ON TAP IN WAC MEN’S TENNIS ? This week, WAC teams face off against ITA ranked teams in six matches. No. 40 Fresno State highlights the week’s action against No. 14 Pepperdine in Las Vegas on Friday.
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK (Feb. 23-March 1 )
Denver ? Fresno State’s Remi Boutillier has been named Western Athletic Conference Tennis Player of the Week for Feb. 23 ? March 1.
Boutillier, a freshman from Briancon, France (Externat Notre Dame), was unbeaten in singles and doubles play over Fresno State’s (42) three-match swing last week. The freshman finished 3-0 at the No. 4 and 5 singles spots. He also had a 3-0 record in doubles play after he and teammate Rikus de Villiers swept through the competition. He aided in the Bulldogs’ 6-1 win against No. 50 San Diego State by defeating Tim Shultz van Endert (SDSU) 7-5, 6-3. Boutillier earned points at the No. 5 singles spot against Arizona’s Pat Metham, 6-2, 7-5 before helping his team lock up the doubles point with a 9-8 (7-5) victory in a 4-3 loss to No. 35 Arizona. Boutillier finished off his stellar weekend with a defeat of Alex McCann of No. 66 Middle Tennessee State, 6-4, 6-3. His wins accounted for two of Fresno State’s four points in the 4-1 win over Blue Raiders.
Other male nominees included: Boise State’s Kean Feeder, New Mexico State’s Arthur Surreaux, Nevada’s Wessim Derbel and Utah State’s Jakob Asplund.
TEAM NOTES
Boise State Broncos
The Broncos split 1-1 this weekend, defeating WAC opponent, Idaho, and falling to Utah ... with the win over Idaho, the Broncos posted their first WAC win of the season (1-0) ... senior Kean Feeder was the only Bronco to go 3-1 overall on the weekend (including singles and doubles)... he improved to 2-0 at the No. 1 spot this season and holds a 10-2 singles record overall for the season in duals ... overall, holds a 14-3 singles record (including the fall) ... with the matches against Utah and Idaho, BSU completed its nine-match streak against ranked opponents ... this week, the team faces a tough test in No. 36 Texas A&M in Boise on Friday.
Fresno State Bulldogs
Fresno State finished 2-1 against three ranked opponents last week ... the team got started with a 6-1 defeat of No. 50 San Diego State, but then had an upset bid fall short in a 4-3 loss to No. 35 Arizona the next day ... the Bulldogs rebounded in impressive fashion with a 4-1 win over No. 66 Middle Tennessee State ... earning Player of the Week honors, freshman Remi Boutillier was unbeaten in singles and doubles play over Fresno State’s (42) three-match swing last week ... he finished 3-0 at the No. 4 and 5 singles spots to go along with a 3-0 record in doubles play after he and teammate Rikus de Villiers swept through the competition in Fresno ... the team is scheduled for a tough match against No. 14 Pepperdine this Friday in Las Vegas.
Hawai?i Rainbow Warriors
The Rainbow Warriors moved into the No. 71 spot the latest ITA rankings ... Dennis Lajola is currently ranked No. 116 in the nation ... UH dropped to 1-3 on the season after a 5-2 setback at the hands of No. 50 San Diego on Feb. 10 ... the team’s lone win came against No. 57 San Diego State ... all four dual matches have come against ranked teams ... the scheduled match against No. 66 St. Mary’s was postponed due to weather conditions and was tentatively rescheduled for later this week ... after nearly three weeks off, UH looks toward its next match as it hosts San Francisco on March 7 in Honolulu.
Idaho Vandals
Idaho bounced back from a 5-2 loss at the hands of rival No. 27 Boise State last week with a thrilling 4-3 win over Weber State ... in singles against BSU, Stanislav Glukhovtook beat James Meredith in a hard fought three set contest and Alan Shin defeated Matt Solomon 6-4, 6-2. Idaho was unable to take any other matches and en route to its fifth loss of the season ... the Vandals now prepare for Eastern Washington in Cheney, Wash., on Sunday.
Nevada Wolf Pack
Nevada earned its second sweep of the season and its third-straight victory after a 7-0 win against Sonoma State on Sunday ... freshman Wessim Derbel picked up wins in the No. 1 spot ... he also picked up his third doubles win with junior Laurent Garcin in the No. 1 position ... his appearance at the No. 1 position in singles play was the first in his career ... He picked up a 6-0, 6-1 win over Connor Olson to improve his overall collegiate record to 5-0 ... the Wolf Pack now looks to stretch its winning streak to four as it travels to Davis, Calif., in a road match against UC Davis on Sunday.
New Mexico State Aggies
The Aggies were downed 6-1 by No. 29 Texas Tech over the weekend in Lubbock to fall to 8-2 on the season ... Arthur Surreaux defeated Gonzalo Escobar, 6-4, 7-6, to earn the only team point for the Aggies ... junior Gustave Diep and sophomore Surreaux are both 9-1 on the year in singles matches while sophomore Jim Brouleau is 8-2... the Aggies have won 80 percent of their singles matches, this year and 63.3 percent of their doubles matches ... NMSU is strong at the No. 3 and No. 4 positions, as it holds an 18-2 record at those spots so far this season ... after last weeks performance, the Aggies jumped back into the ITA rankings at No. 70 ... New Mexico State plays No. 17 Arizona on March 6, and UC Irvine on March 7, in Tucson, Ariz.
Utah State Aggies
Utah State moved to 5-4 on the season with a 5-2 victory over Weber State last weekend ... in singles play, the Aggies dominated by taking four of the six points ... at the No. 1 spot, sophomore Jakob Asplund battled to win in three sets over WSU’s Sascha Kiehne, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 ... Aggie senior Mike Banks won a close match at the number four spot over the Wildcats’ Spencer Marchant, 7-5, 7-5 ... in a day of close sets, USU junior Alex Thatcher battled through three sets to take the number three singles point over WSU’s Chris Williams, 2-6, 6-3, 14-12 ... this week, the Aggies take on Idaho State on Thursday in a rematch from earlier in the season ... USU defeated the Bengals 6-1 on the Jan. 29 match.
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.