It is a "changing of the guard" for the San Jose State University women's tennis team when the 2019 dual match season begins with matches on Friday, January 25 and Sunday, January 27.
The Spartans host Sonoma State in their non-conference opener and conclude their first weekend of dual match action two days later with Cal Poly. First serve at the Spartan Tennis Complex at the South Campus is at noon each day.
There is no admission charge and parking is available at the Park & Ride Lot on Seventh and Humboldt Streets.
San Jose State could have as many as four newcomers in its singles lineup and three new doubles pairs playing in their first college dual match against Sonoma State.
Europe is well represented. There are Alba Pedrero Galindo from Murcia, Spain, and Mathilda Vidgren from Stockholm, Sweden.
Kristina Baran, the tallest of the four Spartan newcomers at 6-foot-1, and sophomore Klara Milojkovic are from France.
"I am very excited about these new players joining our team and the whole SJSU community. Alba, Mathilda, Kristina, and Klara all are strong players on the tennis court, great academic students, and most importantly are great people," says San Jose State women's tennis head coach Chad Skorupka.
"All four of them will be competing and contributing to our lineup in the spring."
Pedrero Galindo, one of the top juniors from Spain, had the best overall singles win-loss record in fall tournament action with a 10-6 mark. Baran, who has played nationally-ranked opponents traveling throughout Europe and the African continent, was next with an 8-5 win-loss record.
Vidgren, an under-18 Swedish national doubles champion, was 4-6 and in limited action Milojkvoic was 0-3. Milokjovic was among France's top players in her age group year in and year out.
During the tournament season, head coach Chad Skorupka created 16 doubles combinations. Senior Miyo Kobayashi and sophomore Savannah Sendar played together the most and posted a 4-4 win-loss record.
Kobayashi begins the dual match spring season tied for fifth on the San Jose State career wins list with 131. Two victories will propel her into third place trailing only her former teammates Marie Klocker, first with 142, and Gaelle Rey, second with 139 victories.
Sendar was an All-Mountain West doubles player as a freshman. She had a 17-12 win-loss record in doubles and played primarily as the #6-singles player for the Spartans last year.
Sophomore Laura Malsert and junior Tamara Culibrk round out the San Jose State team. Malsert primarily played in the #5-singles slot and won 15 times as a freshman. Culibrk, like Kobayashi, were important players in San Jose State's most recent Mountain West team championship in 2017. Culibrk is a strong southpaw who saw most of her singles action at #2-singles last year.
