April 21, 2005

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. - Utah State's women's tennis team upset No. 8 seed Cal State Fullerton today 4-3 in the opening round of Big West Championship play. The Aggies are now 12-11 this season, and 1-1 against Big West opponents.

The Aggies took the lead early as they captured the doubles point to start out the match, after winning at the No. 1 and No. 3 spots. Lindsey Bennion and Carolyn Stephens beat Carla Rocha and Mai-Ly Tran at No. 1, 8-5, while Andrea Barker and Courtney Anderson defeated Caroline Freeman and Chip Dunbar 8-4 at No. 3.

The two teams split the six singles matches, but the deciding point came at No. 3. In three sets Stephens edged out Rocha 7-5, 4-6, 6-2 to give USU the win. Barker was a 6-2, 6-2 winner over Freeman at No. 5 and Lauren Monson took the No. 6 spot 6-3, 6-4.

The Aggies will take on No. 1 seeded Pacific on Friday at noon in the quarterfinals. The Tigers are 17-5 this season, and 6-0 in the Big West.

The Utah State men, seeded at No.6, also take the court Friday where they will take on No. 3 seed UC Santa Barbara at 3 p.m. The men finished the season 10-11 overall and 0-1 in conference action. UC Santa Barbara finished 9-12 overall, and 3-1 in the Big West.

Play for both the men and the women will continue through Sunday.

Utah State (4) vs. Cal State Fullerton (3)
Thursday, April 21, 2005
Indian Wells Tennis Garden - Indian Wells, CA
DOUBLES
No. 1 Bennion/Stephens (USU) def. Rocha/Tran 8-5
No. 2 Le/Inalpulat (CSF) def. Smith/Monson 8-4
No. 3 Barker/Anderson (USU) def. Freeman/Dunbar 8-4
SINGLES
No. 1 Ruya Inalpulat (CSF) def. Lindsey Bennion 6-1, 6-1
No. 2 Gina Le (CSF) def. Jill Smith 6-1, 6-1
No. 3 Carolyn Stephens (USU) def. Carla Rocha 7-5, 4-6, 6-2
No. 4 Mai-Ly Tran (CSF) def. Courtney Anderson 6-4, 6-4
No. 5 Andrea Barker (USU) def. Caroline Freeman 6-2, 6-2
No. 6 Lauren Monson (USU) vs. Chip Dunbar 6-3, 6-4