BEACH TENNIS Unofficial Page

Beach Tennis has reached an all-time program high of # 35 in today's national rankings. This is a tremendous accomplishment for Long Beach State tennis and as coach has said, "We are much better than we were six weeks and we still have more room to improve with each girl. We can still go further."

This week the 49ers face two of their toughest conference rivals.

On Thursday at 2pm, the Beach hosts the dreaded Anteaters of UC Irvine. This has been a big rivalry the last few years with LB having won six straight meetings including eliminating UCI in two championship final matches. Last year UCI ran a big student promotion and were all fired up after winning the doubles point... only to get humbled in five of six singles matches. At # 68, they are (in my opinion) the second best team in the conference and our girls will face a determined opponent.

On Saturday at 11am, the Pacific Tigers roll in. Ranked # 63 for an unknown reason (after losing to # 75 St. Mary's and getting crushed by Oregon), Pacific has a dangerous but inconsistent line up. Some days yes, some days no. But they did beat LB indoors last year only to lose in the rematch as the conference championship final.

On paper, the Beach should take these two matches. Let's keep the momentum rolling ladies and beat the soundly just for the fun of it.


HANNAH GRADY -- LONG BEACH STATE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

Congrats to freshman Hannah Grady, last weeks Big West Tennis Player of the Week, for this week being named the Long Beach State Athlete of the Week. Hannah went 3-0 in singles including wins over two nationally ranked opponents and also 3-0 with Jessica Weeks in doubles. Congrats once again to Hannah.

Go Beach TENNIS

Grady, Bengson and Weeks all perfect 6-0 for the week

February 26, 2006

PORTLAND, OR--

No. 46-ranked Long Beach State (8-2) closed out a perfect weekend with a 7-0 win at the University of Portland (2-8) on Sunday afternoon.

Freshman Hannah Grady won her fifth consecutive singles match at the No. 1 position to lead the 49er triumph.

Long Beach got off on the right foot by winning all three doubles matches. At the No. 1 spot, newly annointed No. 1 doubles team of Grady and Jessica Weeks won 8-4 over Lindsey Griffin and Katie Kennel. At No. 2 doubles, Katy Williams and Sandra Rocha won 8-4 over Laura Leoni and Jaclyn Soltysik, while at the No. 3 spot, Stephanie Bengson and Rachael Porsz won 8-1 over Anna Gullickson and Jenna Tanzer.

In singles play Grady rolled to a 6-1, 6-1 win over Cristin Sammiss. Grady, who defeated two nationally-ranked players on Friday and Saturday, had little trouble against Sammiss. Grady has now won five consecutive singles matches at the No. 1 position.

No. 91-ranked Williams breezed to a 6-4, 6-3 win over Griffin at the No. 2 spot and Bengson won 6-1, 6-2 at three singles over Soltysik. The bottom of the 49er order came up big as well with all winning their matches. At No. 4 singles Weeks claimed a 6-3, 6-3 win over Tanzer and at the five spot Porsz won 6-4, 6-3 over Kennel. Krystina Katayama played at No. 6 singles for the first time this spring and came away with a 1-6, 7-6 (4), 10-7 win over Gullickson.

The match took 'forever' as Portland only has three tennis courts. With the long delay between doubles and #4-6 singles, it was decided to give regular # 4 Sandra Rocha some much deserved rest.

DOUBLES
1. Williams/Rocha, LBSU def. Griffin/Kennel, UP, 8-4
2. No. 25-Grady/Weeks, LBSU def. Leoni/Soltysik, UP, 8-4
3. Bengson/Porsz, LBSU def. Gullickson/Tanzen, UP 8-1

SINGLES
1. Hannah Grady, LBSU def. Cristin Sammiss,UP, 6-1, 6-1
2. No. 91-Katy Williams, LBSU def. Lindsey Griffin, UP, 6-4, 6-3
3. Stephanie Bengson, LBSU def. Jaclyn Soltysik, UP, 6-1, 6-2
4. Jessica Weeks, LBSU def. Jenna Tanzer, UP, 6-3, 6-3
5. Rachael Porsz, LBSU def. Katie Kennel, UP, 6-4, 6-3
6. Krystina Katayama, LBSU def. Anna Gullickson, UP, 1-6, 7-6 (4), 10-7

Grady Wins Second Match Over Ranked Player in Two Days at No. 1 PositionFebruary 25, 2006

EUGENE, OR-- No. 46-ranked Long Beach State (7-2) made it 2-for-2 in the Pacific Northwest, sweeping past # 54 Denver (3-5) 7-0 on the campus of the University of Oregon on Saturday.

