DENVER -- Fresno State's Peter Luczak and TCU's Paty Aburto have been named the Western Athletic Conference men's and women's tennis Player of the Week, respectively, for matches played March 12-18.
Luczak, a native of Melbourne, Australia, posted an undefeated record in four matches at the Blue-Gray Classic in Montgomery, Ala., to lead the 26th-ranked Bulldogs to second place with a 3-1 record.
The highlight win came in a straight-set upset of Virginia's Brian Vahaly, the tenth-ranked player in the nation. Ranked 35th, Luczak eased past opponents from No. 48 Northwestern and No. 30 Indiana State before topping No. 22 Notre Dame's top singles player. In tandem with David Mullins, Luczak had Vahaly's number once again, as Fresno State's duo combined to overpower the nation's top-ranked doubles team of Vahaly and Huntley Montgomery, 8-5. The senior needs only 12 wins to break the schools all-time career victories record.
Other athletes nominated include: Jon Wallmark, SMU; Scott Eddins, TCU.
On the week Aburto, a freshman from Xalapa, Mexico, went 4-0 in singles and 3-0 in doubles with Leoni Weirich, as No. 31 TCU won four straight matches. Her victory over South Carolina's Katarina Markovski, ranked 86th, at the No. 2 spot, proved to be the difference in the Frogs 4-3 upset of 19th-ranked South Carolina. The unranked Aburto conceded the first set, but stormed back to win the match in three sets.
Currently riding a five-match win streak, Aburto is tied for the team-best singles wins with 17 and singles winning percentage with an .850 average. In doubles she has a 14-5 record.
Other athletes nominated include: Simone Jardin, Fresno State; Nina Wenger, Hawaii; Siayareh Rambally, SMU; Callie Dand, UTEP.