ON TAP IN WAC WOMEN’S TENNIS ? Western Athletic Conference Women’s Tennis hits full swing during this opening weekend as the conference’s top team, No. 15 Fresno State, travels to Las Vegas, Nev. to compete in the Freeman Memorial Invitational. Nevada is also on the road, as the Wolf Pack head to Berkeley, Calif. for the Cal Winter Invitational. Idaho takes on Washington State in Pullman, Wash. on Saturday before playing Air Force and Lewis and Clark State on Sunday to round out this week’s action.
TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
Boise State Broncos
After a solid 2008 fall season, the Boise State women’s tennis team has earned a No. 45 national team ranking from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association ... the Broncos’ Pichittra Thongdach earned the only singles ranking for the Broncos, sitting at No. 104 out of the 125 nationally ranked players ... Thongdach and freshman Vivian Silfany are the only ranked duo for BSU, holding the No. 54 spot ... In the Central Region rankings, Thongdach looks to be a strong competitor, sitting at No. 7 in singles play ... freshman Lauren Megale holds the No. 12 spot in the region’s singles rankings while Silfany and senior Bianca Jochimsen rank No. 23 and No. 30 out of the region’s 30-ranked singles players ... the Broncos begin their season on Jan. 23 when they host Montana State
Fresno State Bulldogs
Fresno State looks to make the NCAA Championships for the 13th consecutive year this season as it is ranked No. 15 in the nation ... the duo of Anastasia Petukhova and Renata Kucerkova, who won the ITA National Title this fall, climbed the rankings from No. 8 to an impressive No. 2 spot in doubles ... the pair of Melanie Gloria and Tinesta Rowe fell from a No. 1 ranking to a No. 23 ranking to begin the spring season ... 2008 WAC Player of the Year senior Melanie Gloria is ranked No. 17 in the nation to begin the spring season ... junior Anastasia Petukhova charts in at No. 29 and freshman Abigail Olivier is positioned at No. 76 ... the Bulldogs will begin their season in Las Vegas, Nev. this week as they compete in the Freeman Memorial Invitational.
Hawai?i Rainbow Wahine
Junior Sophie Kobuch leads the Rainbow Wahine this season with her No. 20 ranking in all of the West ... she held a No. 69 ranking in the fall before a 6-1, 6-0 defeat at the hands of Stanford’s No. 4 Hilary Barte ... UH looks to improve on its quarter-final exit from last years’ WAC Championship as the tournament will come to Honolulu for the 19th installment of the conference championship ... the team hopes to rebound from a 6-1 loss to Stanford late in November when it begins its 2009 campaign with home matches against San Diego State and UC Irvine on Jan. 29 and 30, respectively.
Idaho Vandals
The Vandals enter the 2009 season after their quaterfinal exit from the WAC Championships last season ... Jana Siwa will lead the team after she completed a stellar fall season at the Boise State Overhead Smash in November ... Siwa did not drop a set during singles play throughout the three day tournament ... Siwa, a sophomore, picked up wins over players from Montana State and Texas State ... the team will get some added depth from recent signee, Sofya Korotaeva (Russia), after joining the team for the spring season as a freshman ...UI has a full slate this week as it travels to Pullman, Wash. to take on Washington State on Saturday and then face Air Force and Lewis and Clark State College on Sunday.
Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters
The Lady Techsters open their season on Jan. 30 at Stephen F. Austin in Nacogdoches, Texas ... LTU then faces Houston on the following day before traveling home to Ruston to face Mcneese State on Feb. 1 ... La Tech returns two seniors in Ada Makowska (Sopot, Poland) and Ashley Wedderburn (Houston, Texas) ... Wedderburn will lead the way in the No. 1 position after her 3-17 record in singles play during the 2007-08 season ... the team opens WAC play on April 4 when it travels to Boise to take on Boise State, Hawai?i and Idaho in a three-match swing.
Nevada Wolf Pack
Senior Caroline Bailly brings a Northwest ranking of 30 to the spring season ... she leads a team that boasts four sophomores, a junior and two freshmen ... Bailly and sophomores Florence De Vrye and Caroline Stevens all showed well at the ITA Northwest Championships in the fall season ... the senior was seeded 15th in the tournament draw, but fell 6-1, 6-1 to second seed and No. 7-ranked Marina Cossou of California while De Vrye and Stevens fell 8-5 to eight seed Jana Juricova and Marion Ravelojaona of California ... the Wolf Pack make a trip to California when they compete in the Cal Winter Invitational in Berkeley this weekend ... the team does not host a match until April 3, when New Mexico State visits Reno.
New Mexico State Aggies
Juniors Aleksa Costa and Sophia Marks became the first ranked doubles team in the history of the New Mexico State women’s tennis program, as the Aggies’ top duo are ranked No. 52 in the nation ... the pair are just the second of three WAC doubles team to be ranked in the nation ... Costa and Marks also garnered a No. 6 ranking in the central region, just behind the two Boise State duos ... NMSU opens the spring season with three matches in Las Vegas, Nev., Jan. 23-25. The Aggies’ Jan. 24 match with No. 39 UNLV highlights their opening weekend.
San Jose State Spartans
After just two appearances during fall play, the Spartans look to get in the swing of things when they open their season on Feb. 1 in a match at Cal State Bakersfield, in Bakersfield, Calif. ... SJSU will look for continued success out of senior Amber Silverstone ... Silverstone defeated defeated Catalina Visico of California in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3, in the consolation bracket of the ITA Northwest Regional Championship ... Along with Silverstone, seniors Silvana Dukic and Sanda Hadzisabic lead the Spartans this year ... SJSU also boasts three juniors and three sophomores on the roster.
Utah State Aggies
Utah State concluded its fall season at the ITA Mountain Regionals when senior Bridgette Strickland fell to Jana Mackova of Boise State, 6-3, 6-2 while teammate Monica Calleja lost to Oklahoma’s Marie-Pier , 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 ... Strickland, from Orem, Utah, is the lone senior on the Aggies’ roster and hopes to build on her fall performance ... USU begins the 2006 season on the road at Idaho State on Jan. 22 before traveling to Provo, Utah to take on BYU on Jan. 30 ... the Aggies will be on the road seven-straight matches before returning home on Feb. 25 to play host to Weber State.