"Our team came up here read to battle," said Head Coach Jenny Hilt-Costello, who beat No. 22-ranked Oregon yesterday. "We posted two strong wins against some ranked opponents."

The team's seventh straight win of the season was led by Hannah Grady who combined with partner Jessica Weeks for an 8-2 win at the No. 2 doubles position, before she posted a 6-1, 6-3 upset over No. 59-ranked Suzana Maksovic at the top of the order. No. 91-ranked Katy Williams was a winner at the No. 2 singles position winning in straight sets over Annette Aksdal. LBSU swept all six singles spots and won two of three doubles matches.

Putting the win in perspective, # 54 Denver has only faced ranked opponents in their eight matches this season; including narrow 3-4 losses to # 20 BYU and # 42 Colorado.

The 49ers close out the road trip at the University of Portland on Sunday.

DOUBLES
1. Maksovic/Aksdal, DU def. Williams/Rocha, LBSU, 8-6
2. No. 25 Grady/Weeks, LBSU def. Sackmaster/Iwinski, DU, 8-2
3. Bengson/Porsz, LBSU def. Boothman/Machem, DU 8-4

SINGLES
1. Hannah Grady, LBSU def. No. 59-ranked Suzana Maksovic, DU, 6-1, 6-3
2. No. 91 Katy Williams, LBSU def. Annette Aksdal, DU, 6-3, 6-4
3. Stephanie Bengson, LBSU def. Rachel Sackmaster, DU, 6-3, 6-7, 10-6
4. Sandra Rocha, LBSU def. Kyla Iwinski, DU 6-2, 6-1
5. Jessica Weeks, LBSU def. Marisa Mechem, DU, 7-5, 6-2
6. Rachael Porsz, LBSU def. Lorinda Boothman, DU, 6-2, 6-1

February 24, 2006

EUGENE, OR--

Long Beach State picked up possibly its biggest win in women's tennis history with a 5-2 win at No. 22-ranked Oregon on Friday afternoon. The win, which was the sixth in a row for the No. 46-ranked 49ers (6-2), provided numerous individual highlights as Long Beach began a three-match road trip.

The 49ers won four of the six singles matches and two of the three doubles matches to earn the doubles point, and the victory. "We played great today," said Head Coach Jenny Hilt-Costello. "We fought real hard and defeated an excellent team on the road."

Long Beach began the afternoon by winning two doubles matches and winning the doubles point. At No. 3 double the 49ers Rachael Porsz and Stephanie Bengson won 8-1 over Anna Powaska and Carmen Seremeta. The 49ers then clinched the doubles point at the No. 2 spot as No. 25-ranked Hannah Grady and Jessica Weeks won 8-5 over Anna Leksinska and Claudia Hirt.

In singles action the 49ers won four of the matches, with two of the victories coming in three sets.

At the No. 1 spot, Grady rebounded from a tough first set to defeat the No. 44-ranked Dieskova 1-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2.

At No. 2 singles, 91st ranked Williams cruised to a 7-5, 6-0 win over Powaska. Bengson prevailed at the three spot, 6-3, 7-6 (1) over Seremeta and Weeks won at No. 5 singles 6-3, 0-6, 7-6 (5) over Leksinska. Weeks' third set tie-break win was the fourth point to clinch the match for Long Beach.

The victory was the second in a row over the Ducks. Last year the then # 24 Oregon team came to Long Beach and the 49ers prevailed 4-3 at the 49er Campus Courts.

Note: The match also marks the 49ers first 'indoor' win since May 2003. Last year, LB went 0-4 playing indoors.

