Jan. 26, 2005
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THIS WEEK
The No. 24 University of New Mexico women’s tennis team kicks off the 2005 season in Tempe, Ariz. for a dual match against the No. 38 Arizona State Sun Devils. The match is set to be played at the Whiteman Tennis Center on Saturday, Jan. 29 at 11 a.m. (MST).
UNM VS. ASU
Arizona State holds an 11-0 advantage over New Mexico in the all-time series. The last time the two teams met in a dual match was in 2001 at Tempe, Ariz. The Sun Devils swept the Lobos 7-0.
ASU features a young roster this season with two seniors, five sophomores and two freshman. Individual players ranked in the ITA are singles player Joslynn Burkett (No. 100) and doubles teams Burkett/Wendy Pilecka (No. 47) and Sabrina Capannolo/Lauren Colalillo (No. 53).
ON THE ROSTER
The Lobos feature nine players on the roster this season with two seniors (Michelle Heidbrink and Tiffany Robertson), one junior (Maja Kovacek), four sophomores (Elisa Bonner, Allison Davis, Iva Gersic and Nora Quintal) and two freshman (Jennifer Ryba and Lucy Scott). The UNM tennis team is coached by head coach Kathy Kolankiewicz who is entering her 20th year with the Lobos and assistant coach Roy Cañada who is entering his ninth year.
The Lobos lost three seniors from the 2003-04 squad (Sandy Lukowski, Maria Ruiz-Fabrega and Tjasa Suvak).
NATIONAL RANKINGS
New Mexico earned a team No. 24 national ranking from the ITA for the start of the New Year, making it the highest ranked team in the Mountain West Conference. Following in the ranks is No. 25 BYU. Other conference schools ranked in the ITA include No. 46 UNLV and No. 65 San Diego State. Last season, UNM began the spring schedule at No. 52 and ended at No. 31. The highest ranking New Mexico has ever achieved is a No. 21 mark.
In the Individual rankings, Maja Kovacek earned the highest singles ranking in UNM women’s tennis history and a personal best with a No. 24 standing. She passed former New Mexico women’s player Chris Hoffee who was ranked No. 33 in 1988. Iva Gersic was also featured in the singles rankings as the 66th-nationally ranked player. As a doubles team, the combined forces of Kovacek and Gersic managed to rank as the No. 4 team in the nation. It is also the highest ranking the UNM women’s tennis program has ever seen. The duo just beat out last season’s 5th-nationally ranked All-American pair of Kovacek and former Lobo Sandy Lukowski.
Fall Central Regional Rankings: Kovacek and Gersic were ranked No. 1 as a doubles team while senior Michelle Heidbrink and freshman Lucy Scott were ranked as the No. 15 doubles team.
In singles, Kovacek was ranked No. 2 and Gersic was ranked No. 4 for New Mexico.
UNM’S FIRST ALL-AMERICAN
Maja Kovacek is back for her junior campaign with the Lobos. Last season was a whirlwind for the Pula, Croatia native as she had an outstanding run at the No. 1 singles position, earning her MWC Player of the Year and made a huge impact in doubles competition where she earned All-American status with Sandy Lukowski for the first time in UNM women’s tennis history after advancing to the Final Four at the 2004 NCAA Tournament.
2004 FALL REVIEW
The Lobos went through another successful fall season full of national tournaments and school invitationals. The team gained great training during the fall months that will definitely help the team compete hard in the spring. The Lobos played in three invites (BYU, Air Force and UNM), competed at the ITA Central Championships, hosted the Central Region Team Playoff and won, giving them an automatic bid to the ITA National Team Indoor Championships this February, and had Maja Kovacek and Iva Gersic compete in two of the ITA’s most prestigious national events (Riviera All-American Championships and the National Individual Indoor Championships).
