Sun Belt Conference Weekly News and Notes (Week 2)
Georgia State, South Alabama Women Earn Top-Ranked Wins
NEW ORLEANS – A pair of Sun Belt Conference women’s tennis programs leapt into the ITA National Top 75 rankings this week following wins against Top 30-ranked opponents.
South Alabama (7-3) topped No. 13-ranked LSU, 4-3 on Sunday to give the Jags their first victory over a Top 15-ranked team since defeating No. 11 Harvard in 2005. The last time USA defeated a Top 15-ranked team on the road was in 2001 against No. 11 Pepperdine. Georgia State defeated No. 29-ranked South Carolina by a 4-3 margin last Saturday. The Panthers trailed 3-1 in the match before rallying to claim the victory and improve to 4-0 on the season. Previously, the highest ranked team that GSU had defeated was No. 31 Tennessee in the first round of the 2014 NCAA Championships.
The Panthers jumped to No. 67 in the latest ITA National Team rankings while South Alabama improved to No. 70. It marks the second straight season the Sun Belt Conference has had two women’s tennis programs in the ITA National Team rankings at some point during the season.
South Alabama freshman Alexandria Stiteler earned the Women’s Tennis Student-Athlete of the Week award following the Jags’ top-ranked win. Stiteler improved to 3-1 against nationally-ranked competition with a 6-3, 6-3 win over No. 40 Jessica Golovin of LSU to help lead the Jags to the upset win. Stiteler teamed up with Monica Mitta at No. 3 doubles for a 6-2 victory, helping USA clinch the doubles point. She has now won her last six matches, all in the top two positions, and is 5-1 at No. 1 singles.
On the men’s side, UL Lafayette senior Jake Wynan claimed the Men’s Tennis Student-Athlete of the Week award. Last week in two matches, Wynan went 1-1 in singles, including a victory over the No. 99-ranked singles player in North Florida’s Jack Findel Hawkins by a 7-5, 6-4 final. The win helped seal the Team Victory for the Cajuns over the North Florida Ospreys who were #66 nationally ranked. Wynan fell 6-4, 6-2 to No. 50 Rice’s Adam Gustafsson on Sunday in No. 2 singles.
South Alabama also owns a large presence in the regional rankings announced prior to the spring dual-match season. The Jaguars men’s team is represented in the Southern Singles Rankings by Tuki Jacobs in the No. 7 slot while the women placed two in the Southern Singles Rankings in Alexandria Stiteler (no. 14) and Valkova (No. 15). Appalachian State is the other Sun Belt Conference school in the regional rankings as the doubles tandem of senior Jan-Willem Kleynhans and sophomore Scott Webster are the No. 10 team in the Carolina Regional Rankings.
The 2016 Sun Belt Conference Tennis Championships will be held from April 21-24 at the City Park/Pepsi Tennis Center in New Orleans, La. All men’s and women’s tennis programs will be invited to participate with the winner of each bracket earning an automatic bid to the 2016 NCAA Tennis Championships.
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WEEK 2 MEN’S TENNIS STUDENT-ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Jake Wynan (UL Lafayette, Senior)
Last week in two matches, Wynan went 1-1 in singles, including a victory over the No. 99-ranked singles player in North Florida’s Jack Findel Hawkins by a 7-5, 6-4 final. The win helped seal the Team Victory for the Cajuns over the North Florida Ospreys who were #66 nationally ranked. Wynan fell 6-4, 6-2 to No. 50 Rice’s Adam Gustafsson on Sunday in No. 2 singles.
WEEK 2 WOMEN’S TENNIS STUDENT-ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Alexandria Stiteler (South Alabama, Sophomore)
Alexandria Stiteler won her only match of the week and improved to 3-1 against nationally-ranked competition with a 6-3, 6-3 win over No. 40 Jessica Golovin of LSU, leading the Jaguars to a 4-3 win over the 13th-ranked Tigers… Stiteler teamed up with Monica Mitta at No. 3 doubles for a 6-2 victory, helping USA clinch the doubles point… Stiteler has won her last six matches – all at the top two flights – and is 5-1 at No. 1 singles.
