Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
ITA Northwest Regional
Sainz/Jantz Continue to Roll at ITA Northwest Regionals
10/24/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Oct. 24, 2004
FRESNO, Calif. - Unseeded Courtney Jantz and Lucia Sainz upset third-seeded Daria Panova and Dominika Dieskova of Oregon on Sunday to advance to the semifinals of the ITA Northwest Regionals, being played in Berkeley, Calif.
Jantz and Sainz, who had played only one match ever together entering the Regionals, continued their solid play by defeating the Oregon pair 8-6. It was the second upset of the tournament for the Fresno State duo, which knocked off sixth-seeded Amber Liu and Anne Yelsey of Stanford in the round of 16.
Jantz and Sainz will now play No. 7-seeded Nicole Shabaz and Samantha Waller of Cal Poly on Monday.
A victory in the semifinals would give an automatic berth in the National Indoor Championships to the combo. That tournament, one of college tennis' grand slam events, begins Nov. 5 in Ann Arbor, Mich.
In her first two years at Fresno State, Sainz, a junior, has played almost exclusively with Katharina Winterhalter. The two combined to go 33-12, and both were named second-team All-WAC in doubles.
But head coach Simon Thibodeau elected to alter his doubles combinations this fall, and thus Sainz teamed with Jantz, a senior who has played with numerous partners over her career at Fresno State, mostly anchoring the No. 3 doubles slot in the lineup. However, she had compiled 59 career doubles wins entering 2004.
The news wasn't all good for Fresno State, however. All three of the Bulldogs who reached the round of 16 in singles lost. Katharina Winterhalter, Lucia Tallo and Sainz all fell and were eliminated.
