Fresno State Athletics
Bulldogs Head to Cal Invitational This Weekend
9/27/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Sept. 27, 2007
FRESNO, Calif. - It's their home away from home. The Hellman Tennis Complex in Berkeley, Calif., has been the site of many great feats for the Bulldogs in recent years. Fresno State has twice upset Cal on its home court during the second round of the NCAA tournament. The last time it happened in 2006, Tinesta Rowe, then just a freshman, won a three-set thriller to clinch Fresno State's 4-3 victory and vault the Bulldogs into the NCAA Round of 16.
Rowe was again making a name for herself at last year's Cal Invitational. She beat then-No. 53 Sabrina Capannolo of Arizona State in three sets to advance to the quarterfinals.
At this year's Cal Invitational, Rowe will be accompanied by senior Jacqueline Haskett, juniors Danon Beatty and Bruna Paes, sophomore Vanessa Heroux and freshman Elizabeth McFeeters. Both Haskett and Beatty made it to the round of 16 in last year's competition.
The three-day event will include a singles tournament divided into three flights and a doubles tournament to be divided into two flights. Other participating teams include host California, Arizona, Arizona State, Long Beach State, Nevada, Northwestern, Pacific, Sacramento State, Saint Mary's, San Francisco, Santa Clara, and UC Davis.
Rowe faces Northwestern's Nazlie Ghazal and Beatty takes on Marah Calvo of Saint Mary's in the first round of the gold bracket. Paes faces Feline Charlot of Saint Mary's, third-seeded Heroux takes on Santa Clara's Andrea Kwong and McFeeters faces Arizona's Natalia Toporowska in the first round of the blue draw.
Rowe and Haskett are the No. 4 seed in the gold doubles draw and will take on Northwestern's Murray and Matzenauer. Beatty and Heroux face Hoath and Poorta of Saint Mary's, also in the first round of the gold draw. Paes and McFeeters will battle Charlot and Ordoveza of Saint Mary's in the first round of the blue doubles draw.
Bulldog Classic Recap
Fresno State is coming off of a solid showing at the 2007 Bulldog Classic. Sophomore Anastasia Petukhova won the singles draw, beating Fresno Pacific's Anna Karavayeva in straight sets. Petukhova has won 20 straight matches since March 16. In that span, Petukhova has not lost a set and only three times has an opponent won more than three games in a set.
Beatty, Haskett and Rowe all reached the round of 16 before each lost in three sets. Sophomore Renata Kucerkova reached the quarterfinals before falling in three sets, as well.
Haskett and Rowe played well as a doubles tandem during the tournament. The Bulldog duo beat last year's Classic champion Anastassia Lyssenko and Aileen Tsan of Sacramento State 8-4, before battling this year's eventual champion Bailly and Mizyuk of Nevada to a 9-7 loss in the semifinals.
2007 ITA All-American
Next week, 2007 All-American and third-ranked sophomore Melanie Gloria will head to Los Angeles for the Intercollegiate Tennis Association All-American Championships. Gloria was a finalist in last year's All-American, narrowly losing to Cal's Susie Babos in the third-set tiebreaker.
Kucerkova, ranked No. 43, and Petukhova, ranked No. 47, will also head to the All-American. The two sophomores will begin in the qualifying rounds starting on Oct. 2. Last season, Kucerkova was one victory from making the main draw after winning five straight in the qualifying.
Gloria and Rowe, ranked No. 11 in the country, have already qualified for the doubles main draw. Kucerkova and Petukhova, ranked 18th as a doubles team, will also participate in the doubles qualifying rounds.
