CEDAR CITY, March 9 – Southern Utah's women's tennis team plays the fourth event of its 2011 spring season Monday when the Thunderbirds meet Cal State Bakersfield at Bally's Resort in Las Vegas. The match is scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m. (PST).
The match is the final tune-up for SUU before it opens its Summit League schedule next weekend, also at Bally's.
SUU (2-1) opened the season with a pair of 9-0 road wins (Division II scoring format) before suffering its first defeat. The Thunderbirds topped Dixie State and Dominican University without losing a set before falling at San Jose State, 6-1.
Cal State Bakersfield (2-8) which meets San Jose State on Saturday, is looking to stop a 5-match slide. The Roadrunners' last win was an 8-1 triumph over Dominican on Feb. 4
Up Next: The Thunderbirds host IPFW, IUPUI, UMKC and Centenary in a Summit League cluster, March 17-19.
Head Coach Lenny Lee (Temple, 1977) is in his 18th season as SUU's head coach. The 2008 and 2009 Summit League Coach of the Year, Coach Lee has compiled a career dual match record of 220-213 through 28 years of coaching, including a 58-39 Summit League mark. His teams have claimed six conference or district championships and over the past 15 years his program has been one of the most successful at Southern Utah University. During his 27 years as a collegiate coach Lee has mentored players at Montgomery County (PA) Community College, Eastern University (PA) and The College of New Jersey as well as at SUU. He picked up his 200th career win in April 2008 when the Thunderbirds upset IPFW in the semi-finals of the Summit League tournament.
T-Bird Notes:
• Sophomore Olia Tatarchenko is undefeated in singles at 3-0, 1-0 at No. 2 and 2-0 at No. 3. She began the season at No. 2 but moved to No. 3 at Dominican and at SJSU.
• SUU was without the services of senior Kirrily Burden at San Jose State; she was sidelined by illness and will be available on Monday.
• With Burden out at SJSU, Danica Ingwaldson moved up to team with Alex Ivanova at No. 2 doubles, where the freshman duo won their match, 8-3.
T-Birds Picked Third In Summit: Southern Utah was picked to finish third in the Summit League this season in a poll of the conference's coaches. The Thunderbirds received 49 points and one first-place vote to finish behind top pick and defending champion IPFW, which finished with the other eight first-place votes and 64 total points. Oral Roberts, the 2009 champion, was picked second with 52 points, while UMKC was fourth with 44 points. Western Illinois earned 30 points, followed by IUPUI (28 points), South Dakota State (26), Oakland (23) and Centenary (8).
Last Time Out: SUU suffered its first defeat of the season Saturday as the Thunderbirds lost a 6-1 decision at San Jose State. Playing without Kirrily Burden, who was sidelined with illness, the Thunderbirds lost the doubles point despite getting a win at No. 2 from Alex Ivanova and Danico Ingwaldson, who defeated Anna Guzman and Olivia Marshall, 8-3. SUU's Ksusha Nazarova and Olia Tatarchenko took Sabastian Leon Chao and Sandra Florea nearly the distance before falling 8-6 at No. 1, and with that loss the Thunderbirds dropped the doubles point as Chau Truong and Emily Prescott won at No. 3 by forfiet. In singles Tatarchenko won the Thunderbirds' only point, getting past Marshall, 6-3, 3-6, 7-4 at No. 3. Leon Chao took a 6-2, 6-3 win over Nazarova at No.1, while Truong handled Ivanova, 6-4, 6-3, at No. 2. Florea prevailed over Ingwaldson, 6-4, 6-4, at No. 4, and Guzman won the final point by a 6-0, 6-1 count over Afton Staheli at No. 5. Prescott earned another point at No. 6 unopposed when Burden was unable to compete.