DOUBLES
1. #49 Dieskova/Olivos (Oregon) def. Williams/Rocha (LBSU), 8-5
2. #25 Grady/Weeks (LBSU) def. Leksinska/Hirt (Oregon), 8-5
3. Porsz/Bengson (LBSU) def. Powaska/Seremeta (Oregon), 8-1

SINGLES
1. Hannah Grady (LBSU) def. #44 Dominika Dieskova (Oregon) 1-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2
2. #91 Katy Williams (LBSU) def. Anna Powaska (Oregon) 7-5, 6-0
3. Stephanie Bengson (LBSU) def. Carmen Seremeta (Oregon), 6-3, 7-6 (1)
4. Ceci Olivos (Oregon) def. Sandra Rocha (LBSU), 6-4, 6-2
5. Jessica Weeks (LBSU) def. Anna Leksinska (Oregon), 6-3, 0-6, 7-6 (5)
6. Claudia Hirt (Oregon) def. Rachael Porsz (LBSU), 7-5, 6-4

IRVINE, CA--

Freshman Hannah Grady (left) was selected on Wednesday as the Big West Conference Female Tennis Athlete of the Week. Grady was 2-0 last week in singles play, losing just one game in four sets, and 2-0 in doubles action.

Grady was today named, with her doubles partner Jessica Weeks, as the # 25 ranked doubles team in the nation.

Beach Tennis freshman Katy Williams broke into the national singles rankings today at # 91. This is her first ranking of her career and comes off a 5-2 spring start and very strong 13-5 overall record. In the fall, Katy beat the currently ranked # 60 and # 75 players in the nation to earn this ranking. One of her two loses this spring is also to the current # 1 player in the nation.

In doubles, the team of Hannah Grady and Jessica Weeks earned a 49er program all-time high of # 25 in the national polls. The two freshman are 5-0 this spring since linking up upon Hannah's arrival in January.

As a team, Beach Tennis today moved down one spot on the coaches poll national team rankings to # 46 despite a strong 2-0 (6-1 and 7-0) week. Two teams actually slid ahead of LB following strong Top 25 wins during the week.

Beach Tennis heads to the northwest this weekend for three indoor matches versus # 22 Oregon, # 54 Denver and WCC foe Portland. The Beach defeated 'then # 24' Oregon last year at the 49er Courts 4-3 so this will be a major test for both squads.

Go Beach TENNIS

from LB web site (with correction)

February 18, 2006

LONG BEACH, CA-- No. 45-ranked Long Beach State women's tennis (5-2) posted its fifth straight win, sweeping past visiting Hawaii (0-5) 7-0 behind No. 1 singles player Hannah Grady and No. 2 player Katy Williams. The 49ers posted sweeps at all six singles spots and lost just a combined six points in doubles play, sweeping all three sets to leadoff the match.

Grady made quick work of Kana Aikawa, winning 6-0, 6-1 for the deciding point, while Williams disposed of Chloe Bihag 6-3, 6-2. The 49ers, who went up 6-0 in four of six singles sets, also saw first set sweeps from No. 4 player Sandra Rocha, No. 5 Rachael Porscz and No. 6 Emmanuelle Tabatruong. The match last just two hours and 35 minutes.

The 49ers will head to the Pacific Northwest for three indoor matches, against No. 23 Oregon, No. 46 Denver and Portland.

Doubles
1. Williams/Rocha def. Aikawa/Cappella 8-0
2. Grady/K. Katayama def. Sandborn/E. Katayama 8-3
3. Bengson/Porsz def. Bihag/Wasko 8-3

Singles
1. Hannah Grady def. Kana Aikawa 6-0, 6-1
2. Katy Williams def. Chloe Bihag 6-3, 6-2
3. Stephanie Bengson def. Erin Katayama 6-1, 6-1
4. Sandra Rocha def. Samantha Cappella 6-0, 6-2
5. Rachel Porsz def. Julia Sandborn 6-0, 6-3
6. Emmanuelle Tabatruong def. Fenja Shaw 6-0, 6-3 (pictured)

2/16/2006

Long Beach State's Stephanie Bengson, UC Riverside's Yasaman Sakhakorn Share Women's Honor

Long Beach State sophomore Stephanie Bengson (Albion Park, NSW, Australia) and UC Riverside freshman Yasaman Sakhakorn (Saugus, CA) were named co-recipients of Big West Women's Tennis Athlete of the Week as both players fared well from the No. 3 singles position.

