April 8, 2008

LONG BEACH--No.37-ranked Long Beach State (14-5) will host their final two tennis matches this weekend when they host Loyola Marymount (9-11) on Friday at 1 p.m. at the El Dorado Tennis Courts and Pacific (5-11) on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at the Billie Jean King Tennis Courts across from Blair Field, where LBSU will be hosting UC Irvine in baseball.

Senior Stephanie Bengson has tied Havaja Frjuckic's 21-year old singles record for wins with 70 and is 18-10 this season, looking for her second consecutive 20-win season with three regular season matches remaining. Bengson's 141 combined wins is six behind Sandra Rocha's record of 147, set last year. Bengson is 11-2 at the No. 2 position this year.

The Lions are led by Pavla Mesterova, who is ranked No. 67 nationally and is 18-10 overall. Caroline Nothnagel is 15-11, mostly at the No. 3 position. The doubles team of Tamara Tanner and Mesterova are 12-5 at the No. 1 position and 15-8 overall. The Tigers have split their last four matches, defeating CS Fullerton and losing to UC Irvine last week.

With two wins last weekend in the Central Coast, LBSU shored up the top seed in the Big West Tournament in Indian Wells starting on April 25. The 49ers, who feature a squad of 50 percent freshmen, are the top seed for the third time during their seven-year run to the tournament finals.

The 49ers have also not lost against Big West foes this season, going a perfect 7-0, as Hannah Grady and Stephanie Bengson are both undefeated against the rest of the conference, while freshman Stephanie Jeanes is undefeated in both singles and doubles matches this season, teaming with Jessica Weeks to go 12-6 overall.

Grady is a team-high 23-7 in singles play, going 14-5 in dual play this year. Grady has won at least 20 games in two consecutive seasons and is the two-time defending Big West Player of the Year. Grady is also ranked No. 101 nationally. The all-time record for wins in a single season is 28.

Bengson and Grady are ranked No. 52 nationally, going 18-7 overall at the No. 1 position. The duo is looking to become just the eighth double team all-time to win at least 20 wins, with the record of 23 wins within reach.

Jeanes, who came to campus along with Lisa Sutton (11-5 this year) this spring, is 14-5 on the year. Jeanes has gone 13-5 at the No. 4 position this season as the team's four freshmen are a combined 47-28 (.627).