April 5, 2011
SAN DIEGO - The San Diego State women's tennis team, winners of eight straight, is set to play three matches away from Montezuma Mesa this week. The 45th-ranked Aztecs will travel across town to play San Diego before heading to Albuquerque, N.M., to face New Mexico and TCU in Mountain West Conference action.
SDSU (12-6; 3-0 MWC) will vie for its second straight City Championship on Wednesday when it faces the 24th-ranked Toreros (14-4; 3-2 West Coast Conference) at USD at 1:30 p.m. PT. Then on Saturday, the Aztecs will step back into league play to take on the Lobos (7-10; 0-3 MWC) at 2 p.m. MT, before clashing with the No. 61 Horned Frogs (7-7; 2-1 MWC) in the Land of Enchantment at 9 a.m. MT on Sunday.
San Diego State enters this week's matches having won eight in a row, which matches the program's longest winning streak since 2006. The last time the Aztecs enjoyed a streak of nine or more was in 2001 when that squad was victorious in 11 straight outings.
One key to SDSU's success this season has been winning the doubles point. During its current eight-match winning streak, San Diego State has won the doubles point all eight times. In fact, the Aztecs have won the doubles point in all 12 wins this year and have only lost one match when winning the point this season (vs. No. 58 Arizona).
In singles, San Diego State has played well, receiving production from up and down the lineup. Only twice during the winning streak has a team split the six matches with SDSU (vs. No. 30 Pepperdine, vs. No. 68 Wyoming) and the No. 3 position has gone a remarkable 7-1 in the last eight matches.
Individually, Emma Cioffi is playing the best tennis of her career, having won five straight singles matches and eight in a row in doubles with Julia Trunk as her partner. The junior is 5-0 at No. 4 and moved up to No. 3 this past weekend and won both of her matches. In doubles, she and Trunk have jelled nicely going 13-4 this spring, including a 10-1 mark at the third slot.
Other Aztecs carrying winning streaks into this week are Sierra Ellison and Roxanne Ellison, who have both won three in a row in singles, Julia Wais and Laura Antonana Iriarte, who have won two straight, and Trunk, who won her most recent match.
In doubles, Wais and Alicia Aguilar, the No. 74-ranked tandem in America, have won four in a row, while No. 51 Ellison/Ellison are winners of three straight.
USD comes into the City Championship carrying a seven-match winning streak after defeating LMU on Saturday. The Aztecs own a 26-13 all-time record vs. the Toreros and have emerged with the win in five of the last six match-ups, including last year's 5-2 decision at San Diego State.
New Mexico plays host to the Aztecs on Saturday and is coming off a tough weekend in Fort Worth, Texas, where it dropped three straight. The Lobos were on the wrong end of a 7-0 score vs. Utah, were defeated 6-1 by BYU and closed their time in the Lone Star State with a 7-0 loss to TCU. Overall, UNM comes into the match having lost four in a row and five of its last six. The Aztecs are 18-10 vs. the Lobos all-time and have won two straight in the series.
The Horned Frogs, meanwhile, face 36th-ranked SMU on Tuesday and are coming off a 2-1 MWC-opening weekend. TCU defeated BYU, 6-1, before falling to Utah, 5-2. Then on the final day of the weekend, TCU blanked New Mexico. The nationally ranked Frogs have won five of their last six outings and lead the all-time series with SDSU, 5-2. Last season, the Aztecs downed TCU, 4-3, in the regular season before falling to the Horned Frogs in the MWC Championship title match, 4-3. Both matches took place at Fertitta Tennis Complex in Las Vegas.
Following this week's trio of matches, San Diego State will return home to play host to BYU, Utah and UNLV, April 15-17. The BYU match is set for 2 p.m. PT, while the Utah and UNLV tilts are slated for noon and 10 a.m. PT, respectively, at Aztec Tennis Center.