Bengson helped the 49ers to a 7-0 victory versus Cal State Fullerton with her triumph over Mai-Ly Tran, 6-3, 6-2. She also defeated Loyola Marymount's Erin Ivey 6-4, 6-0 in LBSU's 6-1 win over the Lions.

In doubles action, Bengson and Rachael Porsz won both of their matches at the No. 3 spot. The duo defeated CSF's Ashley Dunbar and Cheyenne Inglis 8-3 and LMU's Patrycia Hubl and Sladjana Kos 8-4.

Congrats to Steph as she continues her impressive return from no fall tennis matches due to an injury.

49ers Win Five of Six Singles Matches

February 15, 2006

NORTHRIDGE, CA-- The No. 45 (not 47 as posted by the LB SID) ranked Long Beach State women’s tennis team won its fourth consecutive match with a 6-1 win at Cal State Northridge on Wednesday evening.

The 49ers improved to 4-2 on the season and 2-0 in Big West Conference play while CSUN fell to 3-2 overall and 1-2 in Big West action.

The 49ers got off on the right foot by winning all three doubles matches. At No. 1 doubles, Sandra Rocha and Katy Williams won 8-5 over Silvia Gutierrez and YuYu Myinttun. Hannah Grady and Jessica Weeks won at No. 2 doubles 8-6 over Canna Furuta and Kanykey Koichumanova, while at the No. 3 spot Rachael Porsz and Stephanie Bengson won 8-6 over Ana Matijasevic and Olga Yepremian.

In singles play the 49ers won five of the six matches, all in straight sets. Grady won easily at the No. 1 spot routing Gutierrez 6-0, 6-0. Williams prevailed at No. 2 singles 6-1, 6-3 over Furuta and Rocha won 6-1, 6-0 at No. 4 singles over Myinttun. The two other wins came at the five and six spots. Weeks won at five singles 7-5, 6-4 over Matijasevic and Porsz won at the six positioin 6-2, 6-0 over Sonya Kumar.

The 49ers will next be in action on Saturday, February 18 when they host the University of Hawaii at 11 am at the 49er Campus Courts.

DOUBLES
1-Rocha/Williams (LBSU) def. Gutierrez/Myinttun (CSUN), 8-5
2-Grady/Weeks (LBSU) def. Furuta/Koichumanova (CSUN), 8-6
3-Porsz/Bengson (LBSU) def. Matijasevic/Yepremian (CSUN), 8-6

SINGLES
1-Hannah Grady (LBSU) def. Silvia Gutierrez (CSUN), 6-0, 6-0 (pictured)
2-Katy Williams (LBSU) def. Canna Furuta (CSUN), 6-1, 6-3
3-Kanykey Koichumanova (CSUN) def. Stephanie Bengson (LBSU), 7-6, 6-3
4-Sandra Rocha (LBSU) def. YuYu Myinttun (CSUN), 6-1, 6-0
5-Jessica Weeks (LBSU) def. Ana Matijasevic (CSUN), 7-5, 6-4
6-Rachael Porsz (LBSU) def. Sonya Kumar (CSUN), 6-2, 6-0

Beach Tennis achieved a program high of # 45 in the national rankings in the February 14th ITA rankings.

The previous high was last weeks # 47 and prior to that a # 49 last season.

Now inside the top 15% of the 310 D1 teams nationally, the 49er women face conference rival CS Northridge Wednesday at 2pm.

Go Beach Tennis

The No. 47-ranked Long Beach State women’s tennis team won a pair of dual matches this weekend and in the process Head Coach Jenny Hilt-Costello broke the school's record for most career wins as a women's tennis head coach at 118. She has since moved to 119 as the Beach defeated CSFullerton 7-0 and then LMU 6-1 over the weekend.

