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ATHLETE OF THE WEEK - Fresno State's Alex Krohn has been named the Western Athletic Conference men's tennis Player of the Week.
Krohn, a senior from Santa Rosa, Calif., won both his singles and doubles matches on Jan. 25 in Fresno State's narrow loss at 21st-ranked USC. In doubles, Krohn teamed with Jakub Cech to take out Adriano Biasella and Bryan Wright 8-4, giving the Bulldogs the doubles point. In singles, Krohn, playing only his second dual match for 2-2 Fresno State, upset 59th-ranked Drew Hoskins at No. 2 singles 6-3, 1-6, 6-2.
OTHERS NOMINATED - Tony Haerle, Rice and Dustin Taylor, Tulsa.
NOTES FROM AROUND THE LEAGUE
Boise State -The Bronco mens tennis team travels to Seattle next week to take part in the ITA/USTA National Team Indoor Championship. The tournament is Feb. 5-8 at the University of Washington. The sixteen team winners for the regional team championships last November are who qualified to this tournament.
Fresno State - The Bulldogs had a tough go of times in Houston, losing to No. 38 Arizona as well as host and 22nd-ranked Rice. Against the Wildcats, Fresno State started slowly and never could get its teeth into the match, losing 4-3. The following day, despite very solid play from Greg Shearer, the Bulldogs lost 5-2. A bright spot was the play of Shearer, who went 2-0 in singles over the weekend and upset 15th-ranked Robert Searle of Rice 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.
Hawaii - The Hawai'i men's tennis team concluded its six-game road swing through California with a 5-2 loss to No. 74 UC Irvine. The Warriors are now 1-7 with road losses to William & Mary, Saint Marys and Cal Poly this spring. Hawaiis one win came against WAC foe Nevada.
Nevada - Nevada dropped its first dual match of the season 5-2, to WAC opponent Hawai'i at the Timothy Korth Tennis Complex in Moraga, Calif. While the match was Nevada's first, Hawai'i already had the experience of seven matches this season under is belt. The Wolf Pack will next travel to Logan, Utah to take on Utah State, on Saturday, Feb. 7 at 11 a.m. The Aggies are 1-2 on the year, after pulling an upset win over Air Force on January 16. The win over the Falcons is the first ever for Utah State in the program's history. The Wolf Pack will also play Weber State that weekend on Feb. 8.
Rice -The 22nd ranked Rice men continued their winning ways Sunday with a 5-2 victory over Fresno State, ranked 37th, in dual-match action at the Bentwater Country Club. The Owls' third-ranked tandem of William and Richard Barker continued to impress with an 8-3 victory against Greg Shearer and Jure Kekez at number one doubles. Rookie Ben Harknett teamed with sophomore Robert Searle for an 8-6 win against Alex Krohn and Jakub Cech to secure the doubles point for Rice.
SMU - SMU's match agaisnt TCU that was scheduled for Feb. 4 at 1:30 p.m. in Fort Worth has been postponed due to predicted rain. The new match date is tentatively planned for Thursday, March 4 at TCU.
Tulsa - The Golden Hurricane own a team No. 48 ranking. Alejandro Tejerina is the 57th-ranked singles player, while Dustin Taylor own the No. 93 slot. The Golden Hurricane owns a 4-2 mark on the season.
ITA RANKINGS - Rice is the highest ranked WAC team in the most recent ITA rankings. The Owls are ranked No.22. Boise State is ranked No. 32, while Fresno State slips a spot to No. 37. Rounding out the top 50 is SMU at No. 39 and Tulsa at No. 48. The Rice twin duo of juniors Richard and William Barker are currently ranked No. 3 after starting the season ranked No. 1.
NATIONAL INDOORS - Tulsa and Boise State will travel to the ITA/USTA National Team Indoor Championship in Seattle, Wash. Making the trip to Seattle this week is top-ranked and defending NCAA champion Illinois. The Fighting Illini edged Florida in last years USTA/ITA National Team Indoor final 4-2. The other participants looking to knock off Illinois are No. 2 Baylor, No. 3 Florida, No. 4 Vanderbilt, No. 5 Stanford, No. 6 UCLA, No. 7 Mississippi, No. 8 Duke, No. 9 Texas A&M, No. 10 Kentucky, the 11th-ranked Huskies, No. 12 California, No. 13 Texas, 31st-ranked Harvard, 32nd-ranked Boise State and No. 47 Tulsa.
WAC TOURNAMENT TO BE HELD IN HOUSTON This season, the Western Athletic Conference Tournament will be held in Houston, Texas at Jake Hess Tennis Stadium on the campus of Rice University, April 30-May 2. The 2003 champion, Boise State, will look to defend its title.