Feb. 14, 2007
THIS WEEK…The No. 38 ranked UNM Lobos (2-0) play host to Marquette and NAU in their first home matches of the season this weekend. New Mexico takes on Northern Arizona first on Friday at 6:00 p.m. and matches up against Marquette on Sunday at 10:00 a.m. All matches will be held at the Lobo Tennis Club in Albuquerque.
A LOOK AT THE NORTHERN ARIZONA LUMBERJACKS…The Lumberjacks are coming off a one game winning streak after defeating Lobos’ MWC opponent Wyoming in a 4-3 match-up. Northern Arizona is 3-5 on their season as they head to the land of enchantment to take on UNM.
NAU features four seniors, two juniors and five sophomores on their 11 player roster.
The Lobos and Lumberjacks did not meet last year however New Mexico leads the series 12-0.
A LOOK AT THE MARQUETTE GOLDEN EAGLES…The Golden Eagles are 1-7 in their season coming off a four game losing streak. The most recent loss came against the No. 66 ranked Virginia Tech Hokies. New Mexico will be the sixth ranked team Marquette have matched up against this year. They are 0-5 against ranked players thus far.
The Marquette roster features four seniors, three juniors, two sophomores and three freshman.
This is only the second meeting between the two teams with New Mexico defeating the Lumberjacks in a 6-1 victory at Marquette last year.
ON THE ROSTER…The Lobos feature 11 players on the roster this season with four seniors (Elisa Bonner, Allison Davis, Iva Gersic and Nora Quintal), three juniors (Ola Abou-Zekry, Jennifer Ryba and Lucy Scott), two sophomores (Maria Sotirchos and Mackenzie White) and two freshman (Ashley Bonner and Sandra Zmak). The UNM tennis team is coached by head coach Kathy Kolankiewicz who is entering her 22nd year with the Lobos and assistant coach Roy Cañada who is entering his 11th year.
The Lobos lost one senior from the 2004-05 squad (two-time All-American Maja Kovacek).
NATIONAL RANKINGS…New Mexico earned a No. 38 team national ranking from the ITA this week. There were five teams from the Mountain West Conference that continue to be ranked in the top-50 this season. TCU still leads the MWC at No. 16 while BYU dropped four spots from No. 30 to 34. UNLV falls in right behind New Mexico at No. 39 with San Diego State rounding out the conference at No. 49.
In the individual rankings Ola Abou-Zekry achieves her first ever singles ranking at No. 62. Last year Abou-Zekry was ranked at No. 49 as a doubles team with partner Lucy Scott. She had a strong fall season with a victory over No. 51 Holly Bagshaw from SDSU as well wins against USC and Fresno State. Abou-Zekry finished the fall season with an 11-2 record, including a loss to teammate Iva Gersic in the final of the SDSU Fall Invite.
Last year the team began the season at No. 48 in the nation and ended at No. 45. The highest ranking New Mexico has ever received was No. 21 in their 2004 season.
Central Regional Rankings:
This is the first time since 2003 that the team sports three singles players in the regional rankings. Iva Gersic leads the Lobos at No. 3 with Ola Abou-Zekry ranking 20th and freshman Sandra Zmak at No. 30.
In doubles Gersic teams with partner Lucy Scott for a No. 4 ranking while senior Nora Quintal and doubles partner Mackenzie White received a No. 12 ranking.
2006 FALL REVIEW…The fall season looks to be a promising preview for the regular season after the team had a strong presence in every invitational this fall. New Mexico made it to at least one semifinal round in every tournament they attended, including the doubles at the ITA Central Region Championships. Despite the loss of two-time All-American Maja Kovacek, Kolankiewicz said the team has high expectations for 2007 spring season.
DID YOU KNOW…
Four out of eleven players on the UNM women’s tennis team are international student-athletes.
Junior Iva Gersic currently holds the record for highest career winning percentage (123-25, .831)
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 30 straight semesters and above a 3.2 G.P.A. for 21 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.
New Mexico has had a winning record for the past 10 years
Sophomore Mackenzie White and freshman Sandra Zmak are the team’s first left-handed hitters in over five years.
2007 OUTLOOK…The University of New Mexico women’s tennis team enters the 2006-07 season with seven returning players, including ranked player Ola Abou-Zekry (No. 62). The Lobos will be looking to build off a strong 2006 season in which they advanced to the semifinals in the 2006 Mountain West Conference tournament, finished No. 3 in the Central Region and 45th in the nation.
The 2006 fall season was a good start to the 06-07 season as the Lobos made a strong impact in every invitational they attended advancing to the semifinal round of every tournament.
After leading the Lobos last year to a 14-9 record, and a No. 45 national ranking head coach Kathy Kolankiewicz is optimistic on how far the squad can go in her 22nd season of coaching at UNM. She believes that the schedule will allow the team to gain the higher national rankings than last year.
THE SCHEDULE…Once again New Mexico’s schedule is packed with ranked opponents, non-conference and conference. With just under half their total matches being at home, the Lobos look to improve upon last years results.
The Lobos host nine home matches at the Lobo Tennis Club (six non-conference and three conference), the rest are to be played on the road in Texas, California, Utah and Arizona.
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):It’s solid. It’s certainly an advantage for us to play at home and I try really hard to have at least eight to ten home matches a year. We have a lot of teams in the top-50 in our schedule also. The tough thing about scheduling is that the teams can vary quite a bit in the year and a half that you schedule the matches. But that’s why I’m so glad our conference is stronger because it gives us good opportunities. It will strengthen our schedule. If the conference is weak it doesn’t help your schedule at all, in fact it hurts you as you try to qualify for the NCAAs.
(Head coach on the coaching team this year, including former Lobo and two-time All-American Maja Kovacek as an undergraduate assistant):It’s great for our program. Anytime you can get additional help it’s very beneficial to the team because we’re so limited on what the NCAA allows us. We’re allowed one head coach, one paid assistant, a volunteer coach and an undergraduate coach. Getting a good volunteer coach is very helpful and we’ve benefited from Johnny Kowalski’s expertise. It’s a bonus having an undergraduate coach and especially one like Maja. This is the best coaching staff we’ve ever had.