April 11, 2006
SAN DIEGO -
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Aztecs Travel to Albuquerque to Face New Mexico and TCU
San Diego State (14-6; 5-1 Mountain West Conference), winners of three straight and 11 of its last 13, travels to Albuquerque, N.M., for what proves to be a huge weekend in the MWC. The Aztecs will face a New Mexico side (13-4; 4-1 MWC) that is one half game behind SDSU and UNLV for second place on Friday, April 14, at 2 p.m. MDT. Before taking on the No. 33 Aztecs, the 48th-ranked Lobos will play league-leader TCU (14-6; 5-0 MWC) on April 13. Speaking of the Horned Frogs, San Diego State will face No. 20 TCU on April 15 at 9 a.m. MDT to finish out the regular season conference slate.
SDSU is fresh off a weekend where it went 3-0 at home with wins over Colorado State, Wyoming and Air Force to stay near the top of the league standings. The Aztecs' travel partner, UNLV, also went undefeated against the same three schools to keep pace with San Diego State.
After wrapping up conference action, the Aztecs will play host to city-rival San Diego on Wednesday, April 19, at 2 p.m. PDT. The contest will be the regular season finale and senior Dita Hauerlandova's final home match as the afternoon is designated as "Senior Day."
A Look at New Mexico
New Mexico suffered its first league defeat April 8, when it fell to Brigham Young, 4-3, in Provo. The Lobos and Cougars split six singles matches, but BYU proved to be too tough in doubles as it claimed all three. UNM is led by its nationally-ranked singles players Maja Kovacek (No. 39) and Iva Gersic (No. 92). The pair are a combined 23-7 this spring in singles with Gersic compiling at perfect 9-0 mark at No. 1 singles. The two also make up the nation's No. 3 doubles team with an impressive 9-1 dual-match record and an overall mark of 23-3. As mentioned previously, New Mexico will play TCU before facing SDSU and then conclude the weekend with UNLV.
A Look at TCU
Conference leaders TCU travels to Albuquerque having won three straight and seven of its last eight. Of the Horned Frogs' seven wins, five have been of the shutout variety. The Frogs, ranked No. 20, are led by their four nationally-ranked players in Nicole Leimbach (No. 12), Helena Besovic (No. 33), Anna Sydorska (No. 83) and Ana Cetnik (No. 119). Leimbach is 12-4 this season at No. 1 singles, while Besovic is 14-1 at second singles. Sydorska and Cetnik round things out with records of 14-4 in dual-match action. In doubles, Besovic and Sydorska are the No. 13 pairing in the nation, with Cetnik and Besovic coming in at No. 26. Further down the rankings, Cetnik and Karine Ionesco sit at No. 59.
Front Range Dominance at Sea Level
SDSU continued its dominance against the Mountain West Conference's Front Range schools as it swept through Colorado State (5-2), Wyoming (6-1) and Air Force (5-2) this past weekend at Aztec Tennis Center. The Aztecs remained perfect against the three teams, sporting a 12-0 record against the Rams, and 8-0 marks vs. both the Falcons and Cowgirls.
Brooms and Dustpans
Besides the Aztecs winning all three matches at Aztec Tennis Center this past weekend, others, individually, had a perfect run. Dita Hauerlandova and Sisse Nielsen both went 3-0 in singles and together as a team (they have won five consecutive), went 3-0 at No. 1 doubles. Hauerlandova, playing at No. 1 singles, posted a three-set victory over No. 121 Emily Kirchem of CSU and then went on to tally straight-sets wins over her counterparts from Wyoming and Air Force. Nielsen only dropped 10 games in her three matches, all straight-sets victories, and has now won four in a row. Alesya Vidov and Milana Yusupov also went 3-0 in doubles action to improve to 4-2 on the season.
200-Win Club
Head coach Peter Mattera reached the 200-win plateau on April 8 with SDSU's 6-1 victory over Wyoming. Mattera, in his 13th season on Montezuma Mesa, currently has a record of 201-121 with this season being his 11th with double digit victories. Mattera still has a long way to go to catch his predecessor, Carol Plunkett, as she has 299 career wins. In his previous 12 years, the Aztecs have never finished outside of the ITA rankings and only twice has SDSU not finished the season with a record of .500 or better. Adding to his already impressive resume is the fact that he has guided eight Aztec teams to the NCAA Tournament.
