TENNIS: Mustangs Blank No. 66 Wichita State, Set Wins Mark

[PonyPride]

Mustangs Blank No. 66 Wichita State To Post All-Time Single-Season Wins Record

No. 24 SMU Drops Ninth Consecutive Ranked Opponent

March 29, 2009

WICHITA, Kansas (SMU)-No. 24 SMU women's tennis (23-2) recorded their 23rd win (4-0) of the season over No. 66 Wichita State (11-4) to break the SMU all-time record for wins in a season at the Via Christi Collegiate Classic on Sunday, March 29 at the Genesis Health Club.

The victory also marks the ninth consecutive win by the Mustangs over a ranked opponent, within a twelve-match win streak that began on Feb. 20 against then-ranked No. 62 N.C. State. "This team has accomplished a great achievement with 23 wins in a season. Not only have we succeeded in procuring a Top 25 ranking, we are now the all-time winning-est team in our program history," said head coach Lauren Longbotham-Meisner.

SMU began the match with a doubles sweep, in which junior Nicole Briceno and senior Kseniia Tokarieva collected their 18th win (8-4) of the season over Shocker duo Florentina Hanisch and Torrie Browning to earn a spot (tied for eighth) in the record book for team doubles victories in a season. Tokarieva, along with fellow senior Natalia Bubien, is currently tied at seventh place for career doubles victories with 55. Briceno sits at tenth with 48.

At No. 60 in the nation, Bubien and junior partner Pavi Francis defeated (8-4) Lenore Lazaroiu and Lutfiana Budiharto to improve to 17-3 on the season and tie for tenth in team doubles season victories. Francis leads the Mustangs in career doubles victories with 68 to place fourth all-time. To cap off the sweep, No. 42 freshmen tandem Marta Lesniak and Aleksandra Malyarchikova posted their tenth straight win (8-4) against Anna Egorova and Stephanie Dalmacio to remain undefeated.


With the doubles point successfully secured, the Mustangs cleaned up singles competition with three wins for the match victory. Without dropping a set, Tokarieva ousted (6-0, 6-0) Hanisch for the first win, while Francis collected a victory over (6-2, 6-2) Dalmacio. Triumphing at the number three spot, Bubien defeated (6-4, 6-1) Browning to give SMU the win.

"Our match against WSU was the best of this phenomenal weekend. We performed exceptionally well in both singles and doubles competition. This was also a record-breaking weekend for us in several areas and is a testament to our play all season and to what this program aspires to," said Longbotham-Meisner.

The Mustangs will conclude regular season play with a conference match-up against Rice at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, April 12 in Houston, Texas.

[ER9TC4]

Way to go ladies and way to go coach! Good Luck as you head towards the C-USA Championship!

[indianmustang]

congrats to the coach and team
now you have 1 more fan following the team closely