Wednesday, 04/18/2012

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – The Cal Poly women's tennis program looks to lengthen a three-match winning streak when closing both its 2012 regular season schedule and home slate on Mustang Courts against No. 48 Fresno State on Saturday, April 21 at 11 a.m.

Cal Poly's current winning streak, the program's lengthiest spurt since opening the spring schedule with three-successive victories, was constructed with three Big West Conference triumphs during a six-day span. In edging both UC Santa Barbara (April 10) and Cal State Northridge (April 15) by 4-3 margins and powering past UC Riverside (April 14), 6-1, the Mustangs (10-9, 5-3) moved into a fourth-place knot in the conference standings with the central coast rival Gauchos (10-13 5-3).

Courtesy of the conference's head-to-head tiebreaker, however, the Mustangs will be seeded no worse than No. 4 for the April 26-29 Big West Championships. No. 54 Long Beach State (14-5, 8-0) earned the No. 1 seed for the Big West Championships for the fifth-straight season while UC Davis (9-11, 4-2) can overtake No. 74 UC Irvine (14-7, 6-2) for the second seed by defeating Pacific (April 19) and Cal State Fullerton (April 22).

"We realize that Saturday's match versus Fresno State will be a battle. We know the Bulldogs very well and they've improved from last season," said first-year Cal Poly head coach Damon Coupe, whose Mustangs can lock up the program's fourth-straight winning season by toppling Fresno State. "Fresno State has big hitters that are very aggressive, especially in doubles. This match will be great preparation for the Big West Championships. We plan on sticking to the commitments we've made to each other throughout the season and competing as hard as we can."

Individually, sophomore Gabby Gatewood has been Cal Poly's most productive Mustang of late with three singles and doubles victories during the program's previous four outings. Gatewood's 7-6, 6-4 win on April 15 against Cal State Northridge's Maria Pistalu not only helped the Mustangs secure a 4-3 team triumph, but also counted as her program-leading 11th singles victory of the spring.

Paired in doubles with both sophomore Jen Cornea and freshman Ireen Kuipers at various point during the spring, Gatewood leads Cal Poly with a .706 (12-5) doubles winning percentage. Senior Jocelyn Davis (above) and junior Alexa Lee have also produced 12 doubles victories playing exclusively at the No. 1 position.

Cal Poly enters Saturday's regular season finale against No. 48 Fresno State having defeated just one ranked opponent during the spring: Santa Clara, which found itself at No. 60 in the Campbell's/Intercollegiate Tennis Association Rankings before dropping a 6-1 decision against the Mustangs on March 11. Cal Poly, however, maintains an enviable home record with the program capturing 17 of its previous 21 matches on Mustang Courts dating to the 2010 campaign.

Winners of nine of their last 12 matches, Fresno State (11-8, 3-0 Western Athletic Conference), features one nationally-ranked singles competitor in No. 42 Marianne Jodoin.

During Saturday's regular season finale, the Mustangs will honor Davis, the program's lone graduating senior player. A 2011 All-Big West doubles honorable mention selection, Davis enters Saturday's match versus Fresno State with a 43-22 career mark in dual singles matches and a 27-14 record in doubles. In addition to winning a team-best 12 doubles matches this spring, Davis is 10-9 in singles action.

"Jocelyn has been such a tremendous part of the Mustang program during her time," Coupe added. "Saturday will be a great day to honor her contributions."