Fresno State Athletics
No. 22 Bulldogs Play Two in Southern California
2/8/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Feb. 8, 2005
Match No. 2 - No. 22 Fresno State (1-0) at No. 67 UC Irvine (2-3)
Friday, Feb. 11 -- 1:30 p.m. -- Irvine, Calif.
Match No. 3 - No. 22 Fresno State (1-0) at No. 11 UCLA (4-2)
Saturday, Feb. 12 -- noon -- Westwood, Calif.
What's Coming Up
Fresno State hits the road this week for two matches in Southern California. The 22nd-ranked Bulldogs (1-0) hit the road Saturday to begin a two-match trip that starts with a contest at 66th-ranked UC Irvine at 1:30 p.m. Following that will be a contest against fourth-ranked UCLA on Feb. 12 at noon. The stretch begins a road-heavy schedule for the next month for Fresno State, which has not played a match since the opener on Jan. 22.
What Happened Recently
Fresno State started the dual match season with an efficient 6-1 victory over Santa Clara on Jan. 22 at the Wathen Tennis Center. The Bulldogs cruised at No. 1 doubles, where the 19th-ranked tandem of Courtney Jantz and Lucia Sainz romped to an 8-0 win over Kelly Leathers and Erika Barnes. In singles, Lucia Tallo, Katharina Winterhalter, Sainz and Jantz all had easy straight-set wins. Fresno State was playing without three expected regulars - Jelena Pandzic, Natalie Garcia and Masiyazi Fadzai, all of whom sat out while issues dealing with their eligibility are sorted out. Fadzai and Garcia have since been cleared and can play at UC Irvine on Feb. 11.
Thibodeau Begins Second Year
After serving as the program's interim head coach last year, Simon Thibodeau was named Fresno State's head women's tennis coach on June 4. He came to the Bulldogs to serve as an assistant coach to Kevin Epley, but three days after arriving in August 2004, Epley resigned to take the head coaching job at William and Mary. Once named interim coach, all Thibodeau did was lead Fresno State to 22 wins, the second-most in program history, and earn WAC Coach of the Year honors. He is still assisted by Simone Jardim, a former Bulldog All-American who served as the interim assistant coach a year ago.
Home Winning Streak
Fresno State's 6-1 win over Santa Clara on Saturday improved the team's home winning streak to 16, dating back to the 2003 season. The Bulldogs haven't lost a home match since dropping a 5-2 decision on March 3, 2003, to ninth-ranked William and Mary. Fresno State went 9-0 at home a year ago, the fourth time since 1998 the team went through an entire season without losing a match at the Wathen Tennis Center. Since the facility was dedicated in January 1998, the Bulldogs have gone 66-7 at home, a winning percentage of .904.
Pandzic Declared Ineligible
Last week, Fresno State announced it was declaring Jelena Pandzic ineligible on advice from the NCAA. The ruling ended her career with the Bulldogs. Pandzic's eligibility was in question during the fall semester - during which she did not compete - because of a match played in a German league during last summer. The NCAA determined the team on which Pandzic played was at a professional level, and thus Pandzic's participation in the match violated her amateur status. As a freshman last year, Pandzic went 29-2 and reached the finals of the NCAA Singles Tournament. She entered the fall season ranked third in the preseason singles poll.
