DENVER ? This week, seven WAC schools are in action, with three schools set to take on nationally ranked teams. The No. 46 Boise State Broncos make the trip to Northridge, Calif., taking on No. 70 Cal State Northridge on Mar. 23. No. 16 Fresno State welcomes No. 21 Denver to Fresno on Mar. 21 and No. 37 BYU on Mar. 22, while the Hawai’i Rainbow Wahine host No. 69 Cornell on Mar. 20 and WAC foe Nevada on Mar. 22. The Wolf Pack will also take on San Diego on Mar. 19, while Idaho travels to Spokane, Wash., to compete with Weber State, Mar. 23. New Mexico State makes the trip to San Antonio, Texas, to square off with Texas-San Antonio on Mar. 22 and Texas-Pan American on Mar. 23. The San Jose State Spartans welcome Wyoming on Mar. 19 and Cal State Bakersfield on Mar. 21.
Louisiana Tech returns to action next week when the Lady Techsters travel to Shreveport, La., to take on Centenary, Mar. 25. The Utah State Aggies return to the courts Mar. 28-29 when they welcome Dixie State and Cal State Bakersfield to Logan.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK ? Boise State’s Pichittra Thongdach has been named the Western Athletic Conference Tennis Player of the Week for the week of Mar. 10-16. This is the first career Player of the Week honor for Thongdach.
Thongdach, a sophomore from Petchaburi, Thailand, (Thailand), was a perfect 3-0 in both singles and doubles action, helping the No. 43 Broncos earn three team victories over No. 69 Wichita State (5-2), Arkansas-Little Rock (5-2) and North Florida (4-1) at the Shocker Classic in Wichita, Kan. Thongdach won each of her singles matches in straight sets, notching a victory over Stephanie Dalmacio of Wichita State, 6-2, 6-0, topping Arkansas-Little Rock’s Laetitia Bourgeon, 6-0, 6-0, and beating Natalia Sanchez of North Florida, 7-6, 6-0. She also paired with teammate Polina Kokoulina as the No. 58-ranked doubles tandem, tallying three wins at the No. 1 doubles position over the Shockers, the Trojans and the Ospreys.
Other women’s tennis nominees included: Amber Silverstone of San Jose State led the Spartans to two team victories, going a perfect 2-0 in both singles and doubles, beating Casey O’Connor of Sonoma State (6-3, 6-1) and defeated Southern Utah’s Kirrily Burden (6-2, 6-3) in singles action.
Boise State Broncos
No. 46 Boise State extended its winning streak to six-straight matches, after going a perfect 3-0 in the Shocker Classic in Wichita, Kan., Mar. 14-16 ... the Broncos picked up their first road win of the season with a 5-2 win over host No. 69 Wichita State, also topping Arkansas-Little Rock, 5-2, and North Florida, 4-1 ... senior Pichittra Thongdach and sophomore Klaudia Wlodarczyk both tallied three singles victories at the Shocker Classic ... seniors Polina Kokoulina and Stacey Housley also notched two singles victories last weekend ... up next, the Broncos travel to California for three matches over spring break, against Cal State Northridge on Mar. 23, UC Santa Barbara on Mar. 25 and UC Irvine on Mar. 28.
Fresno State Bulldogs
No. 16 Fresno State fell in its first home match of the season against No. 26 William & Mary, 5-2, on Mar. 7 ... the Bulldogs were led by No. 13-ranked Anastasia Petukhova and senior Jacqueline Haskett, who earned the only two singles wins against the Tribe ... Petukhova won her match at the No. 2 position in straight sets, topping No. 102 Katarina Zoricic, 6-0, 6-3 ... Haskett played at the No. 5 spot and fought hard to take her match over Lauren Sabacinkski, 7-6 (7-0), 6-0 ... the No. 25-ranked doubles tandem of Petukhova and Renata Kucerkova also defeated Ragini Acharya and Klaudyna Kasztelaniec, 8-3 ... this week, the Bulldogs return to action against No. 21 Denver and No. 37 BYU, Mar. 21-22, in Fresno.
Hawai?i Rainbow Wahine
Hawai’i looks for its first win of the season, after falling to 0-11 with losses to No. 13 Duke (7-0) on Mar. 13 and No. 59 New Mexico (6-1) on Mar. 17 ... nine of the Rainbow Wahine’s losses have come against ranked opponents ... the Rainbow Wahine’s only win in singles action came when sophomore No. 81-ranked Sophie Kobuch topped No. 116 Ola Abou-Zekry of New Mexico, 6-1, 6-1, at the No. 1 position ... in doubles play, sophomore Sophie Kobuch and senior Chloe Bihag teamed up to take down New Mexico’s Lucy Scott and Sandra Zmak, 8-5 ... up next, the Rainbow Wahine will continue their 12-match homestand when they welcome No. 69 Cornell to Honolulu, Mar. 20.
