PLAYER OF THE MONTH ? Boise State’s Kean Feeder has been named the Western Athletic Conference Tennis Player of the Month for September. This is the first Tennis Player of the Month award for the 2008 Fall season.
Kean, a senior from Portland, Ore (Cascade College), finished the Boise State Fall Classic with a perfect 9-0 record. He never lost a set in the singles tournament, sweeping his way to the title with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Artem Kuznetsov of Mississippi in the semifinals before a 6-2, 6-2 defeat of Idaho’s Stanislav Glukhov in the finals.
The senior also teamed up with doubles partner Blane Shields to take the doubles crown after going 4-0. The pair was ranked No.1 in the doubles draw while Feeder began the singles tournament as the No.2 seed.
Other nominees included: Fresno State’s Rudolf Siwy finished with a 4-1 doubles record before falling to Wisconsin’s No.39 Baumann/Michalicka in the finals at the H.E.B. Invitational (Waco, Texas). Jim Brouleau of New Mexico State finished with an 8-1 record in September in singles play.
FRESNO STATE HAS STRONG SHOWING IN WACO, TEXAS - In the H.E.B. Baylor Intercollegiate Invitational, senior Rudulf Siwy (No. 48) advanced to the Round of 32 with a convincing 6-2, 6-1 win over Louisiana-Lafayette’s Piotr Olechowski before falling to Baylor’s Jordan Rux in a match, 3-6, 3-6. Despite his exit in singles play, it was Siwy in the doubles bracket along with partner Mirko Zapletal that caught the eye of many.
Siwy and Zapletal swept through the competition including an 8-5 upset victory over No. 30 ranked Salas and Stoisavljevic of New Mexico State in the semifinals. The Bulldogs finished second in the tournament to the Baumann/Michalicka team (No. 39) of Wisconsin, 8-5.
Brouleau Dominant for the Aggies in September - New Mexico State sophomore Jim Brouleau finished 8-1 in his September singles matches and was 6-1 in doubles play with teammate Gustav Diep. At the H.E.B. Baylor Intercollegiate Invitational, Sept. 26-28, Brouleau and Diep won all four of their doubles matches en route to winning the B doubles draw championship.
In singles play, Brouleau advanced to the championship match of the B singles draw. He won his first five matches before he fell in a three set battle in the finals to Alabama’s Michael Jung, 2-6, 6-2, 4-6. Brouleau’s teammate, Roman Stoisavljevic had an upset victory against Fresno State’s Mirko Zepletal (No. 85), 6-4, 7-6 in the C draw.
Brouleau, along with teammate Stefan McKinney, are set to compete in the singles pre-qualifying round at the ITA All-American Championships. Senior Roman Stoisavljevic and juniors Gustave Diep and Eduardo Salas are competing in the qualifying round where 16 players will advance on to play in the main draw comprised of the top 48 singles players in the nation. The main draw runs Oct. 9-12.
VANDALS SHOW PROMISING START IN BOISE - Junior Stas Glukhov reached the singles final of the tournament while Artem Kuznetsov marked his debut for the Vandals by advancing to the semifinals. Both players lost to Boise State’s No.1 player Keen Feeder.
Idaho had a very strong presence in the singles portion of the tournament throughout the weekend. Andrew Dobbs and Tim Huynh joined Glukhiv and Kuznetsov in the round of 16 before being eliminated. In a very competitive match, Kuznetsov overcame Huynh 6-4, 6-3 on his way to the semifinals.
Hugh McDonald advanced to the singles final in the consolation draw of the tournament. After bowing out of the main draw on Friday, McDonald won four games before falling to Boise State’s Blane Shields.
NEVADA’S GARCIN REACHES THIRD ROUND AT H.E.B. - Junior Laurent Garcin lost to Mikhail Pavlov of Texas A&M Corpus Christi 7-5, 6-2 in the second day of the Baylor Invitational in Waco, Texas. Garcin reached the third round of the men’s open singles consolation after defeating Toby Shiel in the first round, 6-2, 7-5.
FRESHMAN REPRESENTS BRONCOS AT UTAH - Boise State freshman Freddy Walsh went 1-1 at the Utah Intercollegiate Tournament at the University of Utah last weekend.
In his first round match, Walsh faced Travis Covington (Weber State). Walsh took the match in a decisive 6-2, 6-1 victory. In the second round, Walsh ran into No. 7 seed Sascha Kiene (Weber State) and did not see the same results. After losing the first set 6-2, Walsh fought hard to stay alive in the tournament but fell just short in a 7-6 (5) loss.
The Broncos return to the court when they travel to Fresno to compete in the Bulldog Classic, Oct. 3-5.
two aggies reach semifinals in salt lake city - Utah State junior Amit Maharaj and sophomore Bryan Marchant lost in the semifinals after wins in the quarterfinals. Maharaj defeated freshman teammate Jordan Barlow in the quarterfinal round of singles consolation, 6-7(2), 6-3, 10-6, before battling hard but dropping a match to Chris Williams of Weber State, 6-3, 1-6, 11-9 in the semifinals.
Utah State continues its fall season when it hosts the Utah State Invitational in Logan.
WAC TOURNAMENT TO BE HELD IN honolulu - This season, the Western Athletic Conference Tournament will return to Honolulu, Hawaii on the campus of Hawai?i, April 23-26. The 2008 champion, Hawai?i, will look to defend its’ crown after it earned its first-ever WAC title with a 4-2 win over second-seeded Fresno State.