Tennis
eliminated by UCLA in NCAA playoffs
Jon Cook/On-line Forty-Niner
Jon Cook/On-line Forty-Niner
A
member of the Long Beach State tennis team
hits a forehand, the team lost in the first
round of the playoffs Friday to UCLA in
Westwood.
By
Daniel Frias
On-line Forty-Niner
As
many people know and the Long Beach State
women’s tennis team found out, all
good things must come to an end. The No.
54-ranked 49ers lost to No. 8-ranked UCLA
in the first round of the 2004 NCAA Women’s
Tennis Championship.
The
49ers went into the match up hoping to carry
the momentum of winning the 2004 Big West
title, but couldn’t shake the Bruins
in its 4-0 loss. It was the second time
the Bruins blanked the 49ers. UCLA beat
the 49ers 7-0 when the teams met on January
23, 2003.
UCLA
opened up the day winning the doubles point.
The 49ers Nicole Bouffler and Sandra Rocha
lost at the No. 1 spot against the Bruins’
Daniela Bercek and Lauren Fisher, who are
ranked No. 23 in the nation. At the No.
3 position the 49ers Krystina Katayama and
Emmanuelle Tabatruong were up 7-6 in their
match before Sarah Gregg and Laura Gordon
rallied to win 9-7 giving UCLA the doubles
point.
In
singles competition UCLA won at the No.
1, 5 and 6 spots. Bouffler played well at
the No. 1 position, but fell in two sets
6-4, 6-3 to the Bruins’ Bercek, who
is ranked No. 31 nationally. Bouffler entered
the match at No. 88.
Rocha
gave it her all at the No. 5 spot, but she
too succumbed to the Bruins’ Fisher
in two sets. Katayama lost her match in
two as well.
“We really competed well today,”
49ers head coach and Big West Coach of the
Year Jenny Hilt-Costello said. “We
created some opportunities across the board,
we just didn’t capitalize on some
of them. I am extremely proud of
this
team though.”
As she should be. The 49ers despite some
injuries and set backs managed to have one
of its better seasons. They finished nationally
ranked for the third straight year and won
its second Big West Conference championship.
The
49ers finished 18-9 this year which marks
the fourth straight year the team has finished
with a winning record. The four consecutive
winning seasons is a school record. They
have had three straight winning seasons
twice before (1984-84, 1996-98).
The
49ers had its highest ranking in school
history when it was ranked No. 49 during
the season. They also had an 11-match win
streak during the 2004 campaign. The third
longest in 49er women’s tennis history.
The school record of 17 consecutive wins
was set in 2001.
This
was the second NCAA appearance in three
years for the 49ers. The 49ers first trip
to the NCCA tournament was in 2002. They
were bounced out of the tournament when
they lost to Pepperdine 4-1 at Stanford
in the first round.
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