JOLI NAMED PLAYER OF THE MONTH
Boise State’s Vicente Joli has been named the Verizon Wireless Western Athletic Conference Tennis Player of the Month for October. This is the first honor of the season and career for Joli.
A senior from Castellon, Spain, Joli compiled a 6-1 singles record in the month of October, with his only loss coming at the D’Novo ITA All-American Championships. At the ITA Mountain Regional, he won the singles title, posting six straight victories, including wins over the No. 3 and No. 4 tournament seeds, and only having one match go three sets. In doubles play, he posted a 3-3 record on the month, with two of those losses coming against the No. 2 and No. 10 ranked teams in the country.
Other male nominees included: Fresno State’s Mirko Zapletal defeated No. 63 Bryant Salcedo and advanced to the doubles championship of the ITA Northwest Regional … Alex Joitiu of Idaho compiled an 8-1 singles mark and a 7-1 doubles record in October … Nevada’s Wessim Derbel reached the semifinals at the ITA Mountain Regional and the quarterfinals of the Bulldog Classic … Jim Brouleau of New Mexico State compiled a 6-2 singles record on the month … Utah State’s Bryan Marchant went 5-2 in singles and 7-2 in doubles play on the month.
FRESNO STATE DUO ADVANCE TO NORTHWEST REGIONAL FINAL
Fresno State seniors Mirko Zapletal and Taylor Leiby fell 8-3 to No. 8 Bradley Klahn and Ryan Thatcher of Stanford in the championship of the ITA Northwest Regional. The duo came in unranked and knocked off five opponents, including No. 16 Anton Stryhas and Kiryl Harbatsiuk of Sacramento State, to earn a berth in finals. They are now 8-1 on the year.
JOLI CAPTURES MOUNTAIN REGION SINGLES TITLE
Boise State’s Vicente Joli won the singles title at the ITA/Wilson Mountain Region Championships with a straight-set victory over No. 3-seed Phillip Eilers of Utah. Joli, who entered the tournament as the No. 12 seed, had to face four opponents seeded 16 or higher throughout the week, including two who were seeded in the top five. With the win, Joli earned an automatic berth at the National Individual Indoor Championships Nov. 5-8 in New Haven, Conn.
FRESNO STATE DOMINATES BULLDOG CLASSIC
Fresno State dominated its home tournament, the Bulldog Classic, with an all Fresno State finals in singles Flights A and B and doubles Flight A. Rikus de Villiers defended his title with a 7-6 (8-6), 6-0 win over teammate Tejesvi Veerepalli in singles Flight A.
In the singles Flight B finals, Siddharth Alapati secured the championship with a 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 victory over Taylor Leiby.
De Villiers also won a doubles championship with his partner Remi Boutillier, by defeating teammates Leiby and Alapati, 8-3.
UI’S JOITOIU GOES 8-1 IN SINGLES, 7-1 IN DOUBLES IN OCTOBER
Idaho’s Alex Joitoiu compiled an 8-1 singles record and a 7-1 doubles record during the month of October. He won both the singles and doubles titles at the EWU/GU Classic.
The junior also teamed up with partner Stas Glukhov to advance to the doubles quarterfinals of the ITA Mountain Regional. The highlight of the month for the Romanian was an upset of second-seeded Jim Brouleau of New Mexico State in the singles bracket of the ITA Mountain Regional.
NEVADA’S DERBEL ADVANCES TO SEMIS AT MOUNTAIN REGIONAL
Seeded 10th and earning a bye in the first round, Nevada’s Wessim Derbel made it to the semifinals at the ITA Mountain Regional in Las Vegas. He beat Montana State’s Fletcher Keyes, 6-1, 6-3, his first match, then won in the round 32 over Idaho’s Lachlan Reed 4-6,6-3,6-3. Next, he beat Northern Colorado’s Calix Van Lier 6-2,6-1, before knocking off seventh-seed Gustave Diep of New Mexico State, 6-3, 6-2 to move into the semis, where he fell to Phillip Eilers of Utah, 6-3, 6-3.
UTAH STATE’S MARCHANT HAS SPECTACULAR OCTOBER
Utah State’s Bryan Marchant advanced to the finals of singles play at the Utah State Open before losing to Weber State’s Simon Unger in three sets, 6-2, 1-6, 2-6. Marchant and doubles partner junior Jakob Asplund also advanced to the finals of the doubles bracket before losing, 8-3.
At the Utah Invitational, Marchant and Asplund swept the doubles competition, taking first place in the doubles draw. Marchant also advanced to the singles flight of 16 where he fell to Asplund, 6-3, 6-3.
NM STATE’S BROULEAU GOES 6-2 IN OCTOBER
New Mexico State’s Jim Brouleau compiled a 6-2 singles record in two highly competitive tournaments in the month of October. He opened the D’Novo All-American Championships with a victory over Oklahoma State’s Eric West, but fell in the second round, capping the tournament with a split 1-1 record.
At the ITA Mountain Regional Championships, Brouleau began the tournament as the No. 2 seed in the main draw. He began the tournament with a loss, but bounced back in the back draw to earn five victories. Brouleau finished the fall season with a 12-3 singles record.
PATTON TO COACH AT INTERNATIONAL COLLEGIATE COMPETITION
Boise State men’s tennis coach Greg Patton has been selected to help lead some of the top collegiate men and women’s tennis players at the 2009 Master’U BNP Paribas, an eight-nation international tennis tournament that will be held in Poitiers, France, Dec. 9-14.
The Master’U BNP Paribas features eight teams comprised of college and university players from around the world. The U.S. will be competing for the second consecutive year, this time facing off against teams from Belgium, China, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland and Mexico.
The tournament is set in a best-of-seven format, with two men’s and two women’s singles matches, one men’s and one women’s doubles match, and one mixed doubles match. Patton will join Illinois women’s tennis coach Michelle Dasso in coaching this year’s U.S. team.
Patton is in his 14th season leading the Broncos and has led Boise State to five consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and five WAC titles. In 2009, Patton led the Broncos to a Sweet 16 finish at the NCAA Tournament.
WAC IN THE PRESEASON RANKINGS
In the 2009 preseason ITA rankings, the WAC has four singles players ranked. Leading the way at No. 43 is Hawai’i’s Dennis Lajola, followed by James Meredith of Boise State at No. 53. Nevada’s Wessim Derbel is No. 93. Rounding out the group is Andres Weber of Hawai’i at No. 119.
In doubles, Boise State’s Meredith and Vicente Joli are ranked No. 41, while Lajola and Jeremy Tweedt of Hawai’i are No. 49.
WAC TOURNAMENT TO BE HELD IN FRESNO
The 2010 WAC Tennis Tournament will be held April 29-May 2 in Fresno, Calif., where Hawai‘i will look for its third-straight crown. Last year, the Rainbow Warriors knocked off top-seeded Boise State, 4-2.