and defeated Jessica Hoath and Nienke Strijbus of No. 35 Saint Mary’s ... Anastasia Petukhova of Fresno State shined for the Bulldogs with a win in straight-sets over No. 102 Katarina Zoricic of No. 26 William and Mary, and also paired with teammate Renata Kucerkova to defeat William and Mary’s Ragini Acharya and Klaudyna Kasztelaniec, 8-3 ... Adriana Makowska of Louisiana Tech earned two singles victories, with wins over Nulo Ndlabhu of Grambling State, 6-1, 6-1, and Southern’s Sydney Lartigue, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 ... Alice Hall of Nevada was undefeated in singles play and tallied one doubles victory, beating No. 62 Oregon’s Ana Cecilia Olivos in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2, and also topping Luba Schifris of No. 32 Sacramento State, 7-6, 6-1 ... Anne Fagegaltier of New Mexico State won both of her singles matches at the No. 4 position, notching her eighth-straight victory in singles play, topping Houston’s Jordan McCombs, 6-2, 6-1 and downing Manijee Ashrafi of Lamar, 6-2, 7-5.
Boise State Broncos
No. 43 Boise State extended its undefeated home record to 7-0 , topping San Diego, 5-2, and upsetting No. 35 Saint Mary’s, 4-3 ... the Broncos jumped 16 spots in the ITA rankings after solid wins over the Toreros and the Gaels ... the Broncos were led by senior Stacey Housley, the only Bronco to notch two singles victories over the Toreros and the Gaels ... against Saint Mary’s, the Broncos earned the crucial doubles point, giving them the 4-3 win after tallying victories at the No. 1 and No. 2 positions ... Boise State looks to pick up its first road win of the season when the Broncos travel to Wichita, Kan., to compete in the Shocker Classic, Mar. 15-16, versus Arkansas-Little Rock and host No. 69 Wichita State.
Fresno State Bulldogs
No. 17 Fresno State fell in its first home match of the season against No. 26 William & Mary, 5-2, on Mar. 7 ... the Bulldogs were led by No. 13-ranked Anastasia Petukhova and senior Jacqueline Haskett, who earned the only two singles wins against the Tribe ... Petukhova won her match at the No. 2 position in straight sets, topping No. 102 Katarina Zoricic of William & Mary, 6-0, 6-3 ... Haskett played at the No. 5 spot and fought hard to take her match over Lauren Sabacinkski, 7-6 (7-0), 6-0 ... the No. 25-ranked doubles tandem of Petukhova and Renata Kucerkova also defeated Ragini Acharya and Klaudyna Kasztelaniec, 8-3 ... up next, the Bulldogs will have this weekend off before returning to action against Denver and BYU, Mar. 21-22, in Fresno.
Hawai?i Rainbow Wahine
Hawai’i looks for its first win of the season, after falling to 0-9 with losses to Loyola Marymount (6-1), No. 27 Pepperdine (7-0) and No. 19 Notre Dame (7-0) ... seven of the Rainbow Wahine’s losses have come against ranked opponents ... the Rainbow Wahine’s only win in singles action came when freshman Natasha Zorec topped Jasmin Heckel of Loyola Marymount, 6-4, 6-4, at the No. 4 position ... in doubles play, senior Chloe Bihag and freshman Jennifer Goldman teamed up to take down Loyola Marymount’s Heckel and Caroline Nothnagel, 9-8 (7) ... up next, the Rainbow Wahine will continue their 12-match homestand when they welcome No. 13 Duke, No. 59 New Mexico and Tennessee to Honolulu, Mar. 13-18.
Idaho Vandals
Idaho comes off a 4-3 victory over Northern Colorado (4-3) on Mar. 7 ... the Vandals split the singles competition, but won two of three doubles matches to secure the doubles point and defeat the Golden Bears ... Barbara Maciocha continued her winning ways at No. 3 singles where she won 6-1, 6-3 before joining Natalie Kirch to secure the No. 3 doubles victory 8-4 ... Alexandra Ulesanu was the Vandals’ other double-winner with her 6-2, 6-1 decision at No. 4 singles, then teamed with Yvette Ly for an 8-4 victory at No. 2 doubles ... this week, the Vandals make the trip to Portland, Ore., to take on Portland State, Portland and Montana, Mar. 14-16.
Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters
Louisiana Tech split its weekend action, first falling in a close match at Southern (5-2) on Mar. 8, before bouncing back to sweep Grambling State (7-0) in commanding fashion, Mar. 9 ... in singles action, Carolina Pachon earned her first career win as a Lady Techster, defeating Faith Williams of Grambling State, 6-2, 7-6 (7-2) at the No. 6 position ... Mallory Smith tallied her third win of the season with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Airieu Williams in the No. 5 spot ... up next, Louisiana Tech travels to Thibodaux, La., to take on Nicholls State, Mar. 14, before returning home to host McNeese State on Mar. 15.
Nevada Wolf Pack
Nevada claimed a narrow 4-3 decision over No. 62 Oregon, Mar. 7, before falling to No. 32 Sacramento State, 4-3, Mar. 8 ... the Wolf Pack were led by sophomore Alice Hall, who notched two singles victories against the Ducks and the Hornets ... Hall topped Oregon’s Ana Cecilia Olivos, 6-4, 6-2, and defeated Luba Schifris of Sacramento State, 7-6, 6-1, both at the No. 4 position ... the doubles tandem of Maria Mizyuk and Caroline Bailly tallied two victories at the No. 1 doubles slot, taking down Celine Rolly and Anna Powaska of Oregon, 8-5, before beating Sacramento State’s Katrina Zheltova and Melissa Valenzuela, 8-6 ... this week, the Wolf Pack will take on No. 32 Long Beach State, Mar. 15, in Long Beach, Calif.
New Mexico State Aggies
New Mexico State returns home from Texas after a pair of split matches, first beating Houston (4-3) on Mar. 8, before falling to Lamar (4-3) on Mar. 9 ... senior Anne Fagegaltier was the only Aggie to notch two singles victories over the Cougars and the Cardinals ... Fagegaltier topped Jordan McCombs of Houston, 6-2, 6-1, before taking down Lamar’s Manijee Ashrafi, 6-2, 7-5, both at the No. 4 position ... Sophia Marks, Stephanie Eusebe, Aleksa Costa and Paulina Zuniga each tallied one singles victory on the weekend ... up next, the Aggies will have the weekend off before returning to Texas to take on Texas-San Antonio and Texas-Pan American, Mar. 22-23, in San Antonio.
San Jose State Spartans
San Jose State returns home following three matches across the Golden State, tallying a 2-1 record ... the Spartans fell to UC Riverside (6-1), but bounced back to beat Cal Poly Pomona (5-4) and Sonoma State (6-3) ... after tallying both a singles and doubles win over Sonoma State, Spartan senior Ashley Tavita now shares the top spot in the school record book for total career victories (singles and doubles) ... Tavita is tied with former Spartan, Rochelle Morrison, with 105 total victories ... junior Amber Silverstone also notched three victories in singles action against the Highlanders, the Broncos and Seawolves ... the Spartans next match will be Mar. 15 when they host Southern Utah in San Jose.
Utah State Aggies
Utah State split a pair of home matches, first falling to Montana (4-3) on Mar. 7, before bouncing back to take down Portland State (4-3) on Mar. 9 ... Brianna Harris, Hailey Swenson and Marie Livingston all earned two singles victories against the Grizzlies and the Vikings ... Harris topped Montana’s Liz Walker (6-0, 6-1) and Lacey Pfibsen of Portland State (6-4, 6-4), while Swenson beat Mari Castello of Montana (6-4, 6-3) and Portland State’s Stephanie Fuchs (6-1, 4-6, 6-4) ... Livingston defeated Montana’s Jessica Souza (6-4, 7-5) and Portland State’s Caitlin Stocking (6-2, 6-2) ... the Aggies have two weeks off before returning action when they host Dixie State and Cal State Bakersfield in Logan.
WAC CHAMPIONSHIP TO BE HELD IN LAS CRUCES ? This season, the Western Athletic Conference Tournament will return to Las Cruces, New Mexico on the campus of New Mexico State, April 24-27. The 2007 champion, Fresno State, will look to win its seventh-straight title. Last season, Fresno State took the title at the Appleton Tennis Center in Boise, defeating second-seeded Boise State, 4-0.
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