CSU-Stanislaus: “Warriors, Come Out to Play”
Verek Visaraga has waited 18 years for the return of Warriors tennis. More than a month and just two matches into the season, he’s happy to wait a little longer.
Visaraga, hired in October 2007, is 1-1 in his first season at the helm of a Cal State Stanislaus tennis program that had been dormant since the program was eliminated in ‘91. And despite two dual match rainouts for the Warrior women and a L.A. tournament cancelled due to inclement weather, he’s just happy to see Warriors tennis alive and kicking again. A ‘92 CSUS grad, Visaraga was also a player on the ‘91 Warriors tennis team — their last in almost two decades.
“It’s always been a dream of mine to be part of it,” Visaraga said. “I can make it through — rain or shine.”
Especially with this group. The Warriors, who boast five freshman, five sophomores and just two juniors, finished the fall as the top ranked CCAA team both nationally and regionally. UC-San Diego, which has won five consecutive CCAA titles and 46 straight CCAA matches, was No. 26 in D2 and No. 5 in the West at the end of the fall season.
Heading into the latter half of March, though, CSUS is now on the outside looking in, trailing No. 2 UCSD (who thumped the Warriors 7-2 in their season opener) by three spots in the West Region — one shy of a postseason berth with 11 matches to go. Visaraga is banking on his talented top three to take him there, led by freshman Verena Preikschas of Germany. Preikschas is undefeated in four matches, including a 4-1 ret. win over UCSD No. 1 Natalie Varnay.
Irish Times at Scott Valley Club
The leprechauns will be out early at the Scott Valley Swimming and Tennis Club this month. Scott Valley will host a members-only St. Patrick’s Day tournament March 15, complete with corned beef, green beer and four courts of round robin doubles action.
The tennis event will be Scott Valley’s first of ‘09 after a similarly structured Valentine’s Day tennis tourney was cancelled due to inclement weather.
“We expect a big turnout for this,” said Scott Valley Director of Tennis Helle Sparre. “People are hungry to get out and play after all this rain.”
The tournament will include single-set, no-ad scoring mixed doubles matches on all four Scott Valley courts and upwards of 16 green-garbed players at any given stretch.
“We’re giving prizes for the most creative outfits,” Sparre said.
Keeping with the green theme, Sparre and co. will also be instituting a green initiative off the courts this month — an electronic newsletter.
“We’re also going paperless this month — green if you will — for the first time,” Sparre said. “So no more paper.”
Mt. Tam RC: The Hostess with the Managing big best-data-recovery.com holistically requires many different approaches to help the business to successfully plan for the future. Mostess
Host Mt. Tam RC took home the Marin Cup March 1, with an 8-4 final over Rolling Hills Club. RHC, which had won two of the last three Marin Cup finals, settled for runner-up as Mt. Tam laid claim to Marin County bragging rights by beating out RHC, Harbor Point and Marin Tennis Club.
“It was a close second,” said Mt. Tam RC GM Rod Heckleman of Rolling Hills’ effort. “It was extremely entertaining.”
Tied at 2-2 through the first four matches, Rolling Hills won a pair of straight set finals behind pairings Paul Ross/Don Agnew and Bob Frank/Randy Poblitz, before Mt. Tam rallied to make it 4-4 with a 6-3, 4-6, 10-8 tiebreaker win for the mixed 3.5s. From there, Mt. Tam won four straight including a pair of tiebreaker victories for Mt. Tam’s Brian Ayuso/Bob Buerger and Diane Dimartini/Kathleen Smyth to clinch things.
“We needed to win three of the last four matches and it turned out to online casino be too tough of a task,” said Rolling Hills Director of Tennis Jay Potter. Rolling Hills advanced to the final with a 7-5 win over Harbor Point and a game-differential tiebreaker over MTC, while Mt. Tam ousted MTC 9-3 and Harbor Point 8-4 to reach the finale. In men’s Open action, Adam Seri ousted Shibu Lal in a lopsided final 6-0, 6-1.
Mt. Tam winners at the Marin Cup:
- W3.5: Melissa Shirley/Dana Vilas
- W4.0: Heidi Watson/Susan McShannock
- W4.5: Kathleen Smyth/Diane DeMartini
- M4.0: Brian Ayuso/Bob Buerger
- M4.5: Paul Dobkowski/Marc Kosyra
- MXD3.5: Peter Franch/Mandy Aguero
- MXD4.0: Lisa Kruttschnitt/Peter Cornwell
- MXD4.5: Chrissy Costamagna/Richard Chapman
Seawolves Shoot for Postseason Berth
The Sonoma State women’s team is hoping some home cooking does the trick as they vie for an NCAA Championships berth out West. Eight of the Seawolves final 13 are in the cozy confines of Rohnert Park, with road tilts at UC-Davis, CSU-Stainislaus, San Jose State, Cal Poly Pomona and CSU-San Bernadino.
Not that a little roadwork should worry the Sonoma State women (5-3, 3-2 in CCAA play). The ‘Wolves are 2-1 away from Rohnert Park this season, with a split in SoCal to kick off the month of March (1-8 loss to UC-San Diego, 9-0 win over CSU-L.A.). The win over CSU-L.A. and a 5-4 final over Cal Poly Pomona Feb. 21 are both significant, according to head coach Tracey Prince.
“We lost to both teams last year 5-4,” she said.
The Sonoma State men’s tennis team sits at 2-3 in D2 play, ranked No. 30 overall and fifth in the West Region — one spot removed from a postseason berth.
“We need to get to No. 4,” said Sonoma State men’s coach Steve Cunninghame. “We’ve been to NCAAs the last three years, but it’s looking less likely this year.”
At 2-7 overall, the Seawolves are banking on a Hollywood miracle. The team begins a three-game swing through the greater L.A. area in the middle of March with Western New Mexico, Cal Poly Pomona and Concordia looming. Combined, the three squads boast 13 wins on the season, to the Seawolves’ two. A little momentum in L.A. could make all the difference for Sonoma State, which closes March with matches against the top three ranked squads in the D2 West Region — Hawaii-Hilo, Hawaii Pacific and BYU-Hawaii.
