February 1, 1999

USC MEN'S & WOMEN'S TENNIS WEEKLY NOTES

THIS WEEK

MEN - Tuesday (Feb. 2) vs. Fresno State, Marks Tennis Stadium, 1:30 p.m.

WOMEN - Tuesday (Feb. 2) vs. Fresno State, Intramural Tennis Courts, 1:30 p.m.; Thursday-Sunday (Feb. 4-7) at Rolex Indoor Championships, Dallas, TX

USC MEN

THE TEAM - The Trojans (5-0 overall, 2-0 in the Pacific-10 Conference), continued to roll in 1999 with a pair of victories over Arizona and Arizona State to open the Pac-10 season. After a non-conference match with Fresno State on Tuesday (Feb. 2) at Marks Tennis Stadium, USC will take a break until Feb. 9, when they face UC Irvine at Marks Tennis Stadium.

RANKINGS - USC is No. 15 in the fall ITA rankings. Fresno State is No. 22. Trojan freshman Andrew Park is tied at No. 43 in the singles rankings while Fresno State has three players ranked in the top 60: Peter Luczak is No. 40, Olivier Le Jeune is tied with Park at No. 43, and Rob Cheyne is ranked No. 60.

NOTES - In its history, the USC men's tennis team has racked up 993 overall victories and, barring any losses, could earn the 1,000th victory against crosstown rival UCLA on March 3 at Marks Tennis Stadium ... With wins over Arizona and Arizona State, USC has compiled a 110-5 overall record against the Arizona schools with only one of those losses coming at the hands of the Wildcats ... The Trojans are 9-2 overall against Fresno State, including a 5-2 victory over the Bulldogs last season, since the two began playing each other in 1969.

FAB FRESHMEN - In what Leach hails as one of his best recruiting classes ever, three of the Trojans' top six singles players are freshmen. Andrew Park, Ryan Moore, and Nicholas Rainey have compiled an outstanding 15-0 record in dual matches and an impressive 29-7 overall record this year. They had all three of USCs singles wins in the victory over Arizona State.

USC MEN'S PROBABLE LINEUP

Singles: #1: Patrick Gottesleben (3-2), Jr., Waldorf, Germany; #2: Andrew Park (11-3), Fr., San Marino, Calif.; #3: Ryan Moore (11-3), Fr., Fullerton, Calif.; #4: Roman Kukal (10-6), So., Bratislova, Slovakia ; #5: Gregg Hill (3-3), So., Boca Raton, Fla.; #6: Nicholas Rainey (7-1), Fr., Mercer Island, Wash.

Doubles: #1: Gottesleben/Kukal (4-1); #2: Moore/Rainey (8-1); #3: Hill/Park (5-0)

USC WOMEN

THE TEAM - The Women of Troy (4-0 overall, 2-0 in the Pacific-10 Conference), opened their 1999 Pac-10 season with a pair of victories over Arizona State and Arizona. After a non-conference match against Fresno State on Tuesday, most of team will have the weekend off as Ditta Huber travels to Dallas to compete in the Rolex Indoor Championships this weekend.

Huber qualified for the tournament after winning the ITA Regional Championship in November.

This is one of USCs most experienced teams in years, as five of the six players have at least two years of Division I play under their belts.

RANKINGS - USC is No. 13 in the fall ITA rankings. Fresno State is No. 38. In the individual rankings, USC's Ditta Huber is No. 13, Kara Warkentin is tied for No. 48, Jacqui Boyd is tied for No. 83 and the doubles team of Huber and Warkentin is No. 30. Fresno State's Dora Djilianova is ranked No. 17.

NOTES - With wins over Arizona State and Arizona this past weekend, it gives USC its first 4-0 start since 1993, when USC began the season 8-0 ... 1993 was also the last time the Women of Troy posted back-to-back victories over Arizona State and Arizona ... USC is 8-1 against Fresno State in their past nine meetings.

KARA WARKENTIN - Kara Warkentin, a junior in her second year at USC after transferring from Fresno State, has not only begun this season 4-0 in singles and doubles, but has yet to lose a set. Individually she has swept all of her opponents in two sets, and is undefeated with doubles partner Ditta Huber.

USC WOMEN'S PROBABLE LINEUP

Singles: #1: Ditta Huber (13-4), Sr., San Diego, Calif.; #2: Kara Warkentin (19-5), Jr., Santa Barbara, Calif.; #3: Jacqui Boyd (11-4), Jr., Cape Town, South Africa; #4: Veronika Safarova (4-3), Jr., Brno, Czech Republic; #5: Krissy Hamilton-Heinberg (5-5), Fr., Agoura Hills, Calif.; #6: Karolina Bakalarova (5-1), Sr., Trebic, Czech Republic

Doubles: #1: Huber/Warkentin (8-2); #2: Bakalarova/Safarova (4-1); #3: Boyd/Hamilton-Heinberg (3-2)