April 24, 2001
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Tournament Time
The 46th-ranked San Diego State women's tennis team (15-7, 6-1 MWC) heads to Ft. Collins, Colo., to compete in the Mountain West Conference championship Thursday-Saturday. The event will be held at the Colorado State Tennis Complex on the CSU campus. SDSU enters the tournament as the No. 2 seed and looks to keep an eight-match win streak intact when it faces No. 7 Air Force at 2 p.m. MST Thursday.
The Bracket
Brigham Young owns the tournament's top seed and meets No. 8 Wyoming at 10 a.m. MST Thursday. The winner of that match will faced either No. 4 New Mexico or No. 5 Utah. The SDSU/Air Force winner plays the winner of the No. 3 UNLV and No. 6 Colorado State matchup. Semifinal matches will be held at 10 a.m. MST and 2 p.m. MST Friday and the championship at 2 p.m. MST Saturday.
Aztecs vs. the Field
The Aztecs finished their conference schedule 6-1, with its only loss coming to Brigham Young. SDSU has been the victor both times it has faced Air Force with the two teams' regular-season matchup resulting in a 7-0 Aztec win. SDSU is 5-0 all-time vs. Colorado State, 9-5 vs. UNLV, 11-3 vs. New Mexico, 9-0 vs. Utah, 2-0 vs. Wyoming and 12-17 vs. Brigham Young.
At Last Year's League Championships
SDSU entered the inaugural MWC championship in Las Vegas, as the top seed but had to settle for third place after being upset by eventual champion UNLV, 5-3, in the second round. The Aztecs opened the tournament with a 6-0 win over No. 8 Air Force before falling to the Rebels in 40-mile per hour winds in round two. The Aztecs bounced back with a 5-4 win over New Mexico, good for third place.
Noting the Aztecs
* SDSU is on an eight-match win streak and is the winner of 11 of its last 13.
* The Aztecs posted wins in six straight conference matches to finish their league schedule 6-1.
* SDSU has won the doubles point in 12 of its last 14 matches and has a 14-2 record this season when doing so.
* The Aztecs won the doubles point in all but one (Brigham Young) of its conference matches.
* Sophomore Lindsey Hedberg has won 12 of her last 13 singles matches, including six straight at No. 1 and five straight at No. 3. She is 14-6 in dual matches and 18-9 overall and finished league play unbeaten in singles.
* Junior Katey Becker is on a hot streak of her own, posting a victory in nine of her last 10 singles matches, good for a 13-8 dual mark.
* Sophomore Katja Karrento is 16-5 in dual play this season and has won 10 of her last 11 matches. She is 22-8 overall.
* Senior Whitney Wells is 12-8 in dual play this year and has won six straight.
* The doubles pair of Silvia Tornier and Hedberg have posted wins in eight of their last nine matches at No. 1.
* Senior Whitney Wells and junior Julie Chidley boast a 12-2 dual record at No. 2 doubles this season.
* The pair of Becker and Karrento are 8-0 at No. 3 doubles.
Hot Finish
SDSU enters the league tournament winners of its last eight matches. After starting its dual schedule 5-5, the Aztecs recorded victories in 10 of their final 11 matches. SDSU opened that run with a 6-1 win over Princeton only to drop the team's only conference match to BYU before sparking the current streak with a 7-0 blanking of Utah.
Last Week
SDSU closed it regular season with two non-conference victories over 31st-ranked Tulsa, 5-2, Friday and, 4-3, over Oregon Sunday. Senior Whitney Wells sparked the team's turnaround in both matches with pivotal wins at No. 3 singles. Sunday marked Wells' last home match as she is the team's lone senior. Sophomore Lindsey Hedberg won her singles matches both days, extending her win streak at the position to six.
Weekly Conference Honors
An SDSU athlete has been awarded the women's tennis player of the week twice this season with honors going to sophomore Lindsey Hedberg on both occasions. Hedberg held the honor for the weeks of February 22 and April 12.
20-Win Club
SDSU had three players turn in 20-win seasons a year ago and is on pace for similar success this season. Sophomore Katja Karrento is already 22-8 and two other players, junior Katey Becker (19-10) and sophomore Lindsey Hedberg (18-9), could reach the 20-victory mark this weekend.
Aztecs in the Rankings
The Aztecs are ranked 46th in the nation and sixth in the West 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 Aztecs' spring schedule were ranked entering the season. Four schools on SDSU's docket are currently rated in the top 25: California (9), Southern California (15), Washington (16) and Pepperdine (20). Sixteen of the Aztecs' opponents this season were ranked at the time of their match. SDSU holds a 9-7 record in those contests. Counting SDSU, four members of the league are currently ranked: Brigham Young (30), New Mexico (43) and UNLV (49).
Coaching Staff
SDSU is led by eighth-year head coach Peter Mattera, who has has a 119-73 (62.0 pct.) record on Montezuma Mesa. Matera is assisted by Susheel Gulati, in her fifth year.