Dec. 11, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

Los Angeles, Calif -

Briefly

Loyola Marymount Women's Tennis just concluded their fall 2008 campaign. The Lions competed in the ITA Regional Tournament, the Cal State Fullerton Intercollegiates, Cal State Northridge Matador Invitational, and the UC Irvine Anteater Invitational.

Leading the Lions

Leading the way for LMU women's tennis is the only senior on the team, Tina Razloznik. Her experience in years, results, and consistency will provide the veteran leadership this young international team needs. The Lions consists of 4 juniors, 2 sophomores and one freshman from all over the world including Spain, Germany, Australia, South Africa, and Slovenia. Even the American players are from all different parts of the country including Illinois, Nevada, and right here in LA, Hermosa Beach native, freshman Estelle La Porte.

In her 2007-2008 season, Razloznik was one of only three lions to receive all WCC honors for the #10 team in the region. In singles play, the native of Indrija, Slovenia faired an impressive overall record of 21-12, 15-8 in the #3 singles position. After the departure of #1 and #2 singles player, Pavla Mesterova and Tamara Tanner, Razloznik will most likely take over the #1 singles position this year.

Tina will not be alone at the top. She will be aided by Audrey Bulkley. So far this fall, the junior from Springfield, Illinois has proved she will be a force to be reckon with in the WCC. Bulkley has improved from her last season's record of 13-20 at the #5 singles position to upsetting top ranked opponents this fall at one of the most competitive tournaments in one of the toughest regions, the Wilson/ITA West Regional Championship in San Diego.

Cal State Fullerton Intercollegiates

The Lions shined at the Cal State Fullerton Intercollegiates October 9-12. Teams participating included host CS Fullerton, Long Beach State, UC Irvine, Cal Poly SLO, UCLA, UC Riverside, New Mexico State, Southern Utah, Cal State Bakersfield, and Cal State Northridge.

Three individuals stood out for LMU women's tennis. Tina Razloznik, Shauna Morgan, and Bliss Nixon all advanced in the main draw of their flights.

Tina Razloznik and Bliss Nixon both advanced to the quarterfinals of their respective draws. Razloznik defeated Laura Boguet of New Mexico State in the second round of Flight A singles before falling to Long Beach State's Debbie Armstrong 6-2, 6-2. Nixon defeated Southern Utah's McKall Christensen and Northridge's Whitney Paluch before falling to the eventual winner of Flight C singles CPSLO's Jocelyn Davis.

Shauna Morgan advanced the farthest of any LMU tennis player. Morgan advanced to the main draw of Flight C singles. Morgan defeated Southern Utah's Carmen Blanco and UC Irvine's Haley Young before also falling to Jocelyn Davis.

In Doubles action, the team of Bulkley and Heckel lead the Lions in Flight B. The duo defeated Southern Utah's Burden and Bulloch before falling in the quarterfinals to a pair from New Mexico State.

ITA Regional Tournament

On October 23-28, LMU women's tennis competed at the Wilson/ITA West Regional Championships at Barnes Tennis Center on the campus of San Diego State University. The five-day tournament included some of the toughest teams in the nation including hosts SDSU and WCC opponent San Diego, Arizona, Arizona State, Long Beach State, Pepperdine, UCLA, USC, Hawaii, UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine, Cal State Northridge, UNLV, and UC Riverside.

In one of the toughest regions in the nation, LMU showcased their strength. Six players advanced into the round of 64 in singles action, Jasmin Heckel, Bliss Nixon, Tina Razloznik, Audrey Bulkley, Jane Pringle, and Shauna Morgan.

Audrey Bulkley's play was the highlight of the tournament for LMU. Bulkley advanced the highest of any Lion at the tournament making it to the round of 16. Bulkley began her dominance defeating Northridge's Whitney Paluch, 6-2, 6-0 and Riverside's Roxanne Plata 3-6, 6-2, 6-2. In the biggest upset of the fall, Bulkley defeated the #69 player in the nation Sophie Kobuch of Hawaii 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 before falling to the 25th ranked player in the country, UCLA's Andrea Remynse.

Two of three LMU doubles teams that participated advanced to the round of 32. The team of Nixon and Pringle defeated Hawaii's Wong and Linsenbolz in their first round match before falling to Arizona State's Hein and McKenna. Junior Bulkley teamed with freshman LaPorte to defeat WCC opponents Liles and Bhargava of Pepperdine before falling to USC's Niculescu and Sanchez.

Cal State Northridge Matador Invitational

The Lions took on the Matador Invitational Nov. 7-8. Hosted by Cal State Northridge, Pepperdine, Fresno Pacific, UC Santa Barbara, Master's College, Cal State Bakersfield, Cal State Fresno, Boise State, and Brigham Young all participated in the tournament.

Bliss Nixon was the top seed in Flight C singles. Battling injuries throughout the tournament, Nixon defeated Karin Akhemedova of CSUF before having to withdraw in the semi-finals against CSUF's Shelly Inyeyikian.

The only freshman on the team, Estelle LaPorte also made it to the semi-finals in her respective flight. LaPorte defeated Danielle Thomasma in the quarterfinals before falling to the eventual champion of Flight D singles, UCSB's Alex McIntosh.

UC Irvine Anteater Invitational

In their final tournament of the fall, LMU women's tennis competed at the Anteater Invitational on the campus of the University of California Irvine. The Lions competed against the premiere team of the tournament, last season's #47 team in the country host UC Irvine. Other teams that competed in the round robin tournament included Northern Arizona, UC Riverside, and Montana.

Once again Tina Razloznik and Shauna Morgan led the lions. Razloznik and Morgan topped host UCI's Ali Borrowicz and Hannah Holladay for the highlighted matches of the tournament.

Head Coach Jamie Sanchez

Jamie Sanchez is in his 34th 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 418-378. 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.