ON TAP IN WAC MEN’S TENNIS ? For the first time this season, five of the seven Western Athletic Conference teams have earned their way into the latest ITA rankings. WAC teams finished with a 7-3 record last week as three of the top teams prepare for the prestigious Blue-Gray Classic in Alabama.
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK (March 9-15 )
Denver - Boise State’s Clancy Shields has been named the Western Athletic Conference Men’s Tennis Player of the Week for March 9-15.
Shields, a senior from Grand Junction, Colo. (Grand Junction HS), led the No. 26 Broncos in a thrilling 4-3 victory over No. 46 BYU on Saturday. Playing at the No. 1 position, Shields made quick work of the Cougars’ Evan Urbina, 6-1, 6-2. In doubles play, Shields and partner Stanley Sarapanich took down BYU’s Cassidy Mears/Daniel Hwang, 8-3, in the No. 2 doubles spot. Later that day, the senior continued his tear to defeat Corey Smith of Montana State, 6-3, 6-0, in Boise State’s 6-1 win over the Bobcats. Along with Sarapanich, he improved his weekend record to 4-0 after an 8-1 defeat of MSU’s Corey Smith and Alberto Fuentes. This season, Shields, the No. 26th ranked player in the nation, holds a 9-4 record in the No. 1 singles position and a 10-4 overall dual singles record. This marks the second time this season he has earned the WAC weekly honor.
Other male nominees included: Hawai’i’s Dennis Lajola, Idaho’s Timothy Huynh, Nevada’s Alex Daruty and Utah State’s Alex Thatcher.
TEAM NOTES
Boise State Broncos
The Broncos cracked the top-25 in the most recent ITA rankings after a 2-0 weekend, which included a 4-3 over No. 43 BYU ... senior Clancy Shields garnered WAC Player of the Week honors after playing to an overall record of 8-0, including doubles play ... Shields holds a No. 38 ranking in the nation, the best in the conference ... senior Kean Feeder posts a ranking of 78, while freshman James Meredith sits at the 80th position ... BSU improved to 3-1 in regional matches and hold a 6-5 record at home this season ... the team will travel to Montgomery, Ala., to try its luck against the top teams in the nation at the Blue-Gray Classic this coming weekend ... the mid-season tournament will feature 15 other nationally ranked teams.
Fresno State Bulldogs
Coming off of a 5-2 win on the road at No. 72 UNLV two weeks ago, the Bulldogs took a week off to prepare for No. 52 Indiana ... the two teams meet for the first time in 18 years ... coming off the WAC Player of the Week award, senior Rudolf Siwy earned a ranking of 55 in the latest ITA poll ... his ranking is the second-best in the WAC ... in doubles action, Siwy and teammate Mirko Zapletal boast a ranking of 33 ... after a tough match against the Hoosiers this week, the Bulldogs will travel to the Blue-Gray Classic in Alabama ... they kick off the four day tournament with a match against No. 25 Oklahoma State ... in the next round, the team will play either No. 30 Auburn of No. 61 William and Mary.
Hawai?i Rainbow Warriors
The Rainbow Warriors have been in and out of the national rankings for four weeks, but solidified a spot at No. 75 this week ... after a tough 6-1 loss to No. 9 UCLA, the Warriors bounced back with a 4-3 victory over Loyola Marymount ... sophomore standout Dennis Lajola scored a major upset against the Bruins’ No. 76 Haythem Amid, 6-3, 7-6 ... the win earned Lajola a ranking of 84th in the nation ... in Lajola’s absence in the teams second match in Los Angeles, Andreas Weber and Leo Rosenberg earned victories in the first two positions, respectively ... UH will be the third and final WAC team to compete in the Blue-Gray Classic as they take on No. 29 Wisconsin in the opening round of the tournament.
Idaho Vandals
Idaho registered a thrilling 4-3 win over Montana over the weekend, with the help of senior Timothy Huynh ... Huynh earned the Vandals’ last point to clinch the match, that helped seal UI’s third straight victory ... the team is set to prepare for conference play as it travels to Reno, Nev. to take on Nevada ... it will be the third conference match this season, previously, the Vandals have dropped both conference matches, to New Mexico State (7-0) and Boise State (5-2) ... it has played the most WAC matches out of any other team in the conference.
Nevada Wolf Pack
The Wolf Pack earned its marquee victory of the season against No. 44 San Diego State ... the 5-2 win in San Diego last week propelled Nevada into the national rankings, at No. 59, for the first time this season ... junior Laurent Garcin picked up his 51st career singles win in the No. 1 position by defeating Achim Ceban 4-6, 6-3 6-1 ... he also improved to 8-3 overall on the season ... freshman Wessim Derbel picked up his seventh win in his career by defeating Bartosz Golas 6-4, 6-4 in the No. 2 position ... junior Alex Daruty extended his singles win streak to six defeating Andre Feliz 6-4, 6-4 in the No. 3 position ... the Wolf Pack host Idaho on Saturday, in its first conference match of the season.
New Mexico State Aggies
New Mexico State is off until Tuesday, March 24 when they play at Central Florida ... NMSU’s last four losses have come to a nationally ranked opponents ... New Mexico State’s March 26 match at South Florida will end a six-match stretch that saw the Aggies face five ranked opponents ... in the latest ITA rankings, the Aggies jumped 11 spots to No. 64 this week ... the Aggies only have three more non-conference matches this season ... the team already has three student-athletes with 10 singles victories and one other with nine... after meeting the Knights in Orlando, the Aggies head over to Tampa, Fla., to face No. 27 South Florida (9-4), March 26, while the Aggies conclude their spring break trip against Brown (12-4), March 28, in Tampa as well.
Utah State Aggies
The Aggies split 1-1 over the weekend, including a 7-0 romping of Seattle University ... their defeat came in a 4-3 loss to Portland State ... junior Alex Thatcher won both of his singles matches and doubles matches ... Thatcher partnered with Amit Maharaj and the pair won their number two doubles match, 8-6 ... in the Aggies’ loss, Thatcher tabbed one of the Aggies only two singles points defeating PSU’s Branislav Valach, 7-6, 6-4 ... USU is off until March 24 as it travels to Ogden, Utah to take on Weber State ... the Aggies defeated the Wildcats, 5-2, on Feb. 27 in Logan.
WAC TOURNAMENT TO BE HELD IN HONOLULU- This season, the Western Athletic Conference Tournament will return to Honolulu, Hawaii on the campus of Hawai?i, April 23-26. The 2008 champion, Hawai?i, will look to defend its’ crown after it earned its first-ever WAC title with a 4-2 win over second-seeded Fresno State.