Tennis
gears up for NCAA Tournament
By
Daniel Frias
On-line Forty-Niner
There
is a lot of excitement going on with the
Long Beach State women’s tennis team
and with good reason. The No. 54-ranked
49ers will be playing in its second NCAA
Tournament when the team takes on No. 8-ranked
UCLA in a first round match Friday in Westwood.
“Obviously
its very exciting, “ said seventh-year
head coach Jenny Hilt-Costello. “Anytime
you make it to the NCAA it’s a great
way to finish off the season. Our goal at
the beginning of the season was to win the
conference and it’s nice to set a
goal and meet the goal. Now our new goal
is to get a couple rounds in the NCAA.”
The
last time the 49ers went to the NCAA tournament
they crashed into a few Waves. The 49ers
lost to Pepperdine 4-1 at Palo Alto after
winning the school’s first-ever Big
West Conference Title in 2002. Hilt-Costello
said the 49ers were the better team, but
didn’t play like it because of the
distractions of playing at a big stadium
and the pressure of such a big competition.
This
time around the 49ers will be closer to
home and should be more focused said Hilt-Costello.
“We
got a tough draw in the first round playing
UCLA,” said Hilt-Costello. “But
the girls are playing really well. We’re
coming off the Big West win and I think
all we need to do is look to compete in
the match.”
Senior
Kelly Chan, who will be making her second
trip to the NCAA Tournament, also said she
feels that they can go toe to toe with the
Bruins.
“UCLA
is a tough team,” team captain Chan
said. “But it’s a team we like
to play because they’re style is like
ours. It’s going to be a competitive
match. We’re going in looking to do
some damage.”
Chan’s
cross-court backhand in the championship
match at the 2004 Big West Conference Tournament
at Indian Wells gave the 49ers its second
conference title in school history and put
them in the NCAA Tournament.
Bouffler
is 27-7 in No. 1 doubles play this season.
She went 7-1 in the fall with Tammy Day
and is 20-6 playing with Rocha.
“It’s
been really good playing with Sandra. We
started off slow. It took us a few matches,
but we’ve come together and been playing
really well,” said Bouffler.
Bouffler
has proven herself as the best player on
the 49ers and one of the best in the country.
She’s played at the No. 1 spot for
the 49ers all year and has compiled a 26-10
record in singles competition. Bouffler’s
athletic ability and talent have landed
her as one of the top players in the nation.
She is currently ranked No. 88 in the country
and has wins over nationally ranked players.
Her biggest win was against Oregon’s
Daria Panova who was ranked No. 9 at the
time.
The
49ers have played its toughest schedule
in school history this year, competing against
12 nationally-ranked opponents, six of whom
advanced to the 2004 NCAA Tournament.
The
No. 54 ranked ITA 49ers compiled an 18-8
record this season achieving its highest
national ranking when it was ranked No.
49 earlier in the year. The 49ers went on
an 11 game win streak during the regular
season.
The
tough schedule should prove to be helpful
for the 49ers who lost to coach Hilt-Costello’s
alma mater the last time the teams played
on Jan. 23, 2003 by a score of 4-1.
“Those
matches made us better,” Hilt-Costello
said. “They helped us realize how
much work we needed to do to get ready for
the end of the season. We’ve gotten
better and better as the season has gone
on and all I want to see is for the girls
to play their game and compete. If they
do that I think we have a really good shot.”
|
