Feb. 21, 2005
SAN DIEGO -
SDSU Women's Tennis Weekly Release
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SDSU Looks to Play for First Time in Nearly Two and a Half Weeks Against USC and UCI on the Road
* No. 69 San Diego State (3-2) will take on 12th-ranked Southern California (4-0) on Wednesday and follow that up with a Saturday date against 68th-ranked UC Irvine (4-3) on the road this week.
The Aztecs, who have not played since a road loss to Oregon on Feb. 6, have had three matches cancelled or rescheduled due to the rain since then. The road contests this week will be just the second and third ones of the season not inlcluding the neutral site match versus Texas Tech in Eugene.
Weekly Wrap Up
* The Loyola Marymount match which was originally scheduled as part of a doubleheader on Feb. 12, then rescheduled for last Wednesday, Feb. 16, was rescheduled once again due to inclement weather.
The two schools will try to hook up for a third time on March 1 at 2 p.m. The dual match is tenatively slated to be played at SDSU Tennis Stadium, pending the completion of the ongoing construction.
Rain, Rain, Go Away...Part II
* Do you remember the song that all the kids used to sing when rain forced them inside at elementary school? The one that goes, "Rain, rain, go away, come again another day"? Well it's a song that the Aztecs have been singing far too much this season.
So far, SDSU has had five matches postponed, cancelled or rescheduled this year. Twice this season Long Beach State has made the trip to America's Finest City (Jan. 28 and Feb. 10) only to go back home without playing a single match. UC Davis traveled to San Diego only to have the rain wash them out and Loyola Marymount rescheduled its match a pair of times before making the trip south.
With more rain in sight for this week, SDSU, USC and UCI are all hoping mother nature hears them.
SDSU In The Polls
* In the first four ITA polls of the spring session, the Aztecs have been ranked among the top 75 in the nation.
In the inaugural poll (Jan. 11), SDSU was ranked 65th-nationally. In the Feb. 1 edition, the Aztecs fell two spots to number 67 and was dropped to 68th in the Feb. 15 rankings. Last week's poll had the Aztecs at No. 69.
The next ITA poll will be released Feb. 22 and can be found at www.itatennis.com.
Freshmen Phenoms
* So far this season, the team's four freshmen have gone on to post a 7-3 spring record. That is not including two wins that took place at number seven singles.
At number five singles, Nina Spaeth has put up a 4-1 record. She is currently on a two-match winning streak and is now 6-2 overall during the 2004-05 season.
Sisse Nielsen, who plays at number six, owns a 2-2 record. The freshman from Denmark started out 2-0 and has since lost her last two matches, one of which came against 27th-ranked Oregon.
Eliska Krausova, who has had early-season injury problems, competed for the first time at number six against Oregon and defeated Ester Bak, 6-3, 7-6. Prior to that, she won a match at number seven earlier this season.
Rounding out the class is Carla Bell. She has yet to see action in singles play, but notched a victory early in the season at number seven.
In doubles play, the freshman duo of Spaeth-Nielsen compete at number three. So far this season, the pair has gone 3-1, losing their most recent match at Oregon. For the `04-'05 season, they have a 4-1 record.
Series History vs. Southern California
* The Aztecs have not had much luck against the Women of Troy, sporting a 4-31 record all-time. SDSU's four wins have come in 1992, 1991, 1987, and in 1986. Since the 1992 victory, Southern California has won 10 consecutive meetings, including 2003's 7-0 shutout win on Feb. 28 in Los Angeles. The Aztecs have only won twice in the City of Angels, once in 1991 and the other time coming during the 1986 season. Overall, SDSU is 2-15 in Los Angeles.
Series History vs. UC Irvine
* Unlike the series history versus Southern Califorina, San Diego State holds a 27-5 all-time advantage over UC Irvine, despite losing 5-2 to the Anteaters last season at home.
Six of the last seven meetings dating back to the 1994 season have been Aztec victories. Of those six matchups, two have taken place in Irvine. Both the 2001 and 2003 squads notched 6-1 victories and interestingly enough, both of them went on to the final match of the Mountain West Conference Championships. Similar to this year, the 2003 championships were held in San Diego and that team won took the tournament crown and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
Scouting the Women of Troy
* Southern California comes into Wednesday's showdown with a 4-0 record with three of those wins coming against common opponents of the Aztecs (Long Beach State, Pepperdine and San Diego).
Like the Aztecs, rain has forced them to shuffle their schedule around after being rained out against both Arizona and Arizona State.
The Women of Troy are led by their five nationally-ranked singles players (as of Jan. 11), No. 6 Nicole Leimbach, No. 29 Lindsey Nelson, No 62 Anca Anastasiu, No. 70 Dianne Matias and No. 78 Carine Vermuelen. Also ranked is the 36th-rated doubles team of Vermuelen/Nelson.
Scouting the Anteaters
* UC Irvine currently has a record of 4-3 with wins over Utah, CS Fullerton, CS Northridge and UCSB.
The Anteaters are led by Anna Bentzer, the 102nd-ranked player in the nation (Jan. 11). She is 4-3 in singles play for the season.
For the complete women's tennis release, click on the link at the top of the page.