Hagiwara Steps In
With the Aztecs down a player, Yuki Hagiwara stepped into the Aztec lineup and filled in admirably going 2-1, winning her final two matches over the weekend. Despite losing to Jasmin Singh of Colorado State, Hagiwara bounced back the next day vs. Wyoming, defeating Amy Senko, 6-2, 6-2, at No. 6. The win clinched the match for SDSU and was her first win of the season. Then with the outcome already decided and with the rest of her team rooting her on, the junior transfer pulled out the 4-6, 6-2, 11-9 win over Meghan Kiser of Air Force to give the Aztecs their fifth team point.
Hauerlandova Earns Ranking
Senior Dita Hauerlandova is ranked as the No. 84 singles player in the country according to the latest ITA poll released April 4. She is 10-10 on the season, all at No. 1, and is coming off three straight wins and a victory over 18th-ranked Olga Boulytcheva of BYU on March 25. This is the second time Hauerlandova has cracked the poll with her first and highest ranking of No. 81 coming on Feb. 24, 2004.
Underclassmen Contributions
The Aztecs are getting the most out of their underclassmen this season with four currently holding positions in the singles and doubles lineup. The quartet owns a singles record of at least .500 or better with sophomore Eliska Krausova owning an 13-4 record, while winning 10 of her last 11 matches. Freshman Esther Cadua is 12-8 overall with an 10-4 mark at No. 6, while classmate Milana Yusupov is 13-7 in her first season and has won eight of her last 10. Sophomore Sisse Nielsen, who had a great fall, has won 10 of her last 11 and is 13-6 in the spring. Altogether, the underclassmen have a singles record of 51-25. In doubles, the quartet has played at all three positions with different partners over the course of the season.
Yusupov Hitting Her Stride
Milana Yusupov is playing at a high level as evidenced by her winning eight of her last 10 matches. The freshman has played at Nos. 3-5 this season with most of her appearances occurring at No. 4 where she is an impressive 10-5. Against CSU, WYO and AFA, she moved up to No. 3 and finished with a 2-1 record, her first two career wins at third singles. In her first collegiate campaign, she boasts an overall mark of 13-7, the third-best record on the team.
Doubles Advantage
Winning the doubles point has been a measure of success for the Aztecs as they have gone 10-1 when winning the doubles point this season. On the flip side, San Diego State is 4-5 when dropping the doubles point.
Eight-Match Winning Streak
San Diego State's recent eight-match winning streak was the school's longest since the 2003 season. That squad also posted eight straight victories en route to a 22-6 record, the MWC Championship title and a berth in the NCAA Tournament. Ironically, that team started MWC play with a 2-0 record and similar to this year's squad, had its winning streak snapped by UNLV in Las Vegas. Following the loss to the Rebels in 2003, the Aztecs lost only once more before losing in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Upset City
Alesya Vidov recorded her first win over a nationally-ranked opponent when she defeated 85th-ranked Elsa O'Riain of Harvard, 6-1, 6-2. Prior to her victory, she had not beaten a player ranked in the ITA singles poll in 12 previous tries. The win was the team's second against ranked opposition this season as Dita Hauerlandova defeated No. 18 Olga Boulytcheva of BYU on March 25.
Nice Win
Dita Hauerlandova put the finishing touches on the Aztecs' win over Brigham Young on March 25 when she defeated No. 18 Olga Boulytcheva in three sets, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4, at No. 1. The win not only gave San Diego State the match, 4-3, it represented the senior's first win over a nationally-ranked opponent during her two-plus seasons at SDSU.
Strong Play at No. 3...
Eliska Krausova recently had her nine-match winning streak snapped, but has won 10 of her last 11 matches. Krausova, who plays the majority of the time at No. 3 singles, currently is 13-2 at the position with her only losses coming at Long Beach State and at UNLV. For the season, the sophomore is 13-4 with her other two losses coming at No. 2 against opponents who were ranked inside the top-20 nationally at match time (No. 3 Amanda Fink (USC) and No. 19 Suzi Fodor (California)).
...And at No. 6
Esther Cadua boasts an 12-8 overall record and is 10-4 at No. 6 for the season. The freshman from San Diego has played well all season long, recording winning streaks of at least four matches twice this year. Earlier this season, Cadua had a five-match winning streak snapped when she dropped a three-set decision against N.C. State.
Krausova-Vidov Connection
After finishing 0-2 in the fall, Eliska Krausova and Alesya Vidov had never played a match this season in the spring together. All that changed vs. No. 67 UC Irvine, when the two were paired against Inna Agababian-Heidi Kaloi. Although the Aztecs lost the doubles point, the move paid dividends as the duo posted an 8-5 win. Ever since then, the tandem has powered through its opponents en route to a 7-3 record at No. 2.