Oct. 7, 1999
SAN DIEGO -Aztecs Back to Court: The San Diego State women?s tennis team, which made its 14th trip to the NCAA Tournament last spring, opens its 1999-2000 season this weekend when the Aztecs host the second-annual SDSU Tournament at the East Tennis Courts on the SDSU campus. The three-day tournament, which opens on Friday, Oct. 8 and concludes on Sunday, Oct. 10, features some of the top collegiate tennis players in the country, including the nation?s current No. 1 Zuzana Lesenarova of San Diego. Play begins at 9 a.m. all three days.
The Competition: San Diego State, which finished the 1999 season ranked No. 32 in the nation, heads a list of four team?s, including and San Diego, UC Irvine and Arizona, that will send individuals to the tournament. San Diego and Arizona also finished the 1998-99 season ranked in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association top-50.
The Players: Two of the nation?s best players, top-ranked Lesenarova and No. 25 Katarina Valkyova of San Diego, will headline a field of 32 singles players. Lesenarova and Valkyova, who are currently ranked No. 4 among collegiate doubles teams, will also be favored in the doubles bracket, with Arizona?s 36th-ranked tandem of Lindsay Blau and Uzma Kahn providing the primary competition.
The Format: The tournament features four singles and two doubles flights with eight entrants in each flight. Back draws/losers brackets will be contested at all levels. Preliminary brackets will be available late Thursday afternoon.
Results: Results from all matches will be faxed to San Diego-Area media outlets by 6:00 p.m. each day of the tournament. They will also be available on the SDSU web site at www.goaztecs.com. Completed brackets with results of each day?s action will be sent to the Sports Information offices of participating teams.
A Quick Look at the Aztecs: After losing their top three individuals from last season, SDSU will be looking for players to step up and fill that void during the fall tournament campaign. Junior Whitney Wells (13-8 in 1998-99), who saw most of her dual match action a year ago in the Aztecs No. 4 position, is one candidate along with Laura Aguero (11-7 in 1998-99) who played No. 5, and Julie Chidley (SDSU?s best winning percentage last season 10-3, .769 at No. 6) also figuring in the mix.