April 7, 1997
No. 11 Cal Hosts No. 8 Arizona St. and No. 14 Arizona
THIS WEEK: April 11 ARIZONA STATE BERKELEY 1:30 p.m.
April 12 ARIZONA BERKELEY 11:00 a.m
NEXT WEEK: April 18 at UCLA Los Angeles 1:30 p.m.
April 19 at USC Los Angeles Noon
THE MATCH-UP: The 11th-ranked California women's tennis team, 12-5 overall, 2-3 in the Pac-10 southern division, hosts No. 2 Stanford, Tuesday, April 8, and No. 8 Arizona State on Friday April, 11 with both matches scheduled for 1:30 p.m. The Bears return to the court on Saturday, April 12, at 11 a.m. when they play host to No. 14 Arizona.
THE LINEUPS: Seven Cal players are expected to see action this week. The tentative singles lineup includes; Amanda Augustus, Francesca La'O, Claire Curran, Stephanie Tibbits, Esther Knox and Lisa Swierniak. Expect to see teams of Augustus/Curran, La'O/Knox and Swierniak/Jenny Lee in doubles play.
MATCH UPDATE: The Cal women's tennis team has won seven of its last eight matches and boasts a record of 12-5 on the year. Most recently, the Bears split a pair of matches with No. 33 USC and No. 3 UCLA.
Against the Trojans on April 4, Cal picked up singles wins from No. 1 Amanda Augustus (6-2, 6-2 over Ditta Huber), No. 4 Stephanie Tibbits, No. 5 Esther Knox and No. 6 Lisa Swierniak as the Bears headed into doubles action with a 4-2 advantage. With wins supplied by Augustus/Claire Curran and Knox/Francesca La'O at Nos. 1 and 2 doubles, Cal emerged on top, 6-3.
The following day on April 5, the Bears squared off against the No. 3-ranked Bruins. Playing at No. 1, Augustus defeated ninth-ranked Kati Kocsis, 7-5, 6-2, while La'O handed No. 31 Elizabeth Schmidt a loss at No. 2 singles, 6-3, 6-1. Swierniak picked up a win at No. 6 and the teams headed into doubles play tied, 3-3. The Bears managed only one win, supplied by Swierniak and Jenny Lee, in doubles competition, but despite the 5-4 loss to the Bruins, the Bears came away knowing that they are capable of competing with the best in women's tennis.
THE COMPETITION: Stanford is currently ranked No. 2 by the ITA. The Cardinal are 16-1 on the year in dual match competition and are led by Katie Schlukebir, who is 8-3 in dual matches at No. 1 singles. Arizona State enters the week with a 13-3 record and a No. 8 ranking by the ITA. The Sun Devils are led by Reka Cseresnyes, who has compiled a 10-5 record at No. 1 singles. On Saturday, Cal hosts Arizona, which has been ranked as high as No. 5 by the ITA this year. The Wildcats are 13-5 on the season and are coming off a 6-3 upset of No. 5 Texas.
CAL IN THE RANKINGS: The Bears are currently the No. 11-ranked team on the ITA's Spring No. 3 Charts, released April 1. Individually, Cal players rank as follows:
Singles
42. Francesca La'O (so.)
60(t). Amanda Augustus (so.)
Doubles
21. Amanda Augustus (so.)/Claire Curran (fr.)
26. Francesca La'O (so.)/Lisa Swierniak (fr.)
The ITA's Spring No. 4 ranking will be released April 15.
THE COACHES: One of the Top 10 winningest coaches in women's collegiate tennis, Jan Brogan is in her 19th year as the Bears head coach with a career record of 342-139(.711). She is joined by first-year assistant Ann Henricksson, who spent more than 15 years on the women's professional tour.
