ON TAP IN WAC MEN’S TENNIS ? Western Athletic Conference teams finished 5-4 last week at the prestigious Blue Gray Invitational. With just one more week before the start of conference play, WAC teams are finishing up non-conference matches.
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK (March 16-22 )
DENVER - Boise State’s Kean Feeder has been named Western Athletic Conference Men’s Tennis Players of the Week, respectively, for March 16-22.
Feeder, a senior from Portland, Ore. (Cascade College), helped the Broncos to a 2-1 record at the prestigious Blue Gray Classic in Montgomery, Ala., over the week. Playing at the No. 2 position, the senior began the tournament by defeating David Pultr of No. 41 Oklahoma, 6-3, 6-2, in BSU’s 4-0 win over the Sooners. He then propelled the 22nd-ranked Broncos to a 4-0 victory against No. 26 Notre Dame with a singles win against Stephen Haven (6-4, 6-0). Along with partner James Meredith, Feeder also helped BSU win the doubles point with an 8-6 win over Notre Dame’s 25th-ranked doubles squad of Tyler Davis and Brett Helgeson. Overall, he finished with a 4-1 record in one of the most competitive tournaments of the year. This marks the second time this year the senior has garnered the weekly WAC honor.
Other male nominees: Fresno State’s Remi Boutillier, Hawai?i’s Jeff Fitch and Nevada’s Wessim Derbel.
TEAM NOTES
Boise State Broncos
The Broncos return home after falling in the semifinal round to No. 24 Alabama at the prestigious Blue Gray Classic in Montgomery, Ala., last weekend ... the Broncos finished with a 2-1 record, defeating (26) Notre Dame and (41) Oklahoma before falling to the Crimson Tide ... senior Kean Feeder earned WAC Player of the Week honors after his excellent play in the tournament ... Boise State enters the weekend as the No. 23-ranked team in the country ... it holds an 11-7 overall record while also holding a 6-5 record in home matches ... the team improved to 8-6 against nationally ranked teams last weekend and have the potential to play one additional ranked team this weekend with No. 44-ranked Nebraska joining the Broncos as the only ranked teams in Boise State Spring Break Invitational.
Fresno State Bulldogs
Fresno State reached its highest ranking of the year at No. 39 in the ITA Tennis Rankings released on Tuesday ... the Bulldogs were ranked 43rd in the March 17 ITA rankings, but going 2-1 against ranked teams last weekend at the prestigious Blue Gray Classic helped the Bulldogs move up four spots ... FS first battled No. 25 Oklahoma State in a 4-1 loss, on Thursday, then on Friday routed No. 61 William & Mary, 4-1, before capping off the weekend with a 4-0 sweep of No. 55 Penn State of the Big Ten on Saturday ... freshman Remi Boutillier has another standout weekend, finishing 3-0 in singles play, as well as a 2-0 doubles record ... the team plays host to UC Santa Barbara, breaking its streak of nine matches against ranked opponents.
Hawai?i Rainbow Warriors
Hawai?i jumped up 16 spots in the latest ITA rankings, after finishing with a 1-2 record at the Blue Gray Tennis Classic in Montgomery, Ala., last weekend ... the Rainbow Warriors earned a 4-1 win over No. 56 Middle Tennessee State, but fell to No. 29 Wisconsin and No. 41 Oklahoma ... senior Jeff Fitch led UH with a 2-1 singles record and a 2-0 mark in doubles play ... Hawai?i will have a week off from competition before returning to the mainland for the first week of conference play on April 3 ... the Rainbow Warriors will open WAC play against No. 39 Fresno State, a rematch of the 2008 WAC Championship match ... UH defeated the Bulldogs 4-2 in the final match to advance to the NCAA tournament.
Idaho Vandals
Coming off a 6-1 loss to Nevada in their third conference match, the Vandals look to bounce back against Bethany College on Wednesday in Moscow ... Idaho earned the doubles point after sweeping all three matches against Nevada ... at the No. 1 doubles position, Alexandru Joitoiu and Hugh McDonald garnered a 9-8 victory over the Wolf Pack duo of Laurent Garcin and Augustin Myard ... Artem Kuznetsov and Stanislav Glukhov also won their No. 2 doubles match by a score of 9-8, to secure UI’s only point of the match ... this weekend, the Vandals travel to Portland to take on the University of Portland and Portland State.
Nevada Wolf Pack
The Wolf Pack continue to roll, holding on to its national ranking this week ... Nevada earned a win in its first conference match of the year in a 6-1 routing of Idaho ... freshman Wessim Derbel continued his tear of excellent play, he is now 9-1 this season in singles, the best record in the conference ... against Yale on Monday, Derbel picked up a 6-0, 6-2 win over Michael Caldwell in the No. 1 singles spot ... on Saturday he picked up a win in the No. 2 spot against Stanislav Glukhov 6-1, 7-5 ... Derbel is 2-0 in the No. 1 position and 5-1 in the No. 2 position ... this week, the team hosts Gonzaga, St. Mary’s and Montana.
New Mexico State Aggies
After having the weekend off, the Aggies play three matches in the state of Florida this week, beginning with Central Florida on Tuesday, then No. 27 South Florida on Thursday and they conclude the week against Brown on Saturday.. these are NM State’s last three non-conference matches of the season... sophomore Jim Brouleau owns a 7-3 record at the No. 1 singles spot, good for third-best in the conference standings ... the NMSU duo of Roman Stoisavljevic and Eduardo Salas have a 9-4 record in doubles play, to lead the Aggies ... the Aggies are ranked No. 67 in the nation, which is tied for the seventh-highest ranking in program history.
Utah State Aggies
In USU’s most recent play in Portland, Ore., the Aggies went home with a victory over Seattle University, 7-0, but fell short against Portland State, 4-3, bringing USU to a 7-5 season thus far ... Aggie junior Mike Banks and freshman Jordan Barlow are tied for the lead in singles wins, holding 8-4 records on the season ... while in doubles action, partners Banks and Barlow boast an impressive 8-4 record, tying with fellow teammates juniors Amit Maharaj and Alex Thatcher ... Maharaj and Thatcher won both their doubles matches of the weekend against SU and PSU ... this week, Utah State’s heads to Ogden, Utah where Weber State will host the Aggies Tuesday ... USU looks to follow its win over the Wildcats earlier this season, 5-2, Feb. 27.
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.