The Long Beach State women and Cal Poly men enjoyed undefeated Big West seasons while the 49ers advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the second time in program history to round up the 2012 campaign.
NOTEWORTHY
Long Beach State Women Reach NCAA Tournament Second Round
Perennial champions of the Big West, the Long Beach State women’s tennis team experienced postseason success to highlight the 2012 campaign.
The 49ers dispatched Arkansas of the Southeastern Conference, 4-0, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to top-ranked UCLA by the same score in the second round. It was the breakthrough victory for the 49ers, who notched just their second NCAA Tournament triumph in their ninth overall appearance. LBSU handed New Mexico a 4-1 defeat back in the 2006 first round. The program has appeared in the NCAA’s in all but two seasons (2003 and 2010) since 2002 under the guidance of head coach Jenny Hilt-Costello, who picked up career win No. 250 in the Arkansas match.
LBSU concluded the season 19-6 overall. Over the last seven seasons, the 49ers have produced a sterling record of 134-41 (.766). In Big West play, the 49ers have proved to be even more lethal during that same span, posting a gaudy 52-2 (.963) record with unblemished conference ledgers in 2012 (8-0), 2010 (8-0), 2009 (8-0), 2008 (8-0) and 2006 (7-0). The 49ers won their eighth Big West Tournament title in nine years at Indian Wells Tennis Garden, clinching the conference’s automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.
Cal Poly Men Successful In First Season Under New Leadership
Cal Poly stood out among the Big West men’s tennis programs as first-year head coach Nick Carless led his charges to the NCAA Tournament. The Mustangs finished 15-8 overall and 5-0 in Big West play, joining UC Irvine (2011) and Cal Poly (2007) as just the third team to finished the conference schedule undefeated.
The Mustangs faced 12 nationally ranked opponents in 2012 and seven of their losses came against that crop.They enjoyed victories against No. 49 Brigham Young, No. 56 Arizona, No. 63 UNLV, No. 50 UC Santa Barbara and No. 55 Nebraska. Cal Poly concluded the 2012 campaign ranked No. 63 in the final Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings.
After reaching the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history in 2011, Carless kept the momentum going in his inaugural season at the helm. The Mustangs fell in the first round to Texas Tech, 4-1.
Big West Trio Competes At NCAA Singles And Doubles Championships
Long Beach State senior Anais Dallara joined Cal Poly junior Andre Dome and senior Matt Fawcett as Big West representatives in the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Ga.
Dallara, the 2012 Big West Women’s Tennis Player of the Year, became the third 49er to participate in the women’s singles championships. The school’s all-time leader in both career singles wins (98) and combined wins (189), Dallara fell in the first round to Alabama’s Mary Anne Macfarlane, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3. She finished with a No. 102 national singles ranking by the ITA.
Dome posted a 16-5 spring record and went 7-0 against Big West opponents as the 2012 Men’s Tennis Player of the Year. He defeated six nationally ranked opponents along the way and gave the nation’s No. 3 ranked player, Kentucky’s Eric Quigley, all he could handle in a 7-5, 6-4 loss in the first round of the NCAA Singles Championships. With teammate Matt Fawcett, Dome earned a 7-6 (4), 6-3 win in the NCAA Doubles Championships first round over the No. 13-ranked Mississippi pairing of Jonas Lutzen and Nik Scholtz. The Cal Poly duo fell to Kentucky’s Quigley and Panav Jha in a close second round battle, 7-6 (5), 6-3.