(April 22, 2008)
Bloomsburg University will serve as the host of the 2008
Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Team Tennis
Championships on Friday, April 25 and Saturday, April
26. Action starts on Friday at 1 p.m., as both
women's semifinals will be played at the same time.
The men's semifinals will follow at 3:30 p.m.
Saturday's championship finals are scheduled to
begin at 9 a.m. with the women's final and conclude at
11 a.m. with the men's final. Consolation matches
for both the men and women will run concurrently with
the respective final.
Women
The Western Division's top seed and reigning
champion California will take on the Eastern Division's
second-seeded Kutztown in one semifinal while the other
semifinal pits Slippery Rock, the Western Division's No.
2 seed against the Eastern Division's No. 1 seed,
Bloomsburg. Winners of each semifinal will advance
to play in the championship match on Saturday at 9 a.m.
The consolation match will also start at 9 a.m. on
Saturday.
After snapping Bloomsburg's
consecutive team championships streak at three, California
looks to repeat as champions following its dominating
performance a year ago. The Vulcans enter the tournament
ranked fifth in the nation and boast an impressive 20-2
overall record and a 4-0 PSAC West record this season.
California has two players ranked in the top five of the
FILA/Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings,
including this year's PSAC individual champion,
Helena VanEysendeyk (No. 3) and runner-up Inga Chilingaryan (No. 5). California also has
a nationally ranked
doubles team in VanEysendeyk and Chilingaryan (No. 4).
Meanwhile, this
year's PSAC doubles champions Lisa Santoro and Olga Alekseeva
will also provide a threat.
Kutztown has amassed a 6-6 overall record and a 4-1 PSAC East
record. The top individual threats are Barbara Joerns (8-4) and Sabrina Arnaud (9-5). Kutztown's top doubles
pair consists of Joerns and Rohini Das. The duo is
ranked fifth in the East Region and boasts a 7-7 record this
year.
Bloomsburg owns a 9-5
overall record and a 5-0 record in PSAC East action, and is currently ranked eighth in the East Region.
The team is led by senior Torie Cunningham (6-4) and
sophomore Katie Hasyn (5-5). The two are joined by freshman
standout Laura Sullivan (6-3). In doubles play, the duo of Hasyn and
Brittani Weeks have combined for a strong 4-1 record to lead
the Huskies.
Slippery Rock has posted an 18-2 overall record, 3-1 in the
Western Division,
and ranks as the No. 2 team in the
East Region. Junior Kayla Blackburn,
a PSAC
individual tournament semifinalist,
leads the team. Blackburn, is ranked fourth in the
East Region, while she and partner Laura Handy rank 24th
nationally. Samantha Blackburn and doubles partner Jessica
Hilborn are ranked eighth in the East Region. The
Rock’s only two losses this year came at the hands of
California.
Men's Preview
Top-seeded Bloomsburg
will battle fourth-seeded East Stroudsburg in the first of
two semifinal contests on Friday. Second-seeded
Kutztown takes on third-seeded Millersville in the other
contest. Both semifinal matches will begin at 3:30,
with the winners advancing to the championship match at 11
a.m. on Saturday. The consolation match will also
begin at 11 a.m.
In
light of an 8-1 regular season win,
Bloomsburg looks
to have a
solid chance
of snapping
Kutztown's run of four consecutive team titles. The team enters the tournament ranked 44th
nationally, with a 5-0 conference record and a 13-4 overall
record. Bloomsburg is led by 2006 individual
champion Dan Gal. Gal has posted a 13-2 record this
season and is ranked fourth in the East Region by the
FILA/Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings.
Fernando Perez and Ryan Chow join Gal as the 13th and 14th
ranked players in the East Region respectively. The
pair of Gal and Perez are ranked second in the East Region.
The
Golden Bears are ranked fifth in the East Region and carry a
3-1 conference record and a 3-7 overall record. The
squad is led by Lukas Labitsch and Arpit Sharma. Labitsch
combined with Santiago Baquerizo to
beat the Bloomsburg duo of Chow and Gal in the finals of PSAC
Doubles Championship.
Millersville enters the
tournament with a 2-2 conference record and a 3-8 mark
overall. The Marauders are
led by Chris Matisse who holds a 5-4 record on the season
and advanced to the quarterfinals of this year's PSAC Individual
Championships. Matisse combines with Drew
Slocum to form Millersville's top doubles team (3-6).
East Stroudsburg takes the
final seed in the tournament as they have posted a 1-3
conference record and a 4-9 record overall. The
Warriors are led by senior Jeffery Kurz, who advanced to the
quarterfinals of this year's PSAC Individual Championships and
sophomore Kyle Doebler. Kurz and Jared Howat combine
to make the Warriors top doubles pair.
