PETUKHOVA NAMED WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Fresno State’s Anastasia Petukhova has been named the Verizon Wireless Western Athletic Conference Tennis Player of the Week for Jan. 25-31. This is her ninth all-time honor and third of the season.
A senior from Moscow, Russia, Petukhova continued her tear through ranked opponents, as she added two more to her list last weekend at the qualifying rounds of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships. Playing at the No. 1 spot, she started the weekend by knocking off No. 53 Kirsten Flower of Ohio State, 4-6, 6-3, (10-4) for Fresno State’s only point of the match. She followed it up with a win over No. 72 Lindsey Hardenbergh of Virginia, 2-6, 7-5, 6-0. In doubles, Petukhova teamed with Renata Kucerkova to record an 8-3 victory over Virginia’s Jennifer Stevens and Emily Fraser.
Other nominees included: Boise State’s Pichittra Thongdach went 1-1 at No. 1 singles last week, with her loss coming in three sets to the No. 100 player in the nation … Lais Ogata of Nevada won in singles and doubles vs. Brown at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships … Utah State’s Hailey Swenson picked up wins at No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles in a match against Gonzaga.
BOISE STATE DROPS PAIR OF MATCHES AT ITA KICKOFF
Boise State went 0-2 at the 2010 ITA Kick-Off in South Bend, Ind., last weekend. The Broncos fell to No. 17 North Carolina and No. 46 DePaul. Against the Blue Demons, Pichittra Thongdach and Lauren Megale played the No. 9 ranked doubles pair to an a near upset, falling 8-7. Boise State scored its first point of the dual in the No. 6 match as Rocio Frej beat Kristen Gambrell, 6-2, 6-4. Thongdach also picked up a win at No. 1 singles.
FRESNO STATE FALLS TWICE IN ITA KICKOFF WEEKEND
Fresno State dropped a pair of home matches to ranked teams last weekend as part of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend. The Bulldogs fell to No. 38 Ohio State and No. 26 Virginia.
No. 4 Anastasia Petukhova was the highlight of the weekend for Fresno State, earning singles wins over No. 53 Kirsten Flower of Ohio State and No. 72 Lindsey Hardenbergh of Virginia. She also teamed with Renata Kucerkova for a doubles victory.
NEVADA FALLS TO PAIR OF IVY LEAGUE SCHOOLS
Nevada fell to No. 65 Brown and No. 66 Harvard at the 2010 ITA National Team Indoor Championships hosted by Baylor last weekend. This was the first time in the history of the Nevada program that an entire team had been selected to participate in the event.
Against Brown, Nevada won the doubles point as the teams of Florence De Vrye and Emma Verberne and Lais Ogata and Aline Laurioux each were victorious. But Brown came on strong in singles play to win at Nos. 1, 4, 6, 5 and 2 to clinch the victory. Nevada’s lone singles win came from Ogata at the No. 4 spot.
Nevada won the doubles point for the second consecutive day against Harvard, getting victories from the teams of Maria Mizyuk and Sophie Stevens and De Vrye/Verberne. However, Harvard won the singles matches at Nos. 2, 3, 4 and 5, gaining the four points necessary for the win. Laurioux and Mizyuk did not complete their singles matches after Harvard clinched.
SJSU EDGES BAKERSFIELD IN SEASON OPENER
San Jose State captured an important doubles point early on to help pull off a 4-3 victory over Cal State Bakersfield in the 2010 season opener. Sandra Florea and Anna Guzman earned a win at No. 2 doubles to seal the doubles point for the Spartans. In singles, Guzman, Chau Truong and Jennifer Williams all won their matches in straight sets at Nos. 4-6 to give SJSU the win.
LOUISIANA TECH SWEEPS GRAMBLING STATE
Louisiana Tech cruised to a 7-0 win over Grambling State last Sunday. Vivian ten Dolle and Maartje de Wit started it off for the Techsters with an 8-3 win in doubles. Ten Dolle also played in the No. 1 slot for LA Tech and took her match 6-0, 6-0. At. No. 2, Cecile Vichery won 6-1, 6-2, while de Wit won her match at No. 3 6-0,6-0. The other matches were won by default.
UTAH STATE DROPS CLOSE MATCH TO GONZAGA
Utah State dropped a close match to Gonzaga, 4-3, last Saturday. The Aggies lost the doubles point, despite Hailey Swenson and Jaclyn West winning at the No. 1 spot. In singles, Swenson picked up a win at No. 1, as did Kristina Voytsekhovich at No. 3 and Britney Watts at No. 6.
WAC IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
In the Jan. 26 ITA team rankings, Fresno State is ranked No. 15, while Boise State is No. 33 and Nevada came in at No. 69.
The Bulldogs’ Anastasia Petukhova is the lone WAC player ranked in the Jan. 5 ITA individual rankings at No. 4. In doubles, Boise State’s Lauren Megale and Pichittra Thongdach are ranked No. 24, while Florence De Vrye and Lais Ogata of Nevada are ranked No. 43.
PETUKHOVA UPSETS TOP-RANKED SINGLES PLAYER
Fresno State’s Anastasia Petukhova finished the fall portion of the season with a run to the quarterfinals of the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships. In the first round, she upset her best friend and the top-ranked player in the country, Maria Mosolova of Northwestern, 6-4, 7-5. The following day, Petukhova upset No. 17 Maria Sanchez of USC. The Trojan won the first set, 3-6, but Petukhova took the next two sets, 6-3, 7-5, to advance to the quarterfinals. In her second match of the day, she met Washington’s 58th-ranked Denise Dy, with the Husky picking up a 1-6, 6-3, 6-0 victory. The victory over Sanchez was Petukhova’s fifth win of the season over a ranked opponent.
WAC TOURNAMENT TO BE HELD IN FRESNO
The 2010 WAC Tennis Tournament will be held April 29-May 2 in Fresno, Calif. The Bulldogs, winners of eight-straight WAC Tournament titles, defeated No. 2-seed Boise State, 4-3, in a match that came down to the last point to claim last year’s title.