Denver ? Utah State’s Alex Thatcher and Boise State’s Lauren Megale have been named Western Athletic Conference Men’s and Women’s Tennis Players of the Week, respectively, for Feb. 9?15.
Thatcher, a junior from Paradise, Utah (Mountain Crest HS), won both his No. 5 singles matches this weekend in the Aggies back-to-back wins against Montana State-Billings and Northern Arizona. Thatcher defeated MSUB's Geoff Fehr in a quick, 6-1, 6-2, match and then teamed with fellow Aggie Amit Maharaj to win their number No. 2 match, 8-3. Saturday against Northern Arizona, Thatcher battled and won, 7-5, 5-7, 6-0, against NAU's Jaco Visagie. Thatcher and Maharaj also partnered and won at the No. 2 doubles spot, 9-8. This marks the first time this season a Utah State player has earned the award.
Megale, a freshman from Boise, Idaho (Laurel Springs HS), swept through the competition last weekend in the No. 2 singles spot in dual matches against No. 51 Utah and No. 47 Colorado. She now has an 8-1 singles dual record in her first year as a Bronco, including winning every set she played and only allowing five games to her opponents in two matches. Megale defeated Utah’s Evgenia Kryucjkova, 6-0, 6-0, before playing to the same result against Melisa Esposito of Colorado, 6-1, 6-4. She also improved her doubles record with partner Pichittra Thongdach to 10-1 by taking down both Utah’s and Colorado’s No. 1 doubles squads, 8-6. This is the second time in as many weeks the freshman has earned the WAC weekly honor.
Other male nominees included: Nevada’s Benjamin David and Augustin Myard.
Other female nominees included: Nevada’s Florence De Vrye.