May 4, 2010

May 4, 2010

NORTHRIDGE, Calif. - The Cal State Northridge women's tennis received a nice haul in the annual Big West Conference Awards, the league office announced Tuesday. In doubles, the team of Brooke Doane and Anna Yang earned First Team honors while the team of Nina Jaworowski and Whitney Paluch received Honorable Mention. In singles, both Doane and Jaworowski earned All-Big West Second Team honors.

"I am very proud of this group. I feel like we're as together and unified as a team in years and that we're able to compete at a high level without the experience of many of our opponents," head coach Gary Victor said.

Doane and Yang teamed to finish the season with an 11-7 record at the No. 1 doubles position. In Big West action, the duo was 3-4 and posted wins over Cal State Fullerton, UC Davis and UC Riverside. They also picked up non-conference wins over Washington State, Hawai'i and Portland.

"When Anna played with confidence, they were clearly one of the top teams in the Western region," Victor added. "It was a lot to ask of Anna as a freshman, but she proved her abilities with some key wins. They went 2-0 against the Pac 10 and competed every day at a high level. Anna did a lot of learning this year which is only going to prepare her for bigger things to come."

This is the third-straight year that Doane has been recognized by the league coaches for her doubles play. In 2008, she teamed with Kanykey Koichumanova to finish 18-2 and earn All-Big West Second Team honors. In 2009, Doane went 20-2, all at the No. 1 draw, to earn All-Big West First Team honors.

For her career, Doane is now 49-15 in doubles action, a career winning percentage of .817, the top mark in school history. Her 49 doubles victories ranks third in school history. She is also 15 win short of tying Koichumanova for the most in school history and two wins shy of moving into second all time.

Both Paluch and Jaworowski received recognition for their doubles play for the first time in their careers. In 2010, the junior tandem was 13-6 overall and 5-3 against Big West opponents, all at the No. 2 draw.

Among their more impressive conquests were wins over San Diego, Long Beach State and Washington State. In fact, the duo's .684 season winning percentage ranks eighth in school history for a single season.

"Whitney has consistently been our hardest worker and brought the level of our practices and match intensity to a higher level," Victor added. "For Whitney and Nina, I've used them as an example of how to figure it out in doubles. Neither brings a huge serve or a big weapon. However, they find ways to win and work together as well as any team that has every played here."

For her career, Jaworowski now has 35 doubles wins, the eighth-most in school history. She had 11 doubles wins in both her freshman and sophomore seasons. Paluch departs CSUN with a 23-20 career doubles record.

Moving to singles awards, Doane picked up her first career award from the league's coaches. Although she finished the year 9-11 overall and 3-6 against Big West opposition, Doane also posted impressive victories at the top draw for CSUN in 2010.

On Mar. 6, Doane defeated Stephanie Hammel of UC Irvine to record her first career singles win over a ranked opponent. She earned her first career Big West Player of the Week award for that victory. For her career, Doane is now 33-27 in singles play.

"Brooke made a great breakthrough this year and, along with Whitney and Nina, led us in the right direction," Victor said. "She has the talent to beat just about anybody in our conference. She fought through some tough injuries and helped lead our teams to big wins throughout the year."

Jaworowski capped off a successful junior season with her second-straight All-Big West Singles Second Team honors. She finished the year with an 8-10 record in singles action, moving from the second draw to the No. 1 spot midway through the year.

She owned a 3-5 record against Big West opponents in 2010 and recorded notable victories over Hawai'i, San Diego and UC Davis. For her career, Jaworowski now owns a 34-23 record in singles action.

"Nina is as competitive a person as I know and winning is so important to her," Victor said. "She feels as if she has failed the team when she loses. In turn, we know that she is always giving her best."

With only Paluch lost to graduation, the Matadors will bring a heavily experienced squad into the 2011 season. In addition to Doane, Jaworowski and Yang, Nigora Sirojiddinova and Maria Pistalu will bring their 29 combined singles wins back into the fold for next season.

2010 BIG WEST WOMEN'S TENNIS ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM

SINGLES

FIRST TEAM

Jaklin Alawi, Long Beach State

Brittany Blalock, Cal Poly

Courtney Byron, UC Irvine

Anais Dallara, Long Beach State

Suzie Matzenauer, Cal Poly

Sofia Novak, UC Santa Barbara

Jenifer Widjaja, Pacific

SECOND TEAM

April Bisharat, UC Irvine

Brooke Doane, Cal State Northridge

Christina Goehl, Pacific

Nina Jaworowski, Cal State Northridge

Desiree Stone, UC Davis

Dahra Zamudio, UC Davis

HONORABLE MENTION

Deborah Armstrong, Long Beach State

Stephanie Hammel, UC Irvine

Tova Hausman, UC Santa Barbara

Natalia Lozano, UC Santa Barbara

Tiffany Mai, Cal State Fullerton

DOUBLES

FIRST TEAM

Brittany Blalock/Suzie Matzenauer, Cal Poly

Jaklin Alawi/Rachel Manasse, Long Beach State

Jenifer Widjaja/Sasha Fisher, Pacific

Brooke Doane/Anna Yang, Cal State Northridge

SECOND TEAM

Tova Hausman/Bryanna Ojeda, UC Santa Barbara

Steffi Wong/Alexa Lee, Cal Poly

Anais Dallara/Deborah Armstrong, Long Beach State

Courtney Byron/Stephanie Hammel, UC Irvine

HONORABLE MENTION

Desiree Stone/Herzyl Legaspi, UC Davis

Courtney Byron/Kristina Smith, UC Irvine

Nina Jaworowski/Whitney Paluch, Cal State Northridge

Jordan Dockendorf/Natalia Lozano, UC Santa Barbara

2010 BIG WEST PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Jenifer Widjaja, Pacific

2010 BIG WEST FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR

Jaklin Alawi, Long Beach State

2010 BIG WEST COACH OF THE YEAR

Mike Edles, UC Irvine