Aug. 11, 2008

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -

Complete Release in PDF Format

Briefly
Loyola Marymount women’s tennis (11-14, 4-3) finished the 2008 West Coast Conference Women’s Tennis Championships in fifth place, breaking a string of 22 straight seasons in which the Lions finished in fourth or better at the Championships.  LMU finished the year ranked 10th in the final West Regional rankings administered by ITA.

The WCC Championships
LMU closed out the 2007-08 season at the West Coast Conference Championships with a 4-0 victory over Santa Clara.  The third-seeded Lions faced the eighth-seeded Broncos in the battle for fifth place after falling to No. 6 San Francisco 4-3, and beating No. 7 Gonzaga 4-0 in first and second-round action.  This marks the first time since the championships began in 1986 that LMU finished lower than fourth place, and also snapped a string of 20 consecutive seasons in which LMU finished in third place or better.

ITA Rankings
The Loyola Marymount University women’s tennis team finished the 2008 campaign ranked 10th in the final West Regional rankings administered by ITA.  The Lions began the year ranked No. 64 in the first poll of the spring 2008 season of the Fila Collegiate Tennis Rankings.  Since 2000, LMU has now held a NCAA National Ranking in seven of the last nine years, moving up four spots from last season’s start.  On the individual side, senior Pavla Mesterova finished the season ranked 86th as she earned WCC All-Conference recognition.  Mesterova earned a No. 13 final ranking in the West Region, and teamed with Tamara Tanner to garner a No. 12 ranking in the Region in doubles.

Mesterova Ends Career on Top
The Lions were once again led by 86th-ranked senior Pavla Mesterova this season.  Mesterova, who was ranked as high as 54th, finished 2007-08 with a 23-12 overall record, going 16-7 at No. 1 singles in dual matches.  She was named the WCC Player of the Month for March, going 5-2 in singles play.  On the doubles side, Mesterova ended her last season at LMU with a 19-11 record at No. 1 doubles, going 17-8 in dual action.  Her career singles record improved to 75-28, while her career doubles record is 57-37 in three seasons as a Lion.  Mesterova’s named is stamped throughout the LMU record books.  Her 75 career singles victories place her fourth all-time, her 27 wins in 2007 rank fifth all-time, the .728 career winning percentage ranks first all-time, and her .818 winning percentage in 2007 is the best in program history for a single season.  In addition, Mesterova and Tanner’s 19 victories as a team in doubles rank fifth all-time for a single season.  Since the beginning of the 2007-08 women’s tennis season, Mesterova has been on a roll, having been selected to compete in the Riviera All-American Tournament followed by the ITA National Indoor Championships. Her play in the ITA Regionals made her eligible for the at-large bid for the Indoor Championships. The ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships is the second of three national tournaments for singles and doubles during the collegiate tennis season. The other two include the ITA All-American Championships in October and the NCAA Championships in May. Playing in the tournament marked a first for Mesterova and for LMU, as she became the first Lion to represent LMU at the Indoor National Tournament.

All-WCC
Three LMU women’s tennis players gained All-West Coast Conference recognition for their play throughout the 2007-08 season. Senior Pavla Mesterova was a first-team singles selection while also being named to the first-team doubles list with fellow senior Tamara Tanner. Junior Tina Razloznik rounded out the Lion honorees with a place on the honorable mention singles list.  This marks the third consecutive year in which Mesterova has received WCC first-team singles and first-team doubles honors. The LMU duo of Mesterova and Tanner went 19-11 on the season, going 17-8 at No. 1 doubles, winning their last seven of ten matches.  Razloznik opened her first season at LMU going 21-12 overall, with a 15-9 record in dual play at No. 3 singles, earning her a spot on the WCC honorable mention list.

ITA All-Academic Teams/Scholar Athletes
The Loyola Marymount University women’s tennis team was named one of 102 Division I women’s squads to be named as an ITA All-Academic team.  In addition, Shawnell Russell, Audra Silman, Tamara Tanner and Natalie Tejada were all lauded for their individual academic accomplishments.  The ITA All-Academic Team award is open to any ITA program that has a cumulative team grade point average of 3.20 or above.  LMU is just one of two West Coast Conference schools to be named to the list, with the other being Gonzaga University. Russell finished her senior year toting a 3.62 GPA as an English major.  Silman, who will return to LMU as a junior next season, earned a 3.58 GPA as a business major. Tanner, working toward her master’s degree in education, finished the season with a team-best 3.90 GPA.  Tejada, another senior who recently completed her four years at LMU, toted a 3.53 GPA as a communication studies major.

WCC Spring All-Academic Team
Nine LMU spring sport student-athletes were awarded Academic All-West Coast Conference status, the conference office announced on June 25.  The women’s tennis team posted two players on the squad as senior Pavla Mesterova was named for the second straight year and senior Tamara Tanner was named for the first time. Mesterova claimed her second consecutive All-Academic selection after earning a 3.30 grade-point-average as a business major.  On the court, she finished 23-12 at No. 1 singles and 19-11 at No. 1 doubles. For her athletic efforts, she was named First Team All-WCC in both singles and doubles for the third consecutive season.  Tanner, the other half of the No. 1 doubles pair, finished 19-11 with Mesterova overall and 6-1 in West Coast Conference matches alone. Competing primarily at No. 2 singles for the Lions, Tanner posted a 7-16 mark. In the classroom, she carried a 3.90 grade-point-average while pursuing her master’s degree in education.

Head Coach Jamie Sanchez
Jamie Sanchez finished his 33rd season as head coach of the Loyola Marymount women’s tennis program. Sanchez, the program’s only coach since its inception, began coaching the team in 1975 and has posted a career record of 429-392. In 2002, Sanchez guided the Lions to their first ever WCC Championship with a 4-2 win over Pepperdine. For the first time in program history, Sanchez and the Lions advanced to the NCAA playoffs as a team, and were represented in the Individual NCAA playoffs with the doubles duo of Andrea Lord and Angelina Zdorovytska. He was named the WCC Coach of the Year for the second straight year in 2002, and in 2006 he earned his third honor.