Air Force Academy

Upcoming Schedule:
Friday, April 6 vs. #56 San Diego State 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, April 7 vs. #36 UNLV 10 a.m.
Sunday, April 8 vs. New Mexico 10 a.m.

Last Week:
Mar. 28 - Defeated Portland State 7-0 (N)
Mar. 28 - Lost to St. Mary's College 4-3 (A)
Mar. 30 - Lost to Santa Clara 5-2 (A)

Season Finale:
Air Force completes its 2001 regular season this weekend with three home Mountain West Conference matches. The Falcons play San Diego State on Friday, April 6 at 6:30 p.m., UNLV on Saturday, April 7 at 10 a.m., and New Mexico on Sunday, April 8 at 10 a.m.

Time Change:
The time of Air Force's match against San Diego State on Friday originally scheduled for 2 p.m. has been changed to 6:30 p.m.

Series Records:
San Diego State owns a 12-2 record in the overall series with Air Force. The Aztecs won the last meeting between the two teams, 7-0, during the 1999 campaign. UNLV has won both matches against the Falcons, including a 4-1 victory at last year's MWC Championships. New Mexico is 16-2 against Air Force, including a 5-1 decision in 1999.

Head Coach:
Falcon coach Rich Gugat is in his 27th season with the Falcons, sporting a career record of 625-169. He is currently fourth among active coaches on the NCAA career wins list, and third among active coaches with a .787 winning percentage.

Last Week:

vs. Portland State:
Air Force won all six singles matches in straight sets against Portland State, a team in its second year of existence. Three Falcons won their match 6-0, 6-0.

The Vikings did capture the No. 2 doubles match, but Air Force's Chris and Greg Zielinski won, 8-1, at No. 1 and Kyle Rainey and Rene Ramirez combined to win the No. 3 match by the same score.

vs. St. Mary's:
St. Mary's won the final four singles matches to defeat the Falcons, 4-3. Air Force jumped out to a quick lead, with the Zielinski's (8-5) and Rainey and Ramirez (8-0) winning their doubles matches to give the Falcons a 1-0 lead.

AFA's Eric Pittman and Rainey cruised through their singles matches, with Pittman beating Arturo Planell, 6-4, 6-2, at No. 1 singles and Rainey beating Boris Vallejo, 6-1, 6-2, at the No. 2 spot. St. Mary's then won the final four matches in straight sets to pull out the victory.

vs. Santa Clara:
Santa Clara, ranked No. 71 in the country, defeated the Falcons, 5-2. The Falcons finish their 2001 spring break trip with a 2-2 record.

Air Force earned the first point with a sweep of the three doubles matches, including an exciting 9-8 victory by Chris and Greg Zielinski at No. 1 doubles. They defeated Ryan Livesay and Michael Bruggemann, 9-7, in the tiebreaker. Eric Pittman and Alan Haedge won, 8-6, at No. 2, and Kyle Rainey and Rene Ramirez captured the No. 3 match, 9-7.

The Falcons were not so fortunate in singles, however. Pittman recorded AFA's only victory, a 1-6, 6-1, 6-3 come-from-behind win over Livesay. The No. 4 match also went three sets as Santa Clara's Federico Mattioli defeated Chris Zielinski, 7-6, 2-6, 6-2. The Broncos posted straight set victories at the other four spots.