ON TAP IN THE WAC - The top team in the Western Athletic Conference, No. 15 Fresno State, heads east (Nashville, Tenn.) this week as the Bulldogs prepare to take part in an ITA Kickoff Tournament Qualifier. The team will face off against the likes of No. 28 Denver and No. 12 Vanderbilt. No. 45 Boise State will also travel to Clemson, S.C. to take part in a qualifier with a match lined up against No. 11 Clemson. No. 47 BYU and No. 64 are on the schedule for Utah State and Hawai?i, respectively, while Louisiana Tech opens its season at Stephen F. Austin in the first of two weekend matches. San Jose State also opens the 2009 campaign with a match against Cal State Bakersfield on Sunday.
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK (Jan. 19 - 25)
Denver ? Boise State’s Pichittra Thongdach has been named Western Athletic Conference Women’s Tennis Player of the Week for Jan. 18-25.
Thongdach, a junior from Petchaburi, Thailand (University of Thailand), helped the Boise State women get off to a 2-0 start this season after the Broncos beat Montana State, 6-1, and Penn State, 7-0, over the weekend. The 104th-ranked junior defeated Montana State’s Stephanie Jasper (No. 30 in the region), 6-2, 1-6, 6-3, in No. 1 singles before beating Penn State’s Monika Mical in straight sets, 6-0, 6-2. She also went undefeated in doubles play after pairing with partner Lauren Megale. The duo easily defeated Montana State’s Harris and Griffin, 8-1, and won a 7-6 thriller against Penn State’s Mical/Lotto in the No. 1 doubles spot.
Other female nominees: New Mexico State’s Stephanie Eusebe and Idaho’s Maria Perevoshchikova.
TEAM NOTES
Boise State Broncos
The Broncos began the 2009 season off on a good note with a 6-1 victory over Montana State and a 7-0 win over a visiting Penn State ... junior Pichittra Thongdach (104) went undefeated in singles and doubles play over the weekend with a win over MSU’s Stephanie Jasper (ranked No. 30 in the region), 6-1, 1-6, 6-3 ... Thongdach paired with partner Learen Meagle as the duo easliy defeated Montana State’s Harris and Griffin, 8-1, and won a 7-6 thriller against Penn State’s Mical/Lotto in the No. 1 doubles spot ... BSU prepares for the ITA kickoff weekend as they head to Clemson, SC to play Clemson in the first round and either Vanderbilt or Auburn in the second round ... the Broncos and Fresno State are the only teams in the conference to play in the ITA qualifier.
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 ... at the Freeman Invitational last week, Fresno State’s two doubles teams and five singles players amassed 21 wins in their 28 matches over the weekend, including two bracket championships ... Anastasia Petukhova and Renata Kucerkova put an exclamation point on their No. 5-ranking after they downed fifth-ranked Amanda McDowell and Irina Falconi of Georgia Tech, 8-5 in the semifinals.
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 opened last weeks’ competition with a 6-1 loss to No. 55 Oregon in Eugene ... after a short trip down to Portland, UI lost in a 4-3 thriller to Houston, but then rebounded against Portland St., 6-1 ... the team ended the road trip with a 6-1 loss to Portland ... Maria Perevoshchikova went 3-1 in singles from the No. 1 spot ... Perevoshchikova notched victories against Oregon’s Carmen Seremata, ranked No. 18 in the ITA Northwest singles rankings, in straight sets, Portland State’s Molly Knox 6-3,7-5 and University of Houston’s Lucy Forward 6-3,6-1 ... Idaho is off until a neutral site game in Cheney, Washington against Cal State Bakersfield on Feb. 6.
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 ... the Wolf Pack competed at the Cal Winter Invitational as junior Maria Mizyuk concluded her season-opening weekend with another win in doubles ... teaming up with sophomore Aodhnait Lombard for the second time in three days, the duo picked up a 8-6 victory over Kathryn Malec and Alita Fisher of No. 59 Saint Mary’s ... In singles action, Lombard picked up a win 7-5, 6-3, over Steffi Wong of No. 75 Cal Poly ... De Vrye came up short 6-0, 4-6, 7-5, over Cal Poly’s Brittany Blalock and Stevens faced Cal Poly’s No. 120 Maria Malec but fell 6-0, 6-1 ... Nevada begins its dual season on Jan. 31 in Stockton, Calif. at Pacific.
New Mexico State Aggies
NM State has gone 2-1 in its first weekend of spring competition in each of the last two season and both of the losses have come to a ranked UNLV team... senior Stephanie Eusebe went 2-1 in singles competition and 1-1 in doubles play ... her only losses came against her opponents from UNLV, who is ranked No. 39 nationally ... ... after going 5-4 in one-point matches last season, the Aggies won their first 4-3 match this year... the Aggies now only play three matches until Feb. 21 and all three are at home beginning with Texas-San Antonio on Feb. 7 along with Northern Arizona on Feb. 20 ... the team ends the three-game homestand with Texas Pan American on Feb. 21.
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 ... USU began its 2009 season on the road at Idaho State on Jan. 22, when the Aggies took care of business, 6-1 in Pocatello, Idaho ... Utah State now prepares to travel 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.
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, Fresno State, will look to defend its’ crown after the Bulldogs earned their seventh-consecutive WAC title with a 4-1 win over second-seeded Boise State.