Fresno State Athletics
No. 13 Fresno State Prepares For WAC Tournament
4/19/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 19, 2004
Weekly Notes
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Next Match:
WAC Tournament
April 30-May 2 -- Houston, Texas
Jake Hess Tennis Center
What's Coming Up
No. 46 Fresno State (17-3) takes this week off in preparation for the WAC Tournament, which takes place April 30-May 2 at the Rice University's Jake Hess Tennis Center. The Bulldogs' first round opponent will not be determined until next week. Fresno State has won the league title three times in its history, including two years in a row.
What Just Happened
The Bulldogs finished off a successful regular season with a 7-0 victory over Pacific on Sunday afternoon. Fresno State breezed to the win, losing only five games in doubles and winning all but one singles match in straight sets. The 17 wins are the team's most in a regular season since 2001, when the Bulldogs reached a program-high No. 8 in the national rankings. Jelena Pandzic and Lucia Tallo both coasted in their singles matches, each losing only one game.
WAC Tournament History
Fresno State has won back-to-back WAC titles and will enter this year's tournament as the No. 1 seed. The Bulldogs are riding a six-match winning streak in the league tournament, dating back to a loss in the championship match in 2001. They are trying to become the first league team to win more than two WAC titles in a row since BYU claimed four in a row from 1993-96.
Some Impressive Seasons
So many individuals had great years for Fresno State it would be hard to fit all of the accomplishments onto this one-page release. But we'll give it a shot:
- Jelena Pandzic: Climbed to 12th nationally and went 19-1 in dual matches playing at No. 1 singles. She stamped herself as one of the contenders for the national title with victories over Raquel Kops-Jones of California, currenty ranked fourth, and Amber Liu of Stanford, last year's NCAA champion who is 10th.
- Lucia Tallo: Teamed with Pandzic to form the No. 22 doubles team in the nation. She is also 82nd in singles and went 19-9 on the year, including 14-6 in dual matches.
- Katharina Winterhalter: Led the team in singles (25) and doubles wins (21).
- Lucia Sainz: One year after winning just six singles matches, the sophomore showed drastic improvements and went 20-11 (13-7 dual).
Home Sweet Home
Fresno State wrapped up a perfect home season on Sunday with its win over Pacific. The Bulldogs went 9-0 at the Wathen Tennis Center this season, the team's fourth perfect home campaign since 1999.
