March 10, 2005

This Week in Torero Tennis: The University of San Diego (3-3) will host the West Coast Conference Challenge this weekend at the USD West Tennis Courts. The participating teams include fellow conference foes Saint Mary's College (6-3) and the University of San Francisco (5-5). The Toreros will take on the Dons at 1:30 P.M. on Friday, March 11 and the home team will face the Gaels at 10:00 A.M. on Sunday, March 13. St. Mary's College will also face St. John's University at the USD West Tennis Courts at 10:00 A.M. on Saturday, March 12.

Recap of Last Week's Action: The University of Washington (10-2) visited Alcalá Park on Friday, March 4 and defeated USD by a score of 5-1. Due to impending rain, singles was played first. Although the Huskies won five of the six matches, San Diego battled valiantly, pushing two of the matches to three sets. With Washington leading 3-1, the dual match was postponed due to the weather and Tara Livesay and Emma Murphy continued the following morning. Livesay was defeated by Mugette Ahn 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 and Murphy lost to No. 5 Dea Sumantri 3-6, 6-4, 6-1. The lone bright spot for the Toreros was Lauren Kazarian's 6-2, 6-2 win over Tara Simpson.

On Sunday, San Diego hosted its second straight ranked team when No. 33 Florida State came into town. The Toreros had a chance to pull off the upset, but just could not convert on its chances, going down by a heartbreaking score of 4-3. The Toreros battled hard and valiantly all morning, but in the end, the Seminoles proved to be too difficult to stop. Emma Murphy, Lauren Kazarian, and Jenny Brown won their matches to account for the final score.

"With [Florida State's] ranking, we knew it was a big match," said head coach Sherri Stephens. "We won the first five sets and I was pretty sure we were going to pull it off. I have to give Florida State credit. We put the pressure on them and they upped the ante. We couldn't up ours."

Despite the difficult loss, Stephens was excited by the enthusiasm generated between the two teams. She rated it as one of the best collegiate matches she had ever witnessed.

"It was one of the most exciting matches I've seen in a long, long time. I've seen a lot of NCAA Championships, semi's, and a lot of matches," reveals Stephens. "It was just awesome. The spirit was incredible. It was definitely a college match.""

The team was in damp spirits following the match, but Stephens is confident that her team will pick itself back up and still contend for a coveted berth into the NCAA Tournament, By facing multiple ranked teams on its remaining schedule, the Toreros will have many chances to prove their worth to the selection committee.

"The most exciting part is that we still have a chance to get into the Tournament, which is what we want to do. I think the kids will pull themselves together, they know what they have to do, and I think we'll be ready."

About USF: The Dons enter this week's match-up with a 6-3 record, as their most recent victory came on March 8 against UC Davis. The team is lead by senior Anna Skogerboe, sophomores Camille Pamart and Joana Macedo and freshman Pichaya Laosirichon. Hilary Somers is in her fifth year as the Don's head coach and she was honored as the WCC Coach of the Year in 2003.

About St. Mary's College: The Gaels come to San Diego with a record of 5-5, with their most recent match resulting in a 6-1 loss to WCC foe Loyola Marymount. Senior Megan Schulman leads the squad and has back-up coming in the form of juniors Kate Harden and Kristen Kummer and sophomore Aude Lambert. Lisa Alipaz, who is a graduate of San Diego State, has been at the helm of the program for seven years.

Toreros in the Rankings: Junior Emma Murphy found herself ranked No. 30 in the nation when the latest polls came out on March 8. The national acclaim was a direct result of a great fall season, as the native of Cork, Ireland posted an 8-3 singles record. She reached the finals of the Southern California Regional Championships and took top honors at the San Diego State Fall Classic. In addition, she took No. 6 Dea Sumantri of Washington and No. 15 Nicole Leimbach of USC to three sets and defeated No. 18 Michaela Moldovan of Florida State in straight sets. The 2004 WCC Singles Player of the Year is also the seventh-best player in the West Region. In addition, junior Lauren Perl received a pre-season ranking of No. 24 in the difficult and deep West Region.

Stephens a Mainstay at San Diego: Sherri Stephens enters her 21st year as the head coach of the University of San Diego women's tennis program and is hoping to qualify for the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1999. Her teams have been to the Big Dance nine previous seasons and Stephens has coached 5 NCAA Division I All-Americans, including Zuzanna Lesenarova, USD's first four-time All-American and 1999 NCAA Singles Champion. After Stephens completed her collegiate playing days at Arizona in 1979, she joined the coaching staff in Tucson as an assistant. She accepted the head coaching position at USD in 1984 and has developed a reputation as one of the most respected coaches in NCAA Division I tennis. Her overall record at Alcalá Park is 246-220.

Did You Know: Junior Lauren Perl's favorite TV show is Sex and the City and was upset when the hit show was canceled last year. The local product out of San Diego, Calif. is also a huge fan of boy bands, most notably the Backstreet Boys, N'Sync, O'Town, and 98 Degrees. Perl lists her teammate Emma Murphy as her favorite Torero athlete to watch and admires Andy Roddick because of his intensity and desire to win every single point. For more information about Perl, please click here .