RECENT RESULTS
MEN
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9
UL Lafayette 4, #66 North Florida 3
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 13
Georgia Southern 4, FAU 2
Utah 6, South Alabama 1
UT Arlington 5, UMKC 2
#32 NC State 4, Troy 1
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 14
Appalachian State 7, North Carolina A&T 0
Georgia Southern 4, Stetson 1
#44 Georgia Tech 6, Georgia State 1
Georgia State 7, Emory 2
#50 Rice 4, UL Lafayette 0
Utah State 4, South Alabama 2
WOMEN
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10
UL Monroe 4, Northwestern State 2
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12
Appalachian State at Limestone (Cancelled)
Appalachian State at Presbyterian College (Cancelled)
Stephen F. Austin 6, Arkansas State 1
Georgia Southern 5, Alabama State 2
Georgia State 6, Furman 1
Troy at Winthrop (Postponed)
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 13
Lamar 6, Arkansas State 1
Georgia Southern 7, Jacksonville State 0
Georgia State 4, #29 South Carolina 3
South Alabama 5, UL Lafayette 2
#34 NC State 4, UL Lafayette 3
UT Arlington 4, Nevada 0
Texas State 6, Incarnate Word 1
Troy vs. South Carolina State (Postponed)
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 14
Appalachian State 7, North Carolina A&T 0
Georgia Southern 6, Kennesaw State 1
UL Monroe 4, Stephen F. Austin 0
South Alabama 4, #13 LSU 3
* - Indicates Sun Belt Conference game
(All Times CT)
NEWS AND NOTES
JAGS EARN TOP 25 WIN
South Alabama extended its win streak to six with wins at UL Lafayette and No. 13 LSU. The last time USA defeated a top 15 team was No. 11 Harvard in 2005, and the last time USA won over a top 15 team on the road was in 2001 against No. 11 Pepperdine. Alexandria Stiteler improved to 3-1 against nationally-ranked competition with a 6-3, 6-3 win over No. 40 Jessica Golovin of LSU. Stiteler has won her last six matches – all at the top two flights – sharing the team’s best streak with Michaela Meszarosova
RED-HOT MAVS
After losing the first three of the season, UTA has won six matches in a row as it swept a pair last week. UTA knocked off No. 65 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on the road in a 4-3 win and followed it up with a 5-2 defeat of UMKC. The Mavs hit the road for a trip to Florida with three matches on the east coast. Action starts on Feb. 19 at Florida Atlantic.
SRKALA PACES JAG MEN
Tim Srkala had his six-match win streak snapped against Utah, but he rebounded with a win his next time out against Utah State. He has a team-best eight wins this spring, with six coming at the top flight.
BOBCATS EYE MORE SUCCESS
Texas State will be looking for its second straight victory when the Bobcats play at Louisiana Tech on Friday, before traveling to Natchitoches, La. for a pair of matches at Northwestern State and against Alcorn State on Saturday. The Bobcats recorded their first win of the season with a 6-1 triumph at Incarnate Word last Saturday in San Antonio. The match is one of three matches that Texas State will play in San Antonio this spring. They also play Air Force on Feb. 27 and at UTSA on March 11.
UTA UNBEATABLE AT HOME
UTA ran its home match winning streak to 14 after sweeping Mountain West foe Nevada 4-0 at the UTA Tennis Center. The Mavs host Missouri State and Sam Houston State this week as they conclude their four-game home stand. UTA will hit the road with a trip to Florida to face UCF and Florida International on Feb. 27 and 28 respectively.
LANDIN LEADS EAGLE MEN TO UNDEFEATED WEEK
The men’s tennis team went undefeated this weekend, picking up wins from FAU and Stetson in Florida. On Saturday, the team took down FAU 4-2 and on Sunday, they won 4-1. Senior Rise Lanne is still undefeated, going 5-0 this spring at the No.1 position. Sophomore Eddie Landin clinched the match against FAU in both singles (No.3) and doubles (No.2 with Nico de Groof).
EAGLE WOMEN POST 3-0 MARK
The women’s tennis team went 3-0 this weekend to put their season record at 5-1 overall. Highlights of the weekend included sweeping Jacksonville State 7-0 on Saturday and winning all three doubles matches for the first time this season against Kennesaw State, where they won 6-1. Also this weekend in Alabama, the Eagles defeated Alabama State 5-2. Giulia Riepe and Mariana Ranzahuer both led the Eagles, with perfect singles and doubles records this weekend. Riepe played in line one singles and line two/three doubles, while Ranzahuer played in line two singles and line one doubles.
RED WOLVES BEGIN NEW ERA
Arkansas State is off to an 0-2 start during the dual match season after a pair of losses in the state of Texas to Stephen F. Austin and Lamar over the weekend. The Red Wolves suffered a 6-1 loss to the hands of the LadyJacks and then fell by the same margin to Lamar on Saturday. A-State is under the direction of first year head coach Kel Lange.