DENVER ? This week, all nine WAC schools are in action, with four schools set to take on nationally ranked teams. The No. 59 Boise State Broncos welcome San Diego on Mar. 7 and No. 35 Saint Mary’s on Mar. 9, while the No. 18 Fresno State Bulldogs host No. 26 William & Mary on Mar. 7. The Hawai’i Rainbow Wahine welcomes No. 27 Pepperdine to Honolulu on Mar. 5 and No. 19 Notre Dame on Mar. 7. Idaho travels to Cheney, Wash., to take on Northern Colorado on Mar. 7, while Louisiana Tech hosts Grambling State on Mar. 7 before heading to Baton Rouge, La., to compete with Southern on Mar. 8. Nevada make the trip to Eugene, Ore., to take on the No. 62 Oregon Ducks on Mar. 7 and No. 32 Sacramento State on Mar. 8. The Aggies of New Mexico State travel to Texas to square off with Houston on Mar. 8 and Lamar on Mar. 9, while San Jose State will take on instate rivals UC Riverside and Cal Poly Pomona, Mar. 7-8. Utah State welcomes Montana to Logan on Mar. 7.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK ? Boise State’s Polina Kokoulina has been named the Western Athletic Conference Tennis Player of the Week for the week of Feb. 25 ? Mar. 2. This is the first career Player of the Week honor for Kokoulina.
Kokoulina, a senior from St. Petersburg, Russia, (Mississippi State), was perfect in both singles and doubles matches against No. 64 New Mexico and No. 66 Western Michigan, Mar. 1-2. Kokoulina earned a win at the No. 3 singles position over Mackenzie White of New Mexico, 6-3, 6-4, before pairing up with teammate Pichittra Thongdach in doubles play to top New Mexico’s Lucy Scott and Sandra Zmak, 8-5, at the No. 1 doubles position. When the Broncos faced Western Michigan, Kokoulina defeated Priyanka Parekh, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, at the No. 2 spot, and again teamed with Thongdach to beat Parekh and Kerstin Pahl of Western Michigan, 8-6.
Other women’s tennis nominees included: Florence De Vrye of Nevada won both singles and one doubles match, helping the Wolf Pack to a victory over WAC foe Utah State. In singles, De Vrye won in straight sets at the No. 3 position, topping Utah State’s Bridgette Strickland, 7-5, 6-3, and teamed with Alice Hall to beat Taylor Perry and Kourtney Young, 8-4.
Boise State Broncos
Boise State returns home from Albuquerque, after splitting a pair of matches with ranked opponents ... the Broncos fell to host No. 64 New Mexico, 5-2, on Mar. 1, but bounced back to take down No. 66 Western Michigan, 6-1, on Mar. 2, earning their first road victory of the season ... the Broncos were led by senior Polina Kokoulina, who earned two singles and two doubles victories against New Mexico and Western Michigan ... Kokoulina earned the only point for Boise State with her win over New Mexico’s Mackenzie White, 6-3, 6-4 ... up next, the Broncos return to the courts for their only home matches in March, welcoming San Diego on Mar. 7 and No. 35 Saint Mary’s on Mar. 9.
Fresno State Bulldogs
Fresno State returns home from Texas where the Bulldogs went 1-2 against ranked opponents ... Fresno State fell to No. 4 Baylor (6-1) and No. 27 Texas (4-3), but bounced back to top No. 31 TCU (4-3) ... the No. 1-ranked tandem of Melanie Gloria and Tinesta Rowe suffered their first losses of the season, falling to No. 4 Lenka Broosova and Zuzana Zemenova of Baylor (8-3), and to Vanja Corovic and Marija Milic of Texas (8-6) ... No. 20-ranked Anastasia Petukhova tallied three singles victories, including a win over No. 22-ranked Taylor Ormond of Baylor (6-3, 6-4) ... this week, the Bulldogs will look forward to playing on their home turf, welcoming No. 26 William & Mary on Friday, Mar. 7.
Hawai?i Rainbow Wahine
Hawai’i looks to bounce back from losses to No. 21 Michigan (7-0) and Loyola Marymount (6-1) ... the Rainbow Wahine fall to 0-6 on the season, with five of those losses at the hands of ranked opponents ... the Wolverines picked up the doubles point by winning two of the three doubles matches, however, the duo of sophomore Sophie Kobuch and senior Chloe Bihag pulled out a thrilling 8-7 (10) victory at the No. 1 position over the No. 24-ranked tandem of Chisako Sugiyama and Tania Mahtani ... Kobuch and Bihag have won six-straight doubles matches ... up next, the Rainbow Wahine will continue their 12-match homestand when they welcome No. 27 Pepperdine and No. 19 Notre Dame to Honolulu, Mar. 5-7.
