May 11, 2007
SAN DIEGO -
SDSU Women's Tennis NCAA Tournament Release in PDF Format
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Aztecs Gear Up for Third Consecutive NCAA Tournament Appearance
- San Diego State (16-8, 6-2 Mountain West Conference) makes its 20th all-time NCAA Tournament appearance against No. 17 Florida State (15-7, 8-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) in the first round, Saturday, May 12, at the Los Angeles Tennis Center on the campus of UCLA. First serve is set for 9 a.m. PDT with the victor advancing to play the winner of the UCLA-Quinnipiac match (May 12, noon) on Sunday, May 13, at 1 p.m.
The 49th-ranked Aztecs, tied for 11th nationally in all-time NCAA Tournament appearances with Arizona and Indiana, are making their third consecutive trip to the postseason and their fifth in the past six years. The winner of the regional in Los Angeles will advance to the round of 16 at the University of Georgia. Team tournament matches in Athens, Ga., will begin May 18 and run through May 22.
SDSU in the NCAA Tournament
- Saturday's showdown with Florida State marks the fifth time in six seasons and the 20th overall occasion that the Aztecs have appeared in the NCAA Tournament. During that span, SDSU has amassed a record of 11-20 (.355).
SDSU has won its opening match 10 times in school history and advanced past the second round only once in 1984. That year, the Scarlet and Black defeated California (7-2) and Texas (6-3) before falling to Stanford in the semifinals, 7-2. Following their loss to the Cardinal, the Aztecs suffered a 5-4 setback at the hands of Trinity University (Tex.) in the third-place match.
San Diego State has faced an ACC opponent just once in NCAA Tournament play, falling to Duke by a 5-1 count in 1992. The Aztecs knocked off current ACC member Miami, 5-4, in 1983 when the Hurricanes competed as an independent.
SDSU will open postseason play in Los Angeles County for the third straight season. In 2005, the Aztecs were eliminated by Arizona State, 4-0, at Marks Tennis Stadium on the campus of USC before experiencing an identical fate last year against UCLA at Pepperdine's Ralph-Straus Tennis Center in Malibu.
Aztecs Against the Field
- This season, San Diego State has faced 11 teams in this year's field of 64, finishing a combined 2-9. The Scarlet and Black posted wins over Oregon and Brigham Young last month at Aztec Tennis Center. Four of SDSU's defeats came against teams that were ranked inside the top 30 at match time, including No. 5 USC, No. 11 California, No. 18 and West Coast Conference champion Pepperdine and No. 27 and Big West champ Long Beach State.
Scouting the Seminoles
- Florida State enters the tournament ranked 17th in the latest ITA poll released April 30. The Seminoles have been idle since April 20 after having their four-match winning snapped by cross-state rival Miami, 4-3, in the quarterfinals of the ACC Championships in Cary, N.C.
Individually, FSU boasts a pair of nationally ranked singles players in No. 59 Lauren Macfarlane and No. 102 Nicola Slater, who have both spent the majority of the time atop the Seminoles' singles ladder. Also in the rotation are Ania Rynarzewska, Carolin Walter, Jessica Wente and Tapiwa Marobela. Meanwhile, Slater and Walter have combined to earn a No. 16 ranking in doubles competition playing in the first position.
Florida State holds a 2-1 lead in the all-time series including a slim 4-3 victory at Aztec Tennis Center in the last dual match between the two schools on March 8, 2005. The Seminoles also visited The Mesa during fall tournament play the past two seasons. In 2006, the visitors were not particularly kind to their hosts, sweeping six singles matches and three doubles encounters at the first SDSU Fall Classic, Sept 29-Oct 1.
Scouting UCLA
- The Bruins earned the tournament's No. 12 seed after compiling a 16-7 overall record and an 8-5 mark in the highly competitive Pacific 10 Conference. UCLA enters postseason play having won eight of its last 10 dual matches. The Bruins' two defeats during that stretch were both 4-3 nail-biters to conference foes Arizona State (April 7) and Stanford (April 13).
In singles, UCLA sports an impressive lineup featuring a quartet of nationally ranked players in No. 15 Rita Zalameda, No. 40 Tracy Lin, No. 56 Yasmin Schnack and No. 107 Ashley Joelson. Meanwhile in doubles, the Bruins are just as loaded with three ranked tandems in No. 19 Zalameda-Schnack, No. 41 Stephanie Wetmore and Elizabeth Lumpkin and No. 53 Joelson and Alex McGoodwin.
San Diego State had its season ended by UCLA last year in the 2006 NCAA Tournament, 4-0, in Malibu, Calif. The Bruins lead the all-time series 26-7.
Scouting Quinnipiac
- The Bobcats (11-6, 7-0 Northeast Conference) have won six of their last eight dual matches, including a tight 4-3 decision over Long Island in the NEC championship on April 21. Quinnipiac, based in Hamden, Conn., is led by freshman sensation Mary Wilson, who has compiled a 22-8 record this season and secured the winning team point against LIU for the NEC title.
All-MWC Honors Served up for Krausova, Vidov
- San Diego State teammates Eliska Krausova and Alesya Vidov garnered all-Mountain West Conference accolades at the league's annual championship banquet on April 25. The two Aztec players were recognized by the MWC coaches for their performances in singles competition this season.
A junior from Prague, Czech Republic, Krausova captured her first all-conference award alternating between the top two positions on SDSU's singles ladder in 2007. In dual-match play, she compiled a 14-10 overall record, but finished league action with a 6-2 mark. Among her six MWC victories was a tough three-set triumph over Brigham Young's Lauren Jones, which sealed the Aztecs' 4-3 come-from-behind upset over the then-No. 27 Cougars on April 13. Earlier this season, Krausova also recorded straight-set wins in SDSU's sweep of conference rivals Air Force, Wyoming and Colorado State, helping her capture MWC co-player of the week honors on March 28.
Vidov, meanwhile, posted a 13-12 dual-match record at No. 1 and 2 singles, including a 4-4 mark against stiff competition in league play. The senior from Moscow, Russia, provided the clinching point in the Aztecs' win over New Mexico on April 1 and was one of only two players to defeat Utah's Elizabeth Ferris in a dual match this season on April 14. In addition, three of her four MWC losses were to nationally ranked players in Nina Munch-Soegaard of TCU, BYU's Anastasia Surkova and Elena Gantcheva of UNLV. The honor was the second for Vidov as she earned all-doubles recognition in 2005 teaming with Dita Hauerlandova.
Mattera Magic
- Peter Mattera is in his 26th season at San Diego State and 14th as head coach of the Scarlet and Black. In his 14 seasons, the Aztecs' mentor has now guided SDSU to 10 postseason appearances, compiling a record of 217-145 (.600) in the process. Equally impressive is the fact that 12 of his 14 squads have finished with an overall record of .500 or better despite playing one of the toughest schedules in the nation on an annual basis.