USD Women's Tennis 2000

I 2000 TORERO OUTLOOK

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2000 TORERO OUTLOOK The 2000 tenni s season will bring a lot of ex peri ence, athl eti c ism and exc itement to San Diego thi s yea r. The USD women's tenni s team will not onl y be a threa t in the West Coast Conference, but a lso as a nati ona l contender. Head Coach Sherri Stephens, in her 16th season, has establi shed a winning traditi on fo r the USD women 's tenni s program. She re turn s seven lette rwinners from las t year 's squad that fini shed 14- 11 overall and 28 th in the fin al nati ona l ITA rankings. Thi s yea r, USD ente rs the pre-season with a team ranking of 29th in the nati on; two pl ayers, Zuzana Lesenarova and Katarina Valkyova, ranked # I and #3 in singles respecti ve ly, and the duo teamed in doubl es whe re they were ranked #2 in the nati on in the pre-season po ll s.

Coach Stephens fi e lds a squ ad of seven expe ri enced returners who are prepared to compete fo r a West Coas t Confe rence champi onship and make a strong run toward the NCAA Tournament. The Toreros line-up will also fea ture juni ors Krista Manning and Stacie Lee; and sophomores Paola Arrangoiz , Heather Polumbus and Erika Pyne. DEPARTING TORERO USD lost seni or Milli e Prior to graduati on. Pri or, a San Diego nati ve, was -------------- a leader, hard wo rker and tough competitor fo r the Toreros. Pri or maj ored in Computer Sc ience and minored in Business Admini strati on. NCAA CHAMPION RETURNS TO USD The 1999 NCAA sing les champi on and pre-season# I ranked pl ayer in the nati on re turns to USD to defend her titl e for her seni or yea r. Zuzana Lesenarova has coll ected her share of acco lades th roughout he r ca reer at USD. She has been named NCAA All-Ameri ca three times (I 997 , 1998, 1999), NCAA Nati onal Champion ( 1999), West Coast Confe rence Pl ayer of the Yea r ( 1998, 1999), Number I ITA sing les pl ayer ( 1998-99, 1999- 2000), and winner of fi ve ITA Co llegiate Grand Sl am titl es. Sophomore Katarina Valkyova earned NCAA All– Ameri ca honors after advanc ing to the NCAA quarterfinals where she dropped a 3-set match to Lesenarova. DOUBLES USO fi e lds one of its' strongest doubl es teams in the program's hi s–

tory. Seni or Zuzana Lesenarova and sophomore Katarina Valkyova en– ter the season with an ITA pre-season ranking of #2 in the country. The two Toreros already have one yea r's wo rth of ex pe ri ence together. In the 1999 season Lesenarova and Va lkyova fi ni shed with an 14-6 record and pa rti c i– pated in the NCAA Tourn ament. Othe r doubl e tandems ex pec ted to prov ide strength incl ude: Paola Arrangoiz & Erika Pyne, and Heather Polumbus & Stacie Lee. FACING A CHALLENGING SCHEDULE USO will face an ex treme ly tough schedul e in the 2000 season. Five of USO's opponents are ranked in the top-20: Stanford (No. I ), Pepperdi ne (No. 8), Ari zona State (No. 12), South Alabama (No. 17) and Northwestern (No. 20). USO will host their Women's Tenni s Class ic (March I 0-1 2) before head– ing to Hawa ii over Spring break. Likewise, the West Coast Conference is always competi ve and chall enging. Winning a conference champi onship is a hi gh pri ority fo r the Toreros in 2000. Pepperdine has retained the ti tle for the past 13 seasons. The Toreros and Waves. who will face each other during the regul ar-season on Feb. 26th , will more likely than not, face off aga inst each other once aga in in the WCC champi onship match.

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2000 University of Sa11 Diego Women 's Te1111is -- Home to Z11 za11a Lesenarova, 1999 NCAA Division I Natio11a/ Champion