LONG BEACH STATE 6, LMU 1

DOUBLES
1-Rocha/Williams (LBSU) def. Mesterova/Baker (LMU), 8-6
2-Grady/Weeks (LBSU) def. Ivey/Sundac (LMU), 8-4
3-Bengson/Porsz (LBSU) def. Hubl/Kos (LMU), 8-4S
INGLES
1-Pavla Mesterova (LMU) def. Hannah Grady (LBSU), 7-5, 7-5
2-Katy Williams (LBSU) def. Robyn Baker (LMU), 6-0, default
3-Stephanie Bengson (LBSU) def. Erin Ivey (LMU), 6-4, 6-0
4-Sandra Rocha (LBSU) def. Patrycia Hubl (LMU), 6-2, 7-6
5-Jessica Weeks (LBSU) def. Maja Sundac (LMU), 6-1, 6-2
6-Rachael Porsz (LBSU) def. Sladjana Kos (LMU),6-2, 6-1


LONG BEACH STATE 7, CS FULLERTON 0

DOUBLES
1-Le/Inalpulat (CSUF) def. Rocha/Williams (LBSU), 8-4
2-Grady/Katayama (LBSU) def. Tran/Injejikian (CSUF), 8-2
3-Bengson/Porsz (LBSU) def. Dunbar/Inglis (CSUF), 8-3
SINGLES
1-Hannah Grady (LBSU) def. Ruya Inapulat (CSUF), 6-1, 6-0
2-Katy Williams (LBSU) def. Gina Le (CSUF), 6-2, 6-4
3-Stephanie Bengson (LBSU) def. Mai-Ly Tran (CSUF), 6-3, 6-2
4-Sandra Rocha (LBSU) def. Cheyenne Inglis (CSUF), 6-3, 6-2
5-Rachael Porsz (LBSU) def. Shaghig-Shelly Injejikian (CSUF), 6-4, 6-2
6-Emmanuelle Tabatruong (LBSU) def. Ashley Dunbar (CSUF), 6-1, 6-0

Beach Tennis jumped up ten spots to # 47 in today's Fila ITA National Rankings. This is the highest ranking all time for the 49er Women's Tennis program.

Women's Tennis is home Friday vs. conference rival CS Fullerton at 2pm...

and then returns the next morning, Saturday at 11am vs. LMU. Saturday is HOMECOMING with numerous activities around campus and basketball for the women (3) and Men (5:30) later in the day.

LMU is much improved and features a sophomore transfer at # 1 who was ranked much of last year while at U. Texas-Arlington.

One more win needed: With just one more win, Coach Hilt-Costello will become the winningest coach in LB tennis history and will complete the sweep of coaching records (117 total wins, .602 winning percentage, most wins in a season <23>, only appearance in conference final <5> conference title <3),>, only to have a nationally ranked team <6>. That last record should fall Friday!

Baseline Boosters.... thanks again to all for your support. The Baseline Booster Club provided 2006 Team Poster is out and available at the matches this weekend!

Hope to see you Friday afternoon or Satuday mid-day at the 49er Courts.

Go Beach Tennis

Upcoming Matches

Fri 2/10 vs. Fullerton 2pm 49er Courts
Sat 2/11 vs. LMU 11am 49er Courts (Homecoming)
Wed 2/15 at CS Northridge 2pm Northridge, CA
Sat 2/18 vs. Hawaii 11am 49er Courts
Fri 2/24 at Oregon 1pm Eugene, OR
Sat 2/25 vs Denver 10am Eugene, OR
Sun 2/26 at Portland 10am Portland, OR
Thu 3/2 vs. UC Irvine 2pm 49er Courts
Sat 3/4 vs. Pacific 1pm 49er Courts
Tue 3/7 vs. Boston College 2pm 49er Courts
Fri 3/10 at UC Riverside 2pm Riverside, CA
Thu 3/16 vs. Nebraska 2pm at Pacfic Life Open in Indian Wells, CA
Mon 3/20 vs. Kansas State 2pm 49er Courts
Tue 3/21 vs. Illinois-Chicago 2pm 49er Courts
Fri 3/31 at Fresno State 1:30pm Fresno, CA
Thur 4/6 vs. Florida Int’l 2pm 49er Courts
Sat 4/8 vs. UC Davis Noon 49er Courts (Last home match)
Fri 4/14 at Cal Poly 1:30pm San Luis Obispo, CA
Sat 4/15 at UCSB Noon Santa Barbara, CA
Fri 4/28 – Sun 4/30 at Big West Tournament, Indian Wells, CA