April 19, 2007

This Week: For the second straight season, the Saint Louis women's tennis team will open the Atlantic 10 Championship against Dayton. The seventh-seeded Bills (12-13) will play their opening match against the No. 10 Flyers on Fri., April 20, at 7 a.m. (CT) at Club 4 Life in Monroeville, Pa. SLU compiled a 1-2 record against league teams during the regular season this year.

Last Time Out: Last weekend, the Billikens (12-13) suffered a pair of losses to close out their regular season slate. SLU fell to Arkansas State 1-6 on the Bills' Senior Day at Sunset Tennis Center. Two days later, #43 Tulsa handed Saint Louis a 0-7 loss in Oklahoma.

A-10 Initiation: At Saint Louis' first Atlantic 10 Championship last season, the Billikens tied for fifth with a 2-1 ledger. In the opener, SLU took the doubles point from Dayton and Katerina Lozanova, Tara Grant and Jo Becker won their singles matches for the 4-0 victory. The Bills then fell to second-seeded Charlotte 1-4 in the second round. Saint Louis earned the doubles point but dropped singles matches at the No. 2, 3, 4 and 5 positions. The Billikens won their third-round match 4-2 against George Washington in the same fashion as their opener. They claimed the doubles point and then Lozanova, Grant and Becker won in singles to complete the four-hour affair. Saint Louis was set to play Temple to determine the fifth-place finisher, but the match was ruled a no contest resulting in the tie for fifth place.

Scouting the Flyers: Dayton (6-17) has dropped its last four matches against the Billikens, including a 6-1 regular season tilt on Feb. 17. Junior Allysa Detroy earned the Flyers' only point, at No. 2 singles, in the loss. She leads UD with 11 singles wins this spring. Dayton's lone win against an A-10 team this season was a 6-1 victory at St. Bonaventure last weekend. The Flyers and the Billikens only losses to league teams this season were against Duquesne and Xavier. The all-time series between the two teams is tied 4-4. UD will be looking to improve upon last season's 10th place finish.

Scouting the Spiders: Second-seeded Richmond (6-7) will be the Bills' second-round opponent on Friday at 2:30 p.m., providing SLU defeats the Flyers in the opening round. A match-up against the Spiders, who received a first-round bye, would be a first for Saint Louis. Richmond had its six-match win streak snapped in its regular season finale against then #16 William and Mary. The Spiders will be looking for their fourth straight A-10 title. Reigning A-10 Most Outstanding Rookie Pamela Duran is currently ranked 98th in singles in the latest FILA/ITA Collegiate Rankings.

Coach Jonathan Zych: Jonathan Zych is in his sixth season guiding both the men's and women's tennis programs in his only collegiate head coaching position. He owns a 50-84 mark with the men's program and a 54-85 record with the women's program. Assisting Zych this season are former Billikens and first-year coaches Melisa Lemus and Andrew Balcer.

Ranked Foes: Saint Louis played three teams this season that were ranked in the FILA/ITA Collegiate Rankings at the time of the match. The Bills fell to #52 Arkansas, #65 Nebraska and #43 Tulsa 7-0. Incidentally each match was played at the ranked team's home facility.

Love for Lozanova: Senior Katerina Lozanova (Sofia, Bulgaria/Walt Whitman [Bethesda, Md]) is ninth on SLU's singles win list with 52 ... tied for 10th on the doubles win list with 42 ... has faced two singles players currently ranked in the ITA's top 50 in 2007 ... she and Tara Grant form the most successful doubles tandem with 14 doubles wins ... tied for the team lead with 17 singles wins this season ... was the only player to earn a point for the team in the Arkansas State match ... won both her singles and doubles match against the Indians ... fell to the top singles player from #43 Tulsa 6-3, 4-6 (7-10) and lost her doubles match 8-9.

Renda Returns: Senior Ana Renda (Bahia Blanca, Argentina/Escuela Normal Superior) ranks eighth on SLU's all-time doubles win list with 46 victories ... ranks 14th on SLU's singles win list with 42 ... leads the squad with 16 doubles victories this season ... fell to Arkansas State and #43 Tulsa in both singles and doubles.

Grant in Aid: Junior Tara Grant (Austin, Texas/St. Stephen's) ranks 15th on the career doubles win list with 39 ... is second on the team with 15 doubles victories ... she and Katerina Lozanova have been the most successful duo in 2007 with a 14-15 ledger ... ranks 15th on SLU's singles win list with 38 ... won 8-4 at No. 1 doubles against Arkansas State but fell in singles action ... dropped her singles and doubles match at #43 Tulsa.

McCullagh's Moves: Junior Rachel McCullagh (Sugar Land, Texas/John Newcombe) is 13th on SLU's all-time singles win list with 48 ... ranks second on the squad with 16 singles wins this season ... fell to Arkansas State and #43 Tulsa in both singles and doubles.

Becker Beams: Sophomore Jo Becker (Frankfurt, Germany/Ziehen School) is tied for the team lead with 17 singles wins this season ... lost both of her matches against Arkansas State.

Bokulic's Big Break: Sophomore Caitlin Bokulic (Cincinnati, Ohio/Sycamore) fell in singles action against Arkansas State and #43 Tulsa ... against the Golden Hurricane, lost at No. 2 doubles 0-8 with Ana Renda.

The Debut of Dobbins: Rookie Allison Dobbins (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon Township) dropped doubles matches against both Arkansas State and #43 Tulsa ... fell to the Hurricane at No. 6 singles.

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