DENVER ? This week, all nine WAC schools are in action, with three schools hosting their opponents and two schools set to take on nationally ranked teams. The No. 43 Boise State Broncos make the trip to Southern California., taking on UC Santa Barbara on Mar. 26 and UC Irvine on Mar. 28, while No. 16 Fresno State travels to Los Angeles to compete with No. 10 USC on Mar. 27 and Harvard on Mar. 29. The Hawai’i Rainbow Wahine hosts No. 8 UCLA on Mar. 25, while Louisiana Tech heads to Shreveport, La., to take on instate rival Centenary. Idaho and San Jose State travel to Las Vegas, Nev., Mar. 29-30, where both the Vandals and the Spartans face Southern Utah, before squaring off themselves. The New Mexico State Aggies head to Gulfport, Miss., to meet Southern Mississippi and Troy State, Mar. 28-29, while the Aggies of Utah State welcome Dixie State and Cal State Bakersfield, Mar. 28-29. No. 66 Nevada will host its first home match of the season when Pacific comes to Reno on Mar. 30.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK ? Fresno State’s Jacqueline Haskett has been named the Western Athletic Conference Tennis Player of the Week for the week of Mar. 17-23. This is the first career Player of the Week honor for Haskett.
Haskett, a senior from Adelaide, Australia, (Westminster) was a perfect 2-0 in singles action, helping the No. 16 Bulldogs earn two team victories over No. 21 Denver (4-3) and No. 27 BYU (6-1) in Fresno, Calif. Haskett delivered a thrilling come-from-behind victory over Denver’s Kyla Iwinski, 6-2, 7-6 (9), before winning 11-9 in the decisive frame. After dropping the doubles point to the Pioneers, Fresno State needed four wins in singles play, with Haskett’s victory clinching the win for the Bulldogs. She also topped BYU’s Elle Carney in straight sets, 7-6 (4), 6-2 at the No. 5 position, helping Fresno State to its second-straight victory over ranked opponents.
Other women’s tennis nominees included: Pichittra Thongdach of Boise State led the Broncos to a win over No. 70 Cal State Northridge (5-2), pulling out a victory over Victoria Brymer (7-5, 6-2) in No. 1 singles, also pairing with teammate Polina Kokoulina to take down Brymer and Canna Furuta (8-5) in doubles action ... Sophie Kobuch of Hawai’i knocked off two ranked opponents, defeating No. 116 Ola Abou-Zekry of No. 59 New Mexico (6-1, 6-1) and knocked off No. 59 Maria Mizyuk of Nevada (7-5, 6-3), both at the No. 1 position ... Caroline Bailly of Nevada went undefeated in both singles and doubles action, leading the Wolf Pack to three team victories over No. 57 New Mexico (6-1), San Diego (4-2) and Hawai’i (5-2) ... Stephanie Eusebe of New Mexico State was perfect in both singles and doubles action, breezing past Texas-San Antonio’s Monika Drabkova (6-3, 6-1) and Texas-Pan American’s Megan Bedeau (7-5, 7-5), both at the No. 3 singles position ... Amber Silverstone of San Jose State extended her singles winning streak to six, topping Wyoming’s Rebecca Berger (7-5, 6-4) and Ashlee Thorneycroft of Cal State Bakersfield (6-1, 6-1).
Boise State Broncos
No. 43 Boise State extended its winning streak to seven-straight matches, after topping No. 70 Cal State Northridge (5-2), Mar. 23 ... with the win over the Matadors, Bronco head coach Mark Tichenor earned his 150th win at Boise State ... the Broncos snagged the doubles point with wins at the No. 1 and No. 3 positions, and earned four more wins in singles action ... sophomore Pichittra Thongdach tallied a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Victoria Brymer in the No. 1 spot, while junior Jana Mackova made quick work of Nina Jaworowski, 6-3, 6-3, at the No. 5 position ... up next, the Broncos will continue their Southern California road trip, taking on UC Santa Barbara on Mar. 26 and UC Irvine on Mar. 28.
