ON TAP IN THE WAC - No. 15 Fresno State and San Jose State both host WAC matches as the Spartans, along with Idaho and No. 65 Nevada, do battle in San Jose. In Fresno, New Mexico State, Louisiana Tech, Utah State and the Bulldogs will play conference matches.
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK (March 30-April 5)
Denver ? Fresno State’s Anastasia Petukhova have been named Western Athletic Conference Women’s Tennis Player of the Week for March 30 ? April 5.
Petukhova, a junior from Moscow, Russia (A.M. Gorky), finished with a perfect 3-0 record in singles play on the weekend, propelling Fresno State to three wins, including two over ranked teams. In the Bulldogs’ 6-1 win over No. 56 Pepperdine on Monday, Petukhova defeated the Waves’ Alexandria Walters, 6-4, 6-1. In Fresno State’s WAC opener, she didn’t lose a game in the 6-0, 6-0 victory against San Jose State’s Amber Silverstone. The Bulldogs went on to beat the Spartans 7-0. In the weekend finale, Petukhova took down Florence De Vrye of No. 56 Nevada, 6-4, 7-6. She and her doubles partner Renata Kucerkova won in the No. 1 doubles position to fuel the 7-0 victory of the Wolf Pack. This is the first time this season the junior has garnered the WAC weekly honor.
Other female nominees included: Boise State’s Klaudia Wlodarczyk, Hawai?i’s Ellen Linsenbolz, Nevada’s Maria Mizyuk and Utah State’s Bridgette Strickland.
TEAM NOTES
Boise State Broncos (20-2, 6-0)
Boise State jumped up to No. 32 this week in the ITA team rankings, moving up six spots ... on the weekend, Boise State hosted Louisiana Tech, Hawai?i and Idaho, sweeping all matches, 7-0 ... the Broncos have won their last 14 matches ... BSU has swept its opponent in five of the six WAC matches the team has played ... senior Klaudia Wlodarczyk shined in the No. 4 position, winning all her matches against her conference opponents, finishing a perfect 6-0 over the weekend ... the team finished the season with a perfect 9-0 record at home ... after a week off, the Broncos will have their toughest test since the first week of the season, as they travel to Las Cruces to take on No. 15 Fresno State on April 18 ... the match will pit the top two ranked WAC teams against each other ... BSU will also play New Mexico State this weekend.
Fresno State Bulldogs (13-5, 2-0)
Fresno State earned its fifth WAC Player of the Week award, and its fourth-consecutive honor after Anastasia Petrukhova helped the Bulldogs go 3-0 last week, including two wins against ranked opponents ... Fresno State has won its last four matches since dropping a 4-3 decision to No. 1-ranked Northwestern on March 27 ... it began the conference schedule off right with two 7-0 sweeps of San Jose State and No. 56 Nevada ... the match against San Jose State was the first match against a non-ranked opponent in eight matches and only the third all season ... this week, the team hosts three WAC matches in Fresno when Louisiana Tech, New Mexico State and Utah State all travel west to take on the Bulldogs.
Hawai?i Rainbow Wahine (10-11, 2-2)
Last weekend, the Rainbow Wahine evened their conference record to 2-2 after they were downed by No. 38 Boise State and No. 56 Nevada, but came out with 7-0 sweeps of Utah State and Louisiana Tech ... freshman Ellen Linsenbolz finished 2-1 in singles play, including two stints at the No. 1 spot ... she was downed by BSU’s Thongdach, but rebounded well against Louisiana Tech’s Ashley Wedderburn, 6-1, 6-2 ... UH is in the midst of a seven-match roadswing that puts them in San Jose next weekend, April 7, to take on the Spartans before heading to Las Cruces to close out its 2009 season against Fresno State, Idaho and New Mexico State ... the team will return home for the WAC Tennis Championship in Honolulu, slated for April 23-25.
