The Fresno State women’s tennis team is coming
off a successful 2010 season in which it won
the Western Athletic Conference championship.
Now, the ‘Dogs look to duplicate the success.
Matt Weir / Collegian File Photo

A new season brings about some high expectations, especially after the season the Fresno State women’s tennis team had last year, winning the Western Athletic Conference Tournament, as well as a perfect 5-0 record in conference competition in the regular season.

The ‘Dogs enter this year as a more mature team with a handful of players returning from the team that qualified for last season’s NCAA Tournament. During the NCAA Tournament appearance, Fresno State came up short against Notre Dame in the first round.

The Bulldogs qualified for the tournament by having a strong showing in the WAC Tournament where Fresno State defeated Louisiana Tech 4-0, Nevada 4-3 and Boise State 4-3. The ‘Dogs have some talent returning this season and head coach Simon Thibodeau talked about his 2011 roster.

“All of the players have improved in different ways through experience or maturity,” said the seventh-year head coach. “They are better.”

One of the key returning Bulldogs from last season is reigning WAC Player of the Year Marianne Jodoin, who is entering her sophomore season.

Jodoin was a standout in his first season as a Bulldog, collecting many accolades including Freshman of the Year, WAC Player of the Week and named to the All-WAC first teams in both singles and doubles. She was also was named to the All-WAC Tournament team.

The sophomore was solid in singles play with a 25-15 record. In doubles she finished with a 17-17 record. Jodoin also qualified to play in last season’s NCAA Championships, falling to Alexandra Poorta of Saint Mary’s 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (16-14).

Last year’s team had an abundance of youth consisting of four sophomores and two freshmen with junior Laura Pola as the lone upperclassman on the team.

Pola was named to the first team All-WAC in both singles and doubles going 16-17 in singles and 21-15 in doubles. Pola is used to being part of young teams. As a sophomore, she was a part of a team that consisted of five freshmen. Pola was named first team All-WAC in both singles and doubles. She was also named to the WAC All-Tournament team in both singles and doubles last season.

Along with Pola, Fresno State returns three of four sophomores for last year’s team in Melissa McQueen, Bianca Modoc and Olga Kirpicheva. McQueen was named to the WAC All-Tournament team in singles. Modoc went undefeated in singles play against the WAC, winning all five matches that she was competed in. Kirpicheva was the only Bulldog to record a point against No. 16 Lyndsay Kinstler of USC in a super tiebreaker.

The Bulldogs have two newcomers on the team this year in freshman Anne Susdorf and sophomore Tanya Murtagh. Susdorf is a Hart High School graduate and the younger sister of College World Series champion Stephen Susdorf. Murtagh is a transfer from Portmarnock Community School in Ireland and is one of five international players on the team.

Despite the Bulldogs’ strong showing against conference opponents, Fresno State finished the 2010 season with an 11-14 record. The ‘Dogs had a lot of trouble on the road, going 2-8. The only away wins came against WAC foes Louisiana Tech, 7-0, and Utah State, 6-1.

The Bulldogs traveled for the first time this past weekend at the 2011 Cal Nike Women’s Invitational. The newcomers were already paying dividends in the tournament with Susdorf winning both of her singles matches for her first wins of her young collegiate career. Murtagh was the only one of three Fresno State competitors to make it past the round of 32.

The Bulldogs will compete at home on Nov. 11 and 12 for the Bulldog Classic. With the first home tournament more than a month away, Thibodeau gave some thoughts on his goals for this season.

“This is our last year in the WAC so we want to try and win that,” Thibodeau said.