SHUHEI MATSUO
Assistant Sports Editor
A few members of the Pepperdine women’s tennis team traveled south to compete in the San Diego Classic, while others traveled east to participate in Arizona State’s Thunderbird Invitational from Friday to Sunday.
In San Diego, junior Vanessa Dunlap defeated Saint Mary’s Caitlin Aloia in three sets in the final match, while junior Sylvia Kosakowski and freshman Tania Rice beat Viviana Yrureta and Fernanda Da Valle of Kansas State 8-6 in the last of three doubles matches in Arizona.
With these tournaments, the Waves concluded their fall season.
For his players’ performances this fall, Head Coach Gualberto Escudero left positive comments on individual members.
For junior Bianca Dulgheru, the team’s No. 1 singles player, Escudero said it was encouraging to see her play in a couple of tournaments this fall even though she suffered a shoulder injury that took away much of her practicing time over the summer. However, the junior still managed to place top four in the ITA West Regional Championships on Oct. 22.
Junior Silvia Kosakowski, the No.-2 player on the team, also had a strong fall season, especially in doubles matches, Escudero said.
Kosakowski traveled to Midland, Texas, in mid-October for the Midland Racquet Club Invitational and defended her doubles title even with different playing partners.
These impressive performances by these upperclassman players were somewhat within Escudero’s expectation. However, he did not expect strong showings by the freshman players.
Freshman Jill Braverman started the fall season strongly, beating a skilled player from Long Beach in the finals match. Even though she suffered from an injury after that tournament. She will significantly help the team in the spring, Escudero said.
“Her game has already improved quite a bit, and it’s exciting to see her play in the lineup next semester,” he said.
Braverman was not the only freshman who grabbed the coach’s attention. So did Anete Bandere and Rice.
These freshman players surprised Escudero when they won the doubles tournament at the Cal State Fullerton Tournament on Oct. 8. Bandere captured another doubles victory when she paired up with Kosakowski in Midland.
“[Bandere’s] performances in singles are also very good that she is going to help the team a lot this year,” Escudero said.
The Waves will take a two-month break and start the spring’s team-match season on Jan. 19 at home against Cal Poly.
“Cal Poly is a very well-balanced team so we will definitely continue to work on doubles,” Escudero said. “We’ll try playing doubles with all players on the team so we can play with everybody.”
The team is also going to continue on the strength program for the next month, especially conditioning, he said. His players will keep practicing as a squad for the next month, but they are on their own during winter break.
“Hopefully when they come back in January, they’ll be in good condition,” he said.
11-09-2006