UCSanDiego Women’s Tennis
TRITONS WIN ROAD THRILLER SATURDAY
After losing two of three doubles matches at the start and facing a 4-2 deficit with three singles contests left to finish, the No. 19 UC San Diego women’s tennis team rallied for an impressive comeback victory on the road last Saturday, clipping No. 17 Cal State Stanislaus, 5-4. The Tritons have now won 62 straight matches against California Collegiate Athletic Association opponents. CSUS needed a single point with the match hanging in the balance at 4-2, but UCSD recorded clutch victories at the No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5 positions. At No. 3, Cindy Dao defeated Katie Eng, 6-4, 7-6 (107). At No. 4, Valerie Tang knocked off Arina Polovnikova, 7-6, 6-4 (10-6). “Dao and Tang played unbelievable tennis in singles,” UCSD head coach Liz LaPlante said. “After they got beat pretty bad in doubles earlier, we were kind of down on them. But they turned it around and played their hearts out in singles.” After the Tritons pulled out wins at No. 3 and No. 4, the match entered a deadlock at 4-4. With the crowd in Turlock anticipating the final team point, the battle at No. 5 between UCSD’s Katie Mulloy and CSUS’s Heather Cotter went to a third set. Mulloy went ahead 4-1 in the final set but Cotter stormed back to cut the lead to 4-3. The final result ended in Mulloy’s favor, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.
BAINS EARNS CCAA WEEKLY HONOR
UCSD junior Taskeen Bains earned Penn/California Collegiate Athletic Association Player of the Week honors for the week of Feb. 8. Bains, out of Cupertino, Calif., topped Sonoma State’s Stephanie Luk at No. 1 singles in the season opener. It was the first time in her career that Bains had played at the lineup’s highest position. In doubles earlier, Bains teamed with Natalie Varnay to take down Luk and Molly Maguire, 9-8.
SCOUTING THE SUNBIRDS
The Fresno Pacific, a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), is coming off its fourth-straight runner-up finish in the national tournament. Returning five players from the lineup that reached last year’s final, the Sunbirds are off to an impressive 5-0 start. UCSD and FPU met last year in La Jolla on April 3, with the Sunbirds leaving victorious, 6-3.
SCOUTING THE GOLDEN EAGLES
The Golden Eagles of Cal State L.A. have had a tough start to 2010, opening the season with CCAA losses to Sonoma State and Cal Poly Pomona. Ranked at No. 31 in the preaseason ITA poll, CSULA will challenge Cal St. Northridge Friday on the road before hosting the Tritons on Saturday. In 2009, the Tritons and Golden Eagles met on two occasions with UCSD taking the two matches by scores of 9-0 and 8-1.
2/12 2/19 2/20 2/21 2/26 2/27
February vs. Sonoma State at Sonoma State at Cal St. Stanislaus at UC Davis vs. Fresno Pacific at Cal St. L.A.
3/3 3/6 3/10 3/13 3/24 3/25 3/26
March at Cal St. San Bernardino at Cal Poly Pomona vs. Western New Mexico vs. Hawaii Hilo at BYU-Hawaii at Hawaii Pacific at Hawaii Hilo
4/3 4/7 4/10 4/15 4/17 4/21 4/24
April vs. Cal St. San Bernardino 11 a.m. vs. Cal Poly Pomona 2 p.m. vs. Cal St. L.A. 11 a.m. at Point Loma Nazarene 2 p.m. vs. Cal St. Stanislaus 11 a.m. at Azusa Pacific 2 p.m. at Cal St. Northridge 12:30 p.m.
May 5/8 NCAA West Regional 5/12-15 NCAA Championships
W, 8-1 W, 8-1 W, 5-4 L, 0-7
Match 5
UC San Diego (3-1) vs. Fresno Pacific (5-0) Friday, Feb. 26 1:30 p.m.
1:30 p.m. 11 a.m.
1 p.m. 11 a.m. 2 p.m. TBD 2 p.m. 9 a.m. 12 p.m.
Match 6
UC San Diego (1-0) at Cal St. Stanislaus (0-3) Saturday, Feb. 20 11 a.m.
TBA TBA
Home matches played at Northview Tennis Courts
2010 UC San Diego Roster Name Class Hometown Athavale, Anita Sr. Los Gatos, Calif. Bains, Taskeen Jr. Cupertino, Calif. Barth, Katie So. Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif. Breisacher, Melissa Fr. Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif. Dao, Cindy Jr. Claremont, Calif. Davis, Jacquelyn Fr. League City, Texas Desai, Pooja Sr. Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif. Hardebeck, Lisa Fr. Orange, Calif. Lum, Sherise Fr. Mililani, Hawaii Mizuguchi, Krystal So. Hilo, Hawaii Mulloy, Katie So. Danville, Calif. Pourmirzaie, Roxanna Jr. San Jose, Calif. Sophos, Zoe Fr. Moorpark, Calif. Tang, Valerie Jr. Saratoga, Calif. Varnay, Valerie Jr. Tiburon, Calif. Yeung, Samantha So. Calabasas, Calif.