DENVER ? This week, six WAC schools are in action with four schools hosting their opponents. No. 40 Boise State welcomes No. 52 San Diego State on Mar. 8 and also hosts No. 43 Pepperdine on Mar. 9. No. 45 Fresno State welcomes UNLV on Mar. 8, while Hawai?i will host Southern Illinois on Mar. 11. The Idaho Vandals take on No. 52 San Diego State on Mar. 8 in Boise, Idaho, before traveling to Cheney, Wash., to take on Northern Colorado on Mar. 9. Nevada will take on the Oregon Ducks in Eugene on Mar. 8, before competing with Portland on Mar. 9. The Aggies of Utah State host Montana State on Mar. 6.
New Mexico State will take nearly three weeks off before returning to action when the Aggies travel to Oklahoma to take on Oklahoma State and Oral Roberts, Mar. 22-23.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK ? Boise State’s Luke Shields has been named the Western Athletic Conference Tennis Player of the Week for the week of Feb. 25 ? Mar. 2. This is the seventh career honor for Shields, earning the award twice as a junior, once as a sophomore and three times as a freshman.
Shields, a senior from Grand Junction, Colo., (Grand Junction) shined for the Broncos in a victory over No. 67 Minnesota on Mar. 1. In singles, No. 64-ranked Shields earned a big win at the No.1 position, topping No. 46 Roaul Schwark of Minnesota, in a convincing 6-4, 6-3 win. In doubles action, the No. 55-ranked pair of Shields and Clancy Shields topped Minnesota’s Adam Altepekr and Schwark, 8-2, at the No. 1 position. In the win over Minnesota, Shields helped the No. 41 Broncos remain a perfect 5-0 at home this season and earned their first dual match victory since Feb. 17.
Other men’s tennis nominees included: Gustave Diep of New Mexico State went 2-0 in singles and 2-1 in doubles to help the Aggies win three matches. In singles action, Diep defeated Sacramento State’s Kiryl Harbatsuik, 6-4, 6-7, 10-3, and topped Zach Ganger of Utah, 6-3, 6-4 ... Jonas Tyden of Utah State picked up two singles and one doubles victory, topping Alex Buceta of Idaho State, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3, and defeating UNLV’s Bryan Miller, 6-7, 4-6, 1-0 (10-7).
Boise State Broncos
No. 40 Boise State notched two victories over ranked opponents, first downing No. 67 Minnesota, 6-1, Mar. 1, and then topping No. 38 William & Mary, 6-1, Mar. 3 ... the Broncos are now a perfect 6-0 at home this season ... Boise State was led by seniors Luke Shields and Eric Roberson and juniors Clancy Shields and Paul Koenke, who each earned two singles and two doubles victories against Minnesota and William & Mary ... the No. 64-ranked Luke Shields topped No. 46 Raoul Schwark of Minnesota, 6-4, 6-3, while his brother and No. 60-ranked Clancy Shields defeated Minnesota’s Dino Bilankou, 6-3, 6-1 ... against William & Mary, Koenke knocked off Sebastien Vidal, 6-0, 6-3, and Roberson beat Richard Wardell, 6-4, 6-4 ... this week, Boise State welcomes No. 52 San Diego State on Mar. 8, before hosting No. 43 Pepperdine on Mar. 9, in Boise.
Fresno State Bulldogs
After winning six-straight matches, No. 45 Fresno State was stopped by No. 50 San Diego State, 5-2, on Feb. 28, falling to 8-3 on the season ... the Bulldogs were led by junior Rudolf Siwy and sophomore Mirko Zapletal, who earned the only two points against the Aztecs and took their matches in straight sets ... Siwy won at the No. 1 position over Bartosz Golas, 7-6 (1), 6-4, while Zapletal knocked off Juan Gomez, 6-4, 6-2, at the No. 2 spot ... Siwy is now 16-7 overall and 9-2 in dual matches this season, while Zapletal is 13-5 and 9-2 in dual play ... this weekend, the Bulldogs are back in action when they welcome UNLV to Fresno on Mar. 8 ... Fresno State is 13-2 all-time against the Rebels, beating them 5-2 when they last met in 2007 ... the Bulldogs are a perfect 7-0 at home this season and look to increase that number against UNLV.