Idaho Vandals (15-5, 2-1)
Idaho opened conference play with a 2-1 record after the first weekend ... the Vandals downed Louisiana Tech, 6-1, and Utah State, 5-2 ... the team had its 11-match winning streak snapped after a 7-0 setback at the hands of instate rival and No. 38th-ranked team in the nation, Boise State ... against the Lady Techsters, Idaho won all but one singles match but was pushed by a valiant Tech performance ... four of the six matches went to three sets with Idaho coming out on top in three of those matches ... in the match against the Aggies, UI swept the crucial doubles point to take the 5-2 victory ... the Vandals have the most matches remaining of any conference team ... the team will play nine matches in the span of 11 days, beginning on Tuesday at home as Gonzaga makes a visit to Moscow.
Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters (2-15, 0-3)
The Lady Techsters fell to 0-3 in WAC play and 2-15 overall after defeats from No. 38 Boise State, Hawai?i and Idaho ... LTU was swept by the Broncos and Rainbow Wahine, but managed to garner a victory at the No. 2 position against the Vandals ... Maartie DeWit earned a 6-3, 1-6, 10-7 win against Silvia Irimescu to take the point ... the team split four out of the six singles matches against Idaho ... Tech returns to action Friday, April 10, at Fresno to take on a second wave of WAC Opponents beginning with Fresno State and then New Mexico State.
Nevada Wolf Pack (8-8, 3-2)
After four WAC matches last weekend, the Wolf Pack come out with a 3-1 record, with their only loss to No. 14 Fresno State, 7-0 ... Nevada took care of business in two 7-0 sweeps of San Jose State and Hawai?i, and a 6-1 win over the Aggies of New Mexico State ... the team currently holds a ranking of 65 in the latest ITA team rankings ... senior Caroline Bailly picked up her 70th career win, who is second on Nevada’s all-time career singles list, defeated UH’s Sophie Kobuch 6-3, 6-1 in the landmark victory .... Maria Mizyuk took two out of three in the No. 3 position in singles against San Jose State and New Mexico State ... the team will look to earn its ninth victory of the season as it returns to conference play this weekend with a Friday match against San Jose State in San Jose, Calif.
New Mexico State Aggies (7-9, 1-1)
New Mexico State plays its final non-conference match of the year, Wednesday, April 8 against I-10 rival UTEP... the Aggies have gone 11-6 against UTEP in the last 12 years ... the duo of senior Stephanie Eusebe and sophomore Isabela Kulaif has a team-best 8-5 doubles record ... after its opening weekend in league play, New Mexico State now has a 10-2 record against WAC teams in regular season play ... the Aggies split their conference matches for a 1-1 record, losing to No. 56 Nevada, 6-1, but rebounding well against San Jose State, 7-0 ... NMSU plays three of the final seven matches at home , six of those seven being WAC matches.
San Jose State Spartans (10-11, 0-4)
The Spartans dropped their third-straight WAC match on Monday, getting downed by New Mexico State, 7-0, on Saturday ... SJSU’s loss to No. 56 Nevada on April 3 broke a four-match win streak ... the team continues its two-match homestand against WAC opponents this week as it hosts Hawai?i on Tuesday and Idaho on Thursday ... first serve for both matches is set for 2 p.m. ... the Spartans will look to earn their first conference victories as they close out the 2009 regular season with matches against Louisiana Tech and Utah State in Logan on April 17.
Utah State Aggies (3-16, 0-3)
The Aggies’ most recent action was a 5-2 loss to Idaho on Saturday ... at the number three doubles position, Taylor Perry and Britney Watts suffered a close loss to UI’s Barbara Maciocha and Jana Siwa, 8-7, 8-3 ... in singles play at the number two spot, senior Bridgette Strickland battled through three sets to defeat the Vandals’ Daniela Cohen, 6-7, 6-2, 10-4 ... freshman Monica Abella crushed UI’s Alexandra Ulesanu, 6-3, 6-2, at the number three singles spot ... Utah State headed to Ogden, Utah to take on in-state foe Weber State, on Tuesday, but fell 4-3. ... this marks the second meeting between the schools with Weber State sweeping the season series with a win over Utah State, 4-3, on February 25 ... the Aggies hold a 3-16 record thus far this season.
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.