Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Cal Poly
No. 10 Fresno State Wins 10th in a Row
4/3/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 3, 2004
FRESNO, Calif. - The 10th-ranked Fresno State women's tennis team wrapped up its busiest stretch of the season with an emphatic 6-1 victory over No. 60 Cal Poly on Saturday at the Wathen Tennis Center.
The Bulldogs (16-2) were playing in their seventh match in the last 13 days but showed no signs of weariness in winning for the 10th time in a row. Fresno State is just two victories shy of the program record of 12 consecutive wins, established during the 1998-99 season.
Cal Poly (11-7) lost for the fourth time in the last five matches.
"With so many matches in a brief period of time, this was a part of the schedule that worried me a little," said interim head coach Simon Thibodeau. "But we got through it just fine. Now we get to catch up on our rest a little bit and then get ready for the last two regular season matches and then the postseason."
As has been their custom the past two years, the Bulldogs rolled through the doubles to claim a 1-0 lead. At No. 1, the 44th-ranked duo of Jelena Pandzic and Lucia Tallo won their 10th in a row by defeating Samantha Waller and Kristen Grady 8-4. Also winning easily were Lucia Sainz and Katharina Winterhalter, who posted their 20th victory on the season.
It marked the 27th time in the last 29 matches in which doubles was played that Fresno State won the point. The Bulldogs are 15-0 this year when winning doubles.
Singles was just as easy for Fresno State, which wrapped up the match in a tidy 2 hours, 40 minutes. At No. 1, the 17th-ranked Pandzic hardly worked up a sweat in a 6-1, 6-1 win over Waller. The freshman is now 18-0 this year and continued her incredible run, which has seen her lose only two sets this year. Pandzic is a strong bet to move up in the national rankings when they are released Tuesday.
All told, the Bulldogs lost only 11 combined games at Nos. 1-4. At No. 3, Winterhalter won her 10th match in a row and improved to 24-7 (14-3 dual) with a 6-0, 6-4 victory over Grady. Tallo at No. 2 and Jovanovic at No. 4 also cruised.
Fresno State's only blemish came at No. 5, where the Mustangs' Noelle Lee played near flawless tennis in a 6-3, 6-0 win over Sainz.
Next up for Fresno State is a road match at No. 39 Sacramento State on April 11. Match time is 1 p.m.
No. 10 Fresno State def. No. 60 Cal Poly, 6-1
Doubles (Fresno State wins point)
1) #44 Pandzic/Tallo (FS) def. Grady/Waller (CP), 8-4
2) Sainz/Winterhalter (FS) def. Thompson/Lee (CP), 8-3
3) Jantz/Jovanovic (FS) def. Lewis/Erickson (CP), 8-2
Order of completion: 3, 2, 1
Singles
1) #17 Jelena Pandzic (FS) def. Samantha Waller (CP), 6-1, 6-1
2) #76 Lucia Tallo (FS) def. Chelsy Thompson (CP), 6-0, 6-1
3) Katharina Winterhalter (FS) def. Kristen Grady (CP), 6-0, 6-4
4) Vlatka Jovanovic (FS) def. Sheila Lewis (CP), 6-4, 6-0
5) Noelle Lee (CP) def. Lucia Sainz (FS), 6-3, 6-0
6) Courtney Jantz (FS) def. Carol Erickson (CP), 6-3, 6-4
Order of completion: 2, 5, 1, 3, 4, 6
Records: Fresno State (16-2); Cal Poly (11-7)
Time of Match: 2:40
Conditions: 76 degrees, sunny, winds 8 mph