Idaho Vandals
Idaho returns home after winning three of four matches, notching victories over Willamette (7-0), Portland State (7-0) and Montana (6-1), while falling to Portland (6-1) ... the Vandals were riding a four-match win streak before falling to Portland on Mar. 15 ... against Willamette, sophomore Barbara Maciocha allowed no points in an impressive 6-0, 6-0 singles victory over Alyssa Morrison and an 8-0 doubles decision while pairing with teammate Natalie Kirch ... the Vandals dominated the Grizzlies of Montana, sweeping all six singles matches in straight sets ... this week, the Vandals make the trip to Spokane, Wash., to take on Weber State, Mar. 23.
Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters
Louisiana Tech looks to bounce back after falling to Nicholls State (7-0) on Mar. 14 and McNeese State (6-1) on Mar. 15 ... in singles action against the Cowgirls of McNeese State, junior Adriana Makowska continued to play well, earning her third win in four matches ... Makowska outlasted Petra Gudelj at the No. 4 position, 1-6, 6-2 (10-7) ... up next, Louisiana Tech will take the weekend off before returning to action against Centenary, Mar. 25, in Shreveport, La.
Nevada Wolf Pack
Nevada split a pair of matches, first falling to No. 32 Long Beach State, 7-0, on Mar. 15, before bouncing back to upset No. 57 New Mexico, 6-1, on Mar. 18 ... the Wolf Pack tandem of Caroline Bailly and Maria Mizyuk earned the only victory against the 49ers of Long Beach State, topping Hannah Grady and Stephanie Bengson, 8-2 ... against New Mexico, Bailly also ended Sandra Zmak’s nine-match win streak, topping her 6-3, 6-3, at the No. 2 position ... No. 59-ranked Mizyuk defeated No. 11 Ola Abou-Zekry of New Mexico, 6-1, 6-1 ... this week, the Wolf Pack enjoy a trip to Honolulu to take on San Diego, Mar. 19, and WAC foe Hawai?i, Mar. 21.
New Mexico State Aggies
New Mexico State returns home from Texas after a pair of split matches, first beating Houston (4-3) on Mar. 8, before falling to Lamar (4-3) on Mar. 9 ... senior Anne Fagegaltier was the only Aggie to notch two singles victories over the Cougars and the Cardinals ... Fagegaltier topped Jordan McCombs of Houston, 6-2, 6-1, before taking down Lamar’s Manijee Ashrafi, 6-2, 7-5, both at the No. 4 position ... Sophia Marks, Stephanie Eusebe, Aleksa Costa and Paulina Zuniga each tallied one singles victory on the weekend ... up next, the Aggies return to the courts when they head to Texas to take on Texas-San Antonio and Texas-Pan American, Mar. 22-23, in San Antonio.
San Jose State Spartans
San Jose State extended its winning streak to three matches after defeating Southern Utah, 6-1, on Mar. 15 ... junior Amber Silverstone has led the Spartans in their longest winning streak of the season, winning her fourth-straight singles match against Kirrily Burden of Southern Utah, 6-2, 6-3 ... the Spartans controlled singles action, taking five of the six matches, all in straight sets ... junior Silvana Dukic defeated the Thunderbirds’ Kateryna Drynova, shutting her out in the last set, 6-2, 6-0, at the No. 2 position ... this week, the Spartans welcome Wyoming and Cal State Bakersfield to San Jose, on Mar. 19 and Mar. 21, respectively.
Utah State Aggies
Utah State split a pair of home matches, first falling to Montana (4-3) on Mar. 7, before bouncing back to take down Portland State (4-3) on Mar. 9 ... Brianna Harris, Hailey Swenson and Marie Livingston all earned two singles victories against the Grizzlies and the Vikings ... Harris topped Montana’s Liz Walker (6-0, 6-1) and Lacey Pfibsen of Portland State (6-4, 6-4), while Swenson beat Mari Castello of Montana (6-4, 6-3) and Portland State’s Stephanie Fuchs (6-1, 4-6, 6-4) ... Livingston defeated Montana’s Jessica Souza (6-4, 7-5) and Portland State’s Caitlin Stocking (6-2, 6-2) ... the Aggies have this weekend off before returning action when they host Dixie State and Cal State Bakersfield, Mar. 28-29 in Logan.
WAC CHAMPIONSHIP TO BE HELD IN LAS CRUCES ? This season, the Western Athletic Conference Tournament will return to Las Cruces, New Mexico on the campus of New Mexico State, April 24-27. The 2007 champion, Fresno State, will look to win its seventh-straight title. Last season, Fresno State took the title at the Appleton Tennis Center in Boise, defeating second-seeded Boise State, 4-0.
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