March 12, 2008

The San Francisco women's tennis team (3-7) travels to San Luis Obispo to face West Coast Conference rival Gonzaga as well as Cal Poly this weekend. The Dons and Bulldogs dual is set for Friday at 11 a.m. PDT, while USF and Cal Poly are to tango on Saturday at 1 p.m. PDT.

ABOUT THE COMPETITION:

GONZAGA (3-9)

USF last dueled Gonzaga in the 2007 WCC Consolation Championship on April 21, 2007. The Dons defeated the Bulldogs 4-0 to take the dual as competition was cut short. USF swept through doubles with scores of 8-4, 8-5 and 8-6. Mylene Martin, Jenny Sperry and Joana Macedo took their singles matches by socres of 6-1, 6-0; 6-0, 6-2; and 6-1, 6-2, respectively.

The last time out, Gonzaga lost a 6-1 dual to Northern Arizona on March 8. At No. 2 singles, Aglaya Kokurina earned a 6-3, 6-3 victory over NAU's Orsi Golovics to account for the Zags lone point. Gonzaga has lost three straight entering Wednesday, having last won on February 29 against Northern Colorado. The Zags won that dual by a 5-2 score.

Prior to this weekend's dual with USF, the Bulldogs will face UC Santa Barbara and Cal State Bakersfield on Wednesday.

CAL POLY (6-6)

Last year's dual versus the Mustangs was canceled due to rain. In 2006, San Francisco dropped a 4-3 decision to Cal Poly. The Dons won doubles with hard fought, 9-8, wins by Emma Taylor and Jenny Sperry over Sheila Lewis and Danon Beatty, and Mylene Martin and Sarah Oudomvilay over Jessica Malec and Amanda Varela. Martin and Oudomvilay also took singles' matches by scores of 6-2, 6-4; and 6-2, 6-3.

On March 11th, Cal Poly upset No. 36 Washington State at Mustang Courts by a 4-3 score. The Mustangs Brittany Blalock grabbed a win at the No. 1 position at the end of the day to secure the victory over the Cougars. Blalock swept the first set over Ekaterina Burduli, 6-0 but Burduli came back in the second set, 4-6. The two went back and fourth in the final set. It was tied 4-4 at one point before Blalock was finally able to finish it, 6-4. Blalock now posts a 6-6 singles dual record, winning her fourth straight match. Cal Poly's Steffi Wong made a quick match at the No. 2 position over Aleksandra Stefanova, 6-3, 6-1. Amy Markhoff gave the Mustangs their final win in the singles competition, defeating Jessica Gomez in three sets, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4. Markhoff remains undefeated at 9-0. In doubles, the Mustangs won all three matches for the doubles point.

Prior to the dual versus USF, Cal Poly will face Gonzaga on Thursday.

USF'S LAST DUAL

San Francisco lost a nail biting 4-3 conference dual to Loyola Marymount Sunday at the LMU Tennis Center. The Dons received singles' victories from Jennifer Heinser, Mylene Martin and Jessy Mekpoh.

Loyola Marymount won the doubles point by winning two of the three matches. At No. 3, Sarah Oudomvilay and Jenny Sperry defeated Tina Razloznik and Shauna Morgan, 9-7.

Heinser dispatched Pavla Mesterova 7-6, 6-1 at the No. 1 singles slot to improve to 10-0 on the year. Martin then followed topping Tamara Tanner 6-4, 6-3 at No. 2 to give USF a 2-1 dual lead. Three Lions' wins at No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5 put the dual out of reach for the Dons. Mekpoh closed the match defeating Shauna Taylor by a 7-6, 6-2 score at No. 6.