DENVER ? This week, five WAC schools are in action, with one school set to kick off its spring schedule for the first time. On Feb. 1 the No. 22-ranked Boise State Broncos will travel to Provo, Utah, to take on the No. 67 BYU Cougars, and then will head to Salt Lake City, Utah to compete with No. 68 Utah Utes on Feb. 2. The No. 69 Fresno State Bulldogs will make the trip to San Diego, Calif., to meet the No. 75 Toreros of San Diego on Feb. 2, before taking on No. 50 Aztecs of San Diego State on Feb. 3. Idaho will make its conference debut when they travel to Cheney, Wash., for a neutral site match-up against Nevada on Feb. 2. The Wolf Pack will also take on Gonzaga in Spokane, Wash., on Feb. 1 and Eastern Washington on Feb. 2.
New Mexico State makes its 2008 spring debut in Las Vegas, Nev., taking on Saint Mary’s, UNLV and Southern Mississippi, Feb. 1-3. The Rainbow Warriors will have nearly two weeks off before returning to the court Feb. 6 to take on Stanford in Palo Alto, Calif. The Aggies of Utah State also take two weeks off before returning to action Feb. 8-10, when they take on Northern Arizona and WAC foes Idaho and New Mexico State.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK ? Boise State’s Eric Roberson has been named the Western Athletic Conference Tennis Player of the Week for the week of Jan. 21-27. This is the first career Player of the Week honor for Roberson.
Roberson, a senior from Sacramento, Calif., (C.K. McClatchy), finished undefeated in both singles and doubles play to help the Broncos to a 1-1 record, topping No. 54 New Mexico and falling to No. 25 Texas A&M. Roberson battled New Mexico’s Joe Wood, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6, (7-4) win, to help the Broncos edge out the Lobos by a score of 4-3. He also paired up with teammate Blake Boswell to defeat Graeme Kassautzki and Joe Wood of New Mexico, 8-6, in doubles. Roberson also teamed up with Bronco Paul Koenke to defeat Texas A&M’s Matt Bain and Jerry Makowski, 8-5.
Other nominees included: Rudolf Siwy of Fresno State helped the Bulldogs to a 1-1 record at Oklahoma and Arkansas last weekend, winning both his singles matches in three sets. Siwy beat Oklahoma’s Sergey Avdeyev (6-4, 3-6, 6-3) as the only singles victory against the Sooners, and helped Fresno State edge the Razorbacks, 4-3, by defeating Colin Mascall of Arkansas, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1.
NO. 22 BOISE STATE BREAKS PERFECT SEASON IN 4-3 LOSS TO NO. 25 TEXAS A&M ? The No. 22 Boise State Broncos moved to a perfect 5-0 after holding off No. 54 New Mexico on Jan. 25, but had their record snapped their flawless record when the No. 25 Aggies of Texas A&M topped the Broncos, 4-3. The winner was decided in a close final match between the Broncos and the Aggies when Texas A&M’s Austin Krajicek defeated Boise State’s Piotr Dilaj in a close match, 7-5, 7-6 (7).
Earning an early advantage, the Broncos were able to pick up two of three match wins in doubles play with the duo of Steve Roberson and Clancy Shields earned a solid 8-5 win over Chris Chirico and Wil Spencer of Texas A&M, and the No. 41-ranked doubles pair of Paul Koenke and Eric Roberson defeated Matt Bain and Jerry Makowski, also with an 8-5 score.
In singles play, Boise State earned wins when No. 69 Brent Werbeck shut down the Aggies’ No. 90 Chirico, 6-3, 6-0, and when No. 19 Clancy Shields convincingly defeated Jerry Makowski, 6-3, 6-3, evening the team score to three all. The match was decided when Texas A&M’s Austin Krajicek defeated Boise State’s Piotr Dilaj in a close match, 7-5, 7-6 (7).
The Broncos will look to rebound from their first loss of the season when they travel to Utah to face No. 67 BYU on Feb. 1 and No. 68 Utah on Feb. 2.
FRESNO STATE’S SIWY EARNS THIRD-STRAIGHT WIN ? Fresno State junior No. 92 Rudolf Siwy registered his second and third-straight singles match victories of the 2008 campaign with three-set wins over Oklahoma’s Sergey Avdeyev and Colin Mascall of Arkansas.
Despite Siwy’s victory, the Bulldogs fell 6-1 to the Sooners after losing the doubles point and five singles matches on Jan. 25. Fresno State bounced back to beat the Razorbacks 4-3, after winning the doubles point and three singles matches. Sophomore Mirko Zapletal beat No. 76 Blake Strode of Arkansas to clinch the Bulldog victory over the Razorbacks.
NEVADA FALLS IN SEASON OPENER AT NO. 39 CAL ? Nevada fell in its opening dual match of the spring season, losing to No. 39 Cal, 6-1. Wolf Pack sophomore Laurent Garcin tallied the lone point for Nevada, topping Cal’s Pierre Mouillon in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1. Cal won the doubles point by sweeping all three matches and the Bears won the remaining five singles matches.
Nevada’s Guerin Smith was the only other Wolf Pack player to win a set in singles. Smith fell to Cal’s Shan Sondhu in the first set, 6-2, but came back for a 6-4 win in the second, then fell again in the tie-breaker, 7-5.
The Wolf Pack will look to redeem themselves when they return to action on Feb. 1 at Gonzaga, before traveling to Cheney, Wash., to play Eastern Washington and WAC foe Idaho on Feb. 2.
UTAH STATE DOWNED BY NO. 68 UTAH ? The Aggies were downed 7-0 at No. 68 Utah on Jan. 26, watching their record fall to 1-3 on the season. In doubles action, senior Fernando Gallegos and sophomore Oscar Ericsson battled at the No. 2 position, but eventually fell to Utah’s Amit Maharaj and Stephen Jacobs, 8-5.
The Aggies look to bounce back when they return to the nets Feb. 8-10 in Las Cruces to take on Northern Arizona and WAC rivals Idaho and New Mexico State.
WAC TOURNAMENT TO BE HELD IN LAS CRUCES ? This season, the Western Athletic Conference Tournament will be held in Las Cruces, New Mexico on the campus of New Mexico State, April 24-27. The 2007 champion, Boise State, will look to win its fourth-straight title. Last season, host Boise State took the title at the Appleton Tennis Center in Boise, defeating second-seeded Fresno State, 4-0.