Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
ITA Northwest Regional
Jantz/Sainz Fall in ITA Regionals Doubles Final
10/25/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Oct. 25, 2004
FRESNO, Calif. - The surprising run of Courtney Jantz and Lucia Sainz ended Monday afternoon with a loss in the doubles finals of the ITA Northwest Regional Championships, which concluded today in Stanford, Calif.
The unseeded pair, who entering the tournament had only played one match together in their careers, blitzed through the third and sixth seeded teams en route to the semifinals. There, they met up with Cal Poly's Nicole Shabaz and Samantha Waller, the Bulldog Classic champions who were seeded seventh in the regionals. Once again, Jantz and Sainz pulled the upset, taking out Shabaz and Waller 8-4.
That earned Jantz and Sainz a spot in the finals, where they played top-seeded Alice Barnes and Erin Burdette of Stanford. Though they pushed the Cardinal duo to the limit, Jantz and Sainz came up just short in a 9-7 loss.
Prior to the ITA Regionals, Sainz had played nearly her entire Bulldog career with fellow junior Katharina Winterhalter, the two compiling a 33-12 record. Meanwhile, Jantz, a senior, has been a stalwart at No. 3 doubles during her time at Fresno State. She has teamed with a variety of partners and has won 67 career doubles matches.
"I am so proud of Courtney and Lucky," head coach Simon Thibodeau said. "It's incredible how well they played having not teamed with each other much before. Everything just seemed to click for them. We switched up the doubles combinations during the fall season, and it's obvious we've got a great team going with these two."
The victory earned Barnes and Burdette, ranked 13th in the preseason rankings, an automatic berth into the National Individual Indoor Tournament, which takes place in Ann Arbor, Mich., in early November.
Next up for Fresno State is the Palm Springs Invitational on Nov. 5-7.
Courtney Jantz/Lucia Sainz
Semifinals: def. (7) Waller/Shabaz (Cal Poly), 8-4
Finals: lost to (1) Burdette/Barnes (Stanford), 9-7
