March 26, 2001
This Week
The 54th-ranked San Diego State women's tennis team (6-6) gets the Mountain West Conference portion of its schedule underway this weekend playing three matches in three days. The Aztecs travel to Las Vegas to face Brigham Young and Utah in neutral court action Friday and Saturday respectively before meeting up with UNLV Sunday. All three matches start at 10 a.m. and will be held at the Frank and Vicki Fertitta Tennis Complex on the UNLV campus.
Noting the Aztecs
*SDSU enters the week having won two of its last three matches.
*Sophomore Silvia Tornier leads the way for the Aztecs at No. 1 singles with a 5-7 record in dual competition and 11-8 overall.
*Sophomore Lindsey Hedberg has won three consecutive singles matches including back-to-back victories at the No. 3 spot.
*Sophomore Katja Karrento is 13-6 overall.
*SDSU has won the doubles point in four of its last five matches.
Lately
The Aztecs come off a split of matches this past week, losing to 21st-ranked Washington, 3-4, on Wednesday and defeating Princeton, 6-1, Friday. Wednesday's action versus the Huskies saw SDSU's Whitney Wells defeat Claire Carter the nation's 22nd-ranked singles player, 6-2, 6-4, in No. 2 play. SDSU earned a victory in all but two matches (No. 2 singles and No. 3 doubles) against Princeton.
Aztecs in the Rankings
The Aztecs are ranked 54th in the nation and sixth in the West region. The sophomore doubles pair of Silvia Tornier and Lindsey Hedberg are ranked 33rd nationally and eighth in the region. Senior Whitney Wells and sophomore Katja Karrento are ranked third in doubles in the region. Representing SDSU in regional singles ratings are Tornier (6), Hedberg (18) and Karrento (23).
Strength of Schedule
Eighteen teams on the Aztec schedule were ranked entering the season. Four schools on SDSU's docket are currently rated in the top 25: California (11), Pepperdine (17), Southern California (8), Washington (21).
About the Cougars
No. 35 Brigham Young (8-6, 3-0 MWC) comes off a pair of wins this past weekend defeating New Mexico, 5-2, and Air Force, 7-0. BYU leads the SDSU series 16-12.
About the Utes
Utah (4-8, 2-1 MWC) has won three of its last four matches and enters the week after a 7-0 loss to New Mexico Saturday. The Utes own conference wins over Air Force and Colorado State and face UNLV on Friday. The Aztecs lead the Utah series 8-0.
About the Rebels
Seventy-sixth-ranked UNLV (4-7) last competed on March 22 losing, 4-3, to 21st-ranked Ohio State. The Rebels host top-ranked Stanford Wednesday before meeting up with Utah on Friday and Brigham Young on Saturday. SDSU holds a 8-5 series advantage.
Coaching Staff
SDSU is led by eighth-year head coach Peter Mattera who has amassed a 111-72 (60.7 pct.) record on Montezuma Mesa. Matera is assisted by Susheel Gulati, who is in her fifth year with the program. Both are graduates of SDSU. Gulati was a member of the Aztecs' All-American 1993 doubles team.
Looking Ahead
SDSU continues its schedule April 5 at 1:30 with a road match at cross town rival San Diego (USD). The match was originally scheduled for March 6 but was postponed due to rain.