Idaho Vandals
Idaho comes off a 7-0 sweep of instate rival Idaho State, Mar. 2, in its first home match of the season ... the Vandals made quick work of all three doubles matches, downing the Bengals by scores of 8-4, 8-4 and 8-2 ... the Vandals continued their momentum into singles action, taking all six matches in straight sets ... sophomore Basia Maciocha knocked off Magaly Rivera at the No. 4 position in a perfect 6-0, 6-0 victory, tallying her fourth-straight singles victory ... this week, the Vandals make the trip to Cheney, Wash., to match up with Northern Colorado.
Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters
Louisiana Tech looks to bounce back after being swept , 7-0, by Arkansas State and Arkansas-Little Rock, Mar. 1-2 ... the No. 1 tandem of Ada Makowska and Rocio Juarez battled with Arkansas State’s Renee Branker and Emily Laing, falling, 8-5 ... Makowska also fought in a three-set match at the No. 4 singles position, falling to Menna Kamal of Arkansas State, 7-6 (9-7), 7-10, 7-10 ... the No. 2 duo of Alexandra Gaspar and Ashley Wedderburn took their match with Arkansas Little Rock’s Marta Gomez Jordana and Nathalia Garay the distance, falling 8-6 ... up next, Louisiana Tech welcomes instate rival Grambling State to Ruston, Mar. 7, before traveling to Baton Rouge to take on Southern on Mar. 8.
Nevada Wolf Pack
Nevada dropped a narrow 4-3 decision at No. 56 BYU on Feb. 29, but bounced back to top WAC foe Utah State, 7-0 ... the Wolf Pack were led by freshman Florence De Vrye and sophomore Laetitia Tan, who each earned two singles victories against BYU and Utah State ... De Vrye topped Dolly Chang of BYU, 6-1, 6-3, and Utah State’s Bridgette Strickland, 7-5, 6-3 ... Tan topped BYU’s Elle Carney, 4-6, 6-2, 6-0, and Utah State’s Britney Watts, 6-3, 6-1 ... against Utah State, the Wolf Pack won all six singles matches in straight sets, with junior Caroline Bailly and sophomore Mari Mizyuk not dropping a game in their victories ... this week, the Wolf Pack travel to Eugene, Ore., to take on the No. 62 Oregon Ducks on Mar. 7, before meeting No. 32 Sacramento State on Mar. 8.
New Mexico State Aggies
New Mexico State split a pair of home matches, falling to North Texas, 4-3, Feb. 23, before bouncing back to beat Air Force, 5-2, on Feb. 24 ... senior Anne Fagegaltier won her sixth consecutive singles match, notching victories over Rachel Wilhem of North Texas, 6-1, 3-6, 6-1, and Air Force’s Samantha Sarkis, 6-2, 7-5 ... junior Stephanie Eusebe and sophomore Sophia Marks also continued their dominating singles play, both earning two victories ... Marks earned her fifth-straight win when she topped Christine Abayan of Air Force, 6-0, 6-2 ... up next, the Aggies will make the trip to Texas to take on Houston and Lamar, Mar. 8-9.
San Jose State Spartans
San Jose State returns home following three matches across the Golden State, tallying a 2-1 record ... the Spartans beat Westmont College (9-0), fell to No. 74 Cal Poly (6-1) and bounced back to top UC Santa Cruz (7-2) ... the Spartans were led by senior Ashley Tavita, who earned three victories in singles play, notching her 100th win at San Jose State when she defeated Jessica Ruth of UC Santa Cruz, 6-1, 6-2 ... Tavita was also the only Spartan to record a victory against No. 74 Cal Poly, knocking off Steffi Wong, 6-1, 6-2, at the No. 1 singles position ... the Spartans next match will be Mar. 7 at UC Riverside and Mar. 8 at Cal Poly Pomona.
Utah State Aggies
Utah State looks to bounce back after falling to WAC foe Nevada, 7-0, on Feb. 29 ... the Aggies now fall to 2-8 on the season and 0-3 in conference action ... in singles play, junior Bridgette Strickland battled Nevada’s Florence De Vrye at the No. 3 position, before falling 7-5, 6-3 ... sophomore Britney Watts put in work against Alice Hall of Nevada, but was defeated 6-3, 6-1, at the No. 4 spot ... in doubles action, the No.1 tandem of Brianna Harris and Strickland lost to Nevada’s Maria Mizyuk and Lasi Ogata, 8-4 ... this week, the Aggies welcome Montana State-Billings to Logan on Tuesday, Mar. 4, and also host Montana on Friday, Mar. 7.
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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