May 3, 2004
The University of New Mexico doubles team of senior Sandy Lukowski and sophomore Maja Kovacek broke into the top-10 this week with a No. 8 national ranking according to the I.T.A. national doubles poll. The ranking is the highest national mark for the Lobo tandem.
Lukowski and Kovacek are no strangers to the national rankings as they have been in the top-25 for the entire 2003-04 season. The duo started the spring season at No. 21 and floated around the top-25 from there on out. The highest ranking the twosome saw before their No. 8 mark was a No. 12 ranking in April.
The Lobo tandem ended the season with a solid overall record of 30-7 (10-4 fall, 20-3 spring). They were also named together on the all-Mountain West Conference doubles team for the second straight year.
Kovacek was also ranked No. 74 in the singles rankings this week and freshman Iva Gersic maintained her place on the singles list at No. 111. As a team, UNM is nationally ranked No. 31. Last year, the Lobos ended the 2002-03 season 54th in the nation.
UNM (20-4) will learn if it is selected to the 2004 NCAA Championship field on Wednesday, May 5 on ESPNews at 2:35 p.m.(MDT) The women’s tennis committe will announce individual selections Thursday, May 6 when the selections are posted on the NCAA web site (www.ncaasports.com).