Tue. Jan. 27 SANTA CLARA, Berkeley, CA 1:30 p.m.
Thu. Jan. 29 at Washington, Seattle, WA 1:30 p.m.
Fri. Jan. 30 vs. Washington State, Seattle, WA 1:30 p.m.
Sun. Feb. 1 at Oregon, Eugene, OR 1:30 p.m.
THIS WEEK IN CAL TENNIS
After opening the dual match season with an easy 9-0 victory over UC Davis last week, Cal (1-0) will host Santa Clara on Tuesday, Jan. 27 befor heading to the Northwest for matches against Nor-Pac foes Washington, Washington State and Oregon. The Bears will do battle with the Huskies and Cougers in Seattle, Thursday, Jan. 29 and Friday, Jan. 30, respectively. Two days later, on Sunday Feb. 1, Cal will head south to Eugene to face the Oregon Ducks. All matches are scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m.
THE LINEUPS
Seven of Cal's players are available to play this week with all expecting to see action. The tentative singles lineup includes; Amanda Augustus, Esther Knox, Stephanie Tibbits, Francesca La'O, Jenny Lee and Anita Kurimay. Expect to see teams of Augustus/Amy Jensen, La'O/Lee and Knox/Kurimay in doubles play. Unavailable due to injury are Claire Curran (elbow), Emeka Mayes (ankle), and Lisa Swierniak (shoulder - season).
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS
Santa Clara enter's Tuesday's match with an unblemished 3-0 mark after taking back-to-back 5-4 decisions over Hawaii and Nevada last week. The Broncos and Bears have not played since 1996 when Cal defeated Santa Clara, 9-0. The Bears have never lost to the Broncos and hold an 18-0 all-time series advantage. Washington, ranked No. 61 in the most recent ITA/Rolex poll, will provide a stiffer challenge for the Bears as the Huskies have two players, No. 27 Zuzana Stunova and No. 34 Kristina Kraszewski, ranked in the latest ITA/Rolex poll. Washington has never defeated Cal and last year the Bears improved their all-time series advantage over the Huskies to 18-0 with a 9-0 victory in Seattle. Washington State is led by Erica Perkins, who ranks No. 81 in the nation. Cal blanked the Cougars, 9-0, last season and holds a 3-0 lead in the all-time series. The Bears will rap up this weeks action at No. 71 Oregon. The Ducks and Bears have not met in dual match competition since 1991when Cal defeated Oregon, 9-0. Like the other opponents Cal faces this week, Cal has never lost to Oregon and hold a 6-0 all-time mark against the Ducks.
RECAPPING THE PAC-10 INDOORS
The Cal women's tennis team showed they will be a force to be reconed with in Pac-10 play as the Bears proved to be the dominent team at last week's Pac-10 Indoor Championships in Seattle, Wash. In all, Cal captured the flight 1 singles title (junior Amanda Augustus), the flight 1 doubles title (Augustus/sophomore Amy Jensen), the flight 2 doubles title (sophomore Esther Knox/freshman Anita Kurimay) and the flight 3 singles consolation bracket (sophomore Jenny Lee). The Bears also had a player (Jensen) reach the flight 2 singles quarterfinals as well as the flight 3 semis (Kurimay).
CAL EARNS NO. 7 RANKING:
After opening the season ranked as nation's No. 7 squad in the Preseason Intercollegiate Tennis Associations rankings, Cal remained in the No. 7 slot when the ITA's fall poll was released on Dec.9. Individually, Cal had six players ranked among the nation's top 110 in singles as well as two doubles tandems ranked in the top 50 . They are:
Singles
22 Esther Knox (So.)
26 Claire Curran (So.)
32 Amanda Augustus (Jr.)
76 Anita Kurimay (Fr.)
100 Amy Jensen (So.)
104 Stephanie Tibbits (Jr.)
Doubles
30 Esther Knox/Claire Curran
38 Amanda Augustus/Amy Jensen
NOTE: The ITA's Spring 1 Rankings ranking will be released in Feb. 17.
GOLDEN BEAR BREAKDOWN:
BY CLASS
Seniors: 0
Juniors: 3 - Augustus, La'O, Tibbits
Sophomores: 7 - Curran, Jensen, Knox, Lee,Mayes, Rivett, Swierniak
Freshmen: 1 - Kurimay
GEOGRAPHICAL
California: 4 - Augustus, Lee, Rivett,Swierniak
Austrailia: 2 - Jensen, Knox
Canada: 2 - Mayes, Tibbits
Hungary: 1 - Kurimay
Philippines: 1 - La'O
Ireland: 1 - Curran
HAIL AUGUSTUS
Cal's Amanda Augustus demonstrated at the 1998 Pac-10 Indoor Championships that she is one of the nation's elite players in both singles and doubles. Augustus, currently ranked No. 32 on the ITA/Rolex charts, claimed the Pac-10 Indoor title in flight 1 singles last Monday. En route to the championship match, Augustus defeated three ranked players, including No. 49 Veronika Safarova of USC (7-5, 6-4), No. 74 Vicki Maes of Arizona (2-6, 7-5, 6-1) and No. 27 Zuzana Stunova of Washington (4-6, 7-5, 6-4). Augustus then finished up her title-run with a 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 victory over UCLA's Annica Cooper, who most recently won the Milwaukee Invitational. With the championship, Augustus improved her pre-dual match record to 8-2 and will most certainly rise from her current No. 32 ranking when the Spring No. 1 ITA/Rolex poll is released on Feb. 17. In doubles, Augustus teamed with Amy Jensen to win the flight 1 championship.
YOUNG GUN
Although freshman Anita Kurimay is only in her first year of collegiate tennis, she has already had a huge impact on the 1998 Bears. Kurimay, who hails from Budapest, Hungary, and possesses loads of international experience, earned a No. 67 ranking in the ITA's preseason poll before even stepping on the court. Since then, Kurimay has posted a 5-4 mark. Although not overly impressive, hidden in her record is the fact that she advanced into the fourth round of the Rolex Regionals at Stanford in November and most recently reached the semifinals of flight 3 singles at the Pac-10 Indoor Championships. She also teamed with Esther Knox to take the flight 2 doubles title at the Pac-10 Indoors.
THE COACHES
One of the Top 10 winningest coaches in women's collegiate tennis, Jan Brogan is in her 20th year as the Bears head coach. In that time, she has compiled a career dual match record of 359-147 (.709). She is assisted by associate head coach Kathy Toon.