Fresno State Bulldogs
No. 16 Fresno State won two-straight home matches in exciting fashion, first topping No. 21 Denver (4-3) on Mar. 21, before downing No. 37 BYU (6-1) on Mar. 22. ... senior Jacqueline Haskett clinched the match over the Pioneers with her thrilling tiebreaker victory over Kyla Iwinski, 6-2, 7-6 (9), and also took down her BYU opponent, 7-6 (4), 6-2 ... Bulldog sophomore and No. 12-ranked Anastasia Petukhova earned wins over two ranked opponents, defeating No. 77 Mallory Voelker of Denver (6-4, 6-2) and No. 86 Anastasia Surkova of BYU (6-3, 6-1) ... this week, the Bulldogs travel to Southern California to take on No. 10 USC on Mar. 27 and Harvard on Mar. 29.
Hawai?i Rainbow Wahine
Hawai’i looks for its first win of the season, after falling to 0-13 with losses to No. 59 New Mexico (6-1), No. 20 Tennessee (7-0) and WAC foe Nevada (5-2) ... ten of the Rainbow Wahine’s losses have come against ranked opponents ... Rainbow Wahine sophomore and No. 88-ranked Sophie Kobuch had two impressive victories over ranked opponents, topping No. 116 Ola Abou-Zekry of New Mexico, 6-1, 6-1, and No. 59 Maria Mizyuk of Nevada, 7-5, 6-3, both 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 welcome No. 8 UCLA to Honolulu, Mar. 25.
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 Las Vegas, Nev., to take on Southern Utah, San Jose State and Bethany College, Mar. 29-30.
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 returns from its Hawaiian vacation after recording three-straight victories, earning a No. 66 spot in the ITA national rankings ... the Wolf topped No. 57 New Mexico (6-1), San Diego (4-2) and WAC foe Hawai?i (5-2) ... No. 59 Maria Mizyuk picked up two wins in singles action, including a victory over No. 111 Ola Abou-Zekry of New Mexico (6-1, 6-1) ... sophomore Alice Hall and freshman Florence De Vrye each picked up three victories in singles play ... Hall’s best win was a dominating 6-1, 6-0 victory over Julia Sandborn of Hawai?i, while De Vrye picked up a narrow victory over Lucy Scott of New Mexico, 7-5, 7-6 ... this week, the Wolf Pack are in Reno for their home opener against Pacific, Mar. 30.
New Mexico State Aggies
New Mexico State returns home from Texas after splitting a pair of matches, first beating Texas-San Antonio (4-3) on Mar. 22, before falling to Texas-Pan American (5-2) on Mar. 23 ... senior Anne Fagegaltier increased her singles winning streak to nine-straight matches with a victory over UTSA’s Caroline Dedering (6-1, 6-4), but saw her streak come to end when she fell to Stephanie Willerding of UTPA ... junior Stephanie Eusebe was the only Aggie to tally two singles victories, topping Monike Drabkova of UTSA (6-3, 6-1) and Megan Bedeau of UTPA (7-5, 7-5) ... up next, the Aggies return to the courts when they head to Gulfport, Miss., to face Southern Mississippi and Troy State, Mar. 28-30.
San Jose State Spartans
San Jose State comes off a pair of split matches, first falling to Wyoming (4-3) on Mar. 19, before rallying to top Cal State Bakersfield (5-2) on Mar. 20 ... junior Amber Silverstone won her sixth-straight singles match, earning victories over Wyoming’s Rebecca Berger (7-5, 6-4) and Ashlee Thorneycroft of Cal State Bakersfield (6-1, 6-1) ... senior Ashley Tavita broke the Spartan record for career match wins (singles and doubles) with 107 total victories ... Tavita’s doubles victory with Silverstone over Kaydee Graham and Kati Lynott of Cal State Bakersfield put her atop the Spartan record books ... this week, the Spartans travel to Las Vegas, Nev., to take on Southern Utah and WAC foe Idaho, Mar. 29-30.
Utah State Aggies
Utah State split a pair of home matches, first falling to Montana (4-3), Mar. 7, before bouncing back to take down Portland State (4-3), 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 return to action this week 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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