DANGEROUS DUO
The doubles team of Maja Kovacek and Iva Gersic had a very eventful fall season as they competed in two of the ITA’s national events. In September, the pair became the first UNM women’s tennis players in the history of the program to be selected to compete in the doubles main draw at the Riviera All-American Championships. The two were also selected as singles players to participate in the qualifying tournament of 64. While at the tournament, the No. 11 New Mexico team defeated the No. 8 Michigan duo in the first round of doubles competition. Kovacek and Gersic then went on to upset No. 3 Kentucky in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, the Lobo tandem fell to No. 7 Notre Dame, but earned a bid to the National Individual Indoor Championships in November.
At the indoor championships, Kovacek and Gersic fell to a No. 28 Miami pair in the first round, but went on to beat No. 3 Kentucky, No. 2 William and Mary, and No. 24 Denver for the consolation victory.
TEAM INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
With the team regional playoff win last October, the Lobos received an automatic bid to the ITA National Team Indoor Championships in Madison, Wis. February 3-6. It will be New Mexico’s second appearance at the indoor event. The last time the Lobos were asked to compete was in 2000 where they went 1-2 (losses came against Pepperdine and Vanderbilt, one win came against Wisconsin).
UNM will compete with 15 other top teams from around the country including, No. 1 Stanford, No. 3 Clemson, No. 4 UCLA, No. 5 Northwestern, No. 6 Vanderbilt, No. 7 Southern California, No.8 Duke, No. 9 Tulane, No. 10 Washington, No. 12 Miami (Fla.), No. 13 Georgia, No.14 Kentucky, No. 15 North Carolina, No. 35 Harvard and host school No. 48 Wisconsin.
DID YOU KNOW
Newcomer Lucy Scott (Wrexham, Wales) is the first UNM women’s tennis player from the U.K.
Five out of nine players on the UNM women’s tennis team are international student-athletes.
Sophomore Iva Gersic currently holds the record for highest career winning percentage (61-12, .836) and holds the record for most wins (singles and doubles) in a single season.
The outdoor tennis courts at the Lobo Tennis Club were fully replaced in July 2004.
The Lobos have maintained above a 3.0 G.P.A. for 26 straight semesters and above a 3.2 G.P.A. for 18 consecutive semesters.
In the spring of 2004, the Lobos captured their fifth undefeated home record in the last eight years and their 18th straight home win.
In 2004, New Mexico won its first Mountain West Conference regular season title with a perfect 7-0 record in conference play.
2005 OUTLOOK
The Lobos enter the 2005 season with great hopes that they will carry on the success from last season. Returning as the 2004 Mountain West Conference regular season champions, No. 3 in the Central Region and No. 24 in the nation, New Mexico definitely carries confidence into the new year.
The 2004 fall season gave New Mexico a taste of the good things to come in the regular season. New players showed true potential and the veterans proved they returned with a higher level of play. In October, UNM won the Central Region Team Playoff and earned a bid to the ITA National Team Indoor Championships to be played February 3-6 at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. The opportunity to play at the prestigious event is a huge accomplishment for the Lobos, who will be competing among 15 other highly ranked teams in the nation.
After leading the Lobos last year to an outstanding 20-5 record, a No. 31 national ranking, and coaching two players to All-America status for the first time in UNM women’s tennis history, head coach Kathy Kolankiewicz is optimistic on how far the squad can go in her 20th season of coaching at UNM. She is already excited with this year’s team after seeing its success during fall competition and looks forward to the regular season ahead.
THE SCHEDULE
Once again New Mexico’s schedule is packed with ranked opponents, non-conference and conference. With the indoor championships coming as the second event this year, the Lobos have a full schedule in front of them for the 2005 season.
The Lobos host only six home matches at the Lobo Tennis Club, while the rest are to be played on the road.
Conference games will be played toward the end of New Mexico’s schedule, starting at the end of March.
(Head coach Kathy Kolankiewicz on this season’s schedule):I think our schedule is pretty comparable to last year’s with the big addition of going to national indoor which will make it a better and tougher schedule for us. Also within our conference, I know that UNLV and SDSU, who have been strong in the past, have brought in a couple of top notch players and they will be stronger. Anytime the teams in our conference are stronger, it’s just going to make our schedule look that much better and we like that. We want to be in a good conference.