Sports, Women's Sports, Women's Tennis

49ers begin year-long season with UNLV tournament

Coming off one of the most impressive seasons in 49er tennis history, coach Jenny Hilt-Costello’s squad is ready to get back into action for the fall season, starting with the UNLV Tournament Sept. 19.

“I like throwing them into a tournament quickly so that we know exactly where we are and what we need to work on in practice,” Hilt-Costello said.

The 49ers ended the season last year with a 21-3 record, tying for second best in school history, and upset No. 21 Tulsa opening round of the NCAA Tournament.

“The Tulsa match was a big deal for us,” senior Karolina Rozenberg said. “They were No. 21 in the country, which is kind of high.”

Ebba Unden, a 49er originally from Stockholm, Sweden, came through a tight tiebreaker in the third set to clinch the win for Long Beach State.

The LBSU tennis team will welcome two more international players this year: Alexandra Jones and Ella Monsey. Both from Britain, the incoming freshmen prospects continue a trend of an internationally diverse ‘Niner tennis team. Players from all over the world, including France, England, Russia and Sweden now call themselves the Long Beach 49ers on Hilt-Costello’s crew.

The team added to its list of accolades when it won its fourth straight Big West Championship with a 4-2 victory over UC Irvine last year. The team, which also included Maeva Razakasoa, Laura Eales, Julie Gerard and Hayley Thompson, had a 12-match winning streak coming into the second round of the NCAA Tournament, before eventually falling to 11th ranked Stanford.

With a season that begins during the second week of fall classes and ends during finals week in May, Hilt-Costello said it’s crucial to take a breather over summer.

“It’s important after a long season to take some time off and spend time with family,” Hilt-Costello said. “But getting back now in the fall working toward our first tournament…we are in conditioning and doing individual hits. The fall for us is really a development.”

The team is picking up where it left off last year in practice—fine-tuning both its physicality and shot selections. The fall season’s bracket tournaments, where players advance individually, will help prepare LBSU for team competition later in the season, according to Hilt-Costello.

“Obviously for Ebba [Unden] and Maeva [Razakasoa], we want to get them as ready as possible for the All-American tournament and regionals because those are opportunities for them to get wins that will help them get into postseason,” Hilt-Costello said.

After the UNLV and All-American tournament this month, the 49ers will host their first tournament (Beach Tennis Tournament) at the Rhodes Tennis Center during the first week of October.

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