Hawai?i Rainbow Warriors
Hawai?i concluded its four-match road trip with a loss to Pac-10 foe Oregon, 4-3 on Feb. 9 ... the Rainbow Warriors also fell to WAC foe No. 74 Fresno State, 6-1, on Feb. 8, and to No. 40 Stanford, 7-0 on Feb. 6 ... Hawai?i was led by No. 25-ranked sophomore Andreas Weber, who earned the lone singles victory over Fresno State’s Tejesvi Veerepalli, 6-2, 6-2 ... Weber also was a winner against Francisco Gallardo of Oregon, 6-2, 6-1, and paired up with teammate Sascha Heinemann to beat Oregon’s Marco Verdasco and Francisco Gallardo in doubles action, 8-1 ... freshman Dennis Lajola and Sascha Heinemann also secured singles victories against the Ducks ... this week, the Rainbow Warriors will host Southern Illinois on Mar. 11 in Honolulu.
Idaho Vandals
Idaho returns from Spokane, Wash., after falling to the Gonzaga Bulldogs, 5-2, Feb. 29 ... in doubles action, all three matches went down to the wire, with the Vandals’ only win coming at the No. 1 position as Stanislav Glukov and Andrey Potapkin topped Stefan Feddersen and Zack Radetcky, 8-6 ... in singles play, Idaho was led by senior Rob Chalkey and freshman Andrew Dobbs ... Chalkey put the Vandals on the board with his victory at the No. 3 position over Zack Radetcky, 6-2, 6-4 ... Dobbs earned a tough three-set win over Charles Adams, 6-2, 3-6, 1-0 (8) ... this week, the Vandals travel to Cheney, Wash., to take on Eastern Washington on Mar. 4, before taking on No. 52 San Diego State in Boise, Idaho, on Mar. 7 ... Idaho will then make the trip back to Cheney, Wash., where the Vandals will face Northern Colorado on Mar. 9.
Nevada Wolf Pack
Nevada returns from Utah after falling to the Utah Utes, 7-0, on Feb. 22, before bouncing back to defeat conference foe Utah State, 5-2, on Feb. 23 ... the Wolf Pack picked up the doubles point against the Aggies with wins at No. 2 and No. 3 positions ... in singles play, Laurent Garcin earned a victory at the No. 1 position over Utah State’s Jakob Asplund, 7-5, 6-2, while Kristian Kuharszky won at the No. 4 spot against Jonas Tyden in three sets ... freshman Cameron Spearman won his first match of the season, getting the victory at the No. 6 position in straight sets over Matt Braithwaite, 6-2, 6-3 ... the Wolf Pack return to the courts in two weeks when they head to Eugene, to take on Oregon on Mar. 8, before taking on Portland on Mar. 9.
New Mexico State Aggies
New Mexico State comes off three-straight home victories, earning wins over Sacramento State (5-2), Utah (6-1) and Texas-Arlington (4-0) ... senior Jeff Pfeiffer won his final match as an Aggie, knocking off Brieuc Hamon and Nishant Hari of Texas-Arlington, at the No. 2 doubles position with his partner Jim Brouleau ... Alejandro de Mucha and Brouleau each earned three singles and three doubles victories last weekend ... Brouleua’s win over Sacramento State’s Artur Klimenka (6-2, 6-4) at the No. 3 position ended a three-match losing streak for the freshman ... de Mucha’s win over Nishant Hari of Texas-Arlington (6-1, 6-1) was his sixth victory in his last seven matches ... the Aggies will enjoy two weekends off before returning to the courts Mar. 22-23 against Oklahoma State and Oral Roberts in Stillwater, Okla.
Utah State Aggies
Utah State looks to bounce back after two losses in Las Vegas, Nev., to Weber State (6-1) and UNLV (5-2), Feb. 29 - Mar. 1 ... the Aggies were led by freshman Jakob Asplund, sophomore Oscar Ericsson and senior Jonas Tyden, who each earned one victory in singles action last weekend ... Asplund notched the sole win against Weber State, knocking off Henning Hipp, 7-5, 6-4, at the No. 1 position ... Ericsson topped UNLV’s Luca Barlocci, 3-6, 7-6, 1-0 (10-7), while Tyden defeated Bryan Miller of UNLV, 6-7, 6-4, 1-0 (10-8) ... up next, the Aggies continue action Tuesday, Mar. 4, against Montana State-Billings in Logan, and will then host Montana State on Thursday, Mar. 6.
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.
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