April 10, 2007
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THIS WEEK…
The No. 73 University of New Mexico women’s tennis team hosts its final matches of the regular season and the last three home matches this weekend. The Lobos prepare to take on the Colorado State Rams on Thursday April, 12 in a 4:00 p.m. match time then rest a day before coming up against the Wyoming Cowboys Saturday, April 14 at 2:00 p.m. and the final regular season match against the Air Force Falcons will be played at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday. April 15 is also senior day where the team will honor the four team seniors; Iva Gersic, Nora Quintal, Allison Davis and Elisa Bonner.
LAST WEEK: BYU AND UTAH…
The Lobos suffered another loss before finding their first conference win of the season, but they finally found it and are on the road to victory for the rest of the season.
BYU showed the Lobos just why the Cougars are leading in the Mountain West Standings. They came out ready to play and immediately dominated New Mexico. UNM failed to get a doubles match win and looked to the singles matches to help them out. Mackenzie White was able to keep the team from receiving a complete shut out and took the No. 3 position in a three set match. New Mexico just couldn’t find the energy needed to take down former conference leader in the national rankings.
The second day looked a bit brighter for the Lobos as they set foot on the courts. In two close matches that ended in wins for the Lobos, the team came from behind to take the doubles point. Ola Abou-Zekry and Jennifer Ryba teamed up at the No. 2 doubles position to turn a five match point deficit into a 9-7 win over Cheyenne Reveche and Emily Kwok. At the No. 3 spot Nora Quintal and Maria Sotirchos held on to the lead for another 9-7 win against Karine Bourdages and Andrea Maughan.
The singles action against Utah was much stronger and got the job done. The Lobos took four of the six singles points by the end of the day to win the match 5-2 against the Utes. Mackenzie White was the first off the courts after a fast 6-0, 6-1 win to push out Leigh Walsh. Sandra Zmak was close behind with the second singles win at the No. 2 spot. Zmak had a 6-0, 6-4 victory over Kwok. Lucy Scott clinched the match after winning the No. 5 position over Reveche in a 6-0, 7-5 victory. Nora Quintal rounded out the Lobo wins at the No. 4 position and took out Maughan in a 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 match to find New Mexico’s first conference win.
A LOOK AT THE COLORADO STATE RAMS…
The Colorado State Rams currently hold a 7-9, 1-5 MWC record and are eighth in the conference standings, right behind New Mexico. The Rams are coming off a one game losing streak to weekend opponent, Wyoming. CSU just recently fell off a two game winning streak in which they defeated weekend opponent Air Force and previous Lobo rival New Mexico State.
Colorado State features an 11 player roster with one senior, one junior, three sophomores and six freshmen. They are coached by Jon Messick who is in his 15th year with the Rams.
The teams have met a total of 17 times with the Lobos leading the series 17-0. At the last meeting the Lobos defeated the Rams in a 6- match to help start out their season 4-0.
A LOOK AT THE WYOMING COWGIRLS…
The Wyoming Cowgirls hold a 6-11, 2-4 MWC record and currently sit one spot ahead of the Lobos in the conference standings. They are coming off a one game winning streak after defeating Lobo weekend opponent, Colorado State.
The Wyoming roster features a total of eight players with three seniors, two juniors, one sophomore and two freshmen. The team is coached by Kristan Hall who is in her seconds season with the Cowgirls.
The Lobos and Cowgirls have matched up a total of 10 times with New Mexico leading the series 10-0. Last year UNM took a 7-0 victory away from the Cowgirls making it New Mexico’s second shutout of the weekend.
A LOOK AT THE AIR FORCE FALCONS…
The Air Force Falcons round out the bottom of the conference standings with a 10-13, 0-6 MWC record. The Falcons are coming off a five game losing streak as they prepare to take on the Lobos.
The Air Force roster features a total of 11 players with on senior, two juniors, two sophomores and six freshmen. The Falcons are coached by Kim Gidley who is in her ninth season with the team.
The Falcons have come up against the Lobos a total of 11 times with New Mexico coming up with the lead in the series (11-0). Last year UNM defeated AFA in their first conference match of the season. The win was the first of two shutouts for the weekend and was the first of four conference wins to help the Lobos to their 4-0 conference start.
ON THE ROSTER…
The Lobos now feature 10 players on the roster after the loss of senior Iva Gersic. They sport three seniors (Elisa Bonner, Allison Davis 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 holds on to the No. 73 spot in the national rankings as the season comes to an end. With only two weekends left before the Mountain West Conference Championship a total of five MWC teams remain in the rankings. BYU jumped back up in the rankings to lead the conference at No. 27. They rose from their previous No. 35, which is where TCU now sits. Last week TCU led the conference in the rankings at the No. 32 spot before falling three positions. After being unranked for two weeks and out of the top-50 almost the entire season, SDSU is back up with a No. 56 ranking. UNLV dropped ten spots to No. 60 after a big jump for its start of conference wins.
In the individual rankings Ola Abou-Zekry achieved her first ever singles ranking at No. 62 in the first release of individual rankings. 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.