DENVER ? Fresno State’s Anastasia Petukhova and Boise State’s Paul Koenke and have been named the Western Athletic Conference Tennis Players of the Month for September. These are the first Tennis Players of the Month for the 2007 Fall season.
Petukhova, a sophomore from Moscow, Russia (A.M. Gorky), performed brilliantly during the Bulldog Classic at the Wathen Tennis Center Sept. 21-23 in Fresno. She captured the singles title, defeating Fresno Pacific’s Anna Karavayeva 6-3, 6-1 in the championship match, tallying her 20th-straight match won dating back to last season, all of which have come in straight sets. Only three times has an opponent been able to win more than three games in a set against Petukhova during that streak. Petukhova also reached the finals of the Bulldog Classic doubles draw, partnering up with teammate Renata Kucerkova.
Koenke, a junior who hails from Denver, Colo., (Denver East/Clemson), won his singles bracket at the prestigious UVA Fall Invitational Sept. 14-16 in Charlottesville, Va., going undefeated at 4-0. After fighting through the early rounds with three-set victories, Koenke won both his semifinal and championship matches in straight sets, notching a 6-4, 6-5 victory over Binghamton’s Sebastian Dietz in the championship. Koenke teamed up with Eric Roberson in doubles action where they advanced to the semifinals before falling to the eventual champion duo from Virginia by a score of 8-5.
Other men’s tennis nominees included: Andrey Potapkin of Idaho was the runner-up in both the singles and doubles championships at the MCC Clay Court Championships in Montgomery, Ala., with an impressive second-round victory over Clemson’s No. 1, Rok Bizjak ... Jim Brouleau of New Mexico State went 5-2 in singles action and 5-1 in doubles play with teammate Gustave Diep in September, claiming the top singles and doubles championship at the Aggie Invitational on Sept. 16 in Las Cruces ... Jakob Asplund of Utah State notched a 5-3 record in September, winning the singles consolation match at the Boise State Open Sept. 7-9.
Other women’s tennis nominees included: Bianca Jochimsen of Boise State advanced to the singles championship at the Cougar Classic in Pullman, Wash., before falling to Washington State’s Ekaterina Burduli, and also teamed up with Laura Baum to win the doubles championship over Burduli/Kamendova of Washington State ... Maria Mizyuk of Nevada went 6-1 in singles play and undefeated in doubles play in September, reaching the semifinals in the Bulldog Classic in Fresno and winning three matches at the Riviera All-American Championships in Pacific Palisades, Calif., to become the first Wolf Pack player to qualify for the Qualifying Rounds of the event, beginning this week ... Hailey Swenson of Utah State finished 2-2 at the Utah Fall Classic in Provo, earning a spot in the consolation singles semifinals before falling to Colorado State’s Greer Satherlie.
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