ON TAP IN THE WAC - The final regular-season matches conclude this weekend in Las Cruces and Logan. All nine WAC teams will finish off their season in one of the two conference pods. Highlighting the conference action will be No. 15 Fresno State and No. 36 Boise State as the two teams battle it out for the top seed in next week's conference tournament.
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK (April 6 - 12)
Denver ? New Mexico State’s Sophia Marks has been named Western Athletic Conference Women’s Tennis Player of the Week for April 6 ? 12.
Marks, a junior from Grantham, England (Univ. of Lincoln), led the Aggie women’s tennis team to a 2-1 record last weekend with wins over Utah State and Louisiana Tech. Marks went 2-1 in her singles matches. Combining her two singles victories, she lost a total of one game as she beat USU’s and La Tech’s No. 1 players. In her only loss, Marks nearly pulled off an upset of Melanie Gloria, who is the No. 14-ranked singles player in the nation from 15th-ranked Fresno State. Marks fell to Gloria, 6-2, 2-6, 10-3. In doubles play, Marks along with teammate Aleksa Costa went 2-1 together and their only loss came to the nation’s top-ranked singles team from Fresno State. In their two victories, they only lost one total game. This is the first time this season Marks has earned the WAC award.
Other female nominees included: Fresno State’s Bruna Paes, Idaho’s Barbara Maciocha, Nevada’s Caroline Stevens and Utah State’s Monica Abella.
TEAM NOTES
Boise State Broncos (20-2, 6-0)
After an idle week of competition, Boise State sits at the No. 36 spot in the latest Campbell’s/ITA rankings ... last time out, Boise State hosted Louisiana Tech, Hawai?i and Idaho, sweeping all matches, 7-0 ... going into this weekend, the Broncos have won their last 14 matches ... BSU has swept its opponent in five of the six WAC matches the team has played ... senior Klaudia Wlodarczyk shined in the No. 4 position, winning all her matches against her conference opponents, finishing a perfect 6-0 over the weekend ... the team finished the season with a perfect 9-0 record at home ... this week, the Broncos will have their toughest test since the first week of the season, as they travel to Las Cruces to take on No. 15 Fresno State on April 18 ... the match will pit the top two ranked WAC teams against each other ... BSU will also play New Mexico State this weekend.
Fresno State Bulldogs (16-5, 5-0)
Fresno State held steady at No. 15 in the Campbell’s/ITA rankings this week, after a 3-0 week against conference opponents ... after 7-0 sweeps of Utah State, Louisiana Tech and New Mexico State, the Bulldogs have now won their last seven matches and have only surrendered two points during that span ... the team won all three WAC matches during a tripleheader ... the team boasts three players in the singles top 70 with Melanie Gloria (No. 17,) Anastasia Petukhova (29) and Renata Kucerkova (69) ... Petukhova and Kucerkova continue to be the top-ranked doubles team in the nation, winning 23 out of their last 25 doubles matches in the No. 1 position ... the duo is 10-2 against ranked opponents ... this week, the Bulldogs get set to do battle with No. 36 Boise State with the No. 1 seed in the WAC tournament on the line.
Hawai?i Rainbow Wahine (10-11, 2-2)
The Rainbow Wahine dropped to 10-11 on the season, including a 2-2 conference mark after a 7-0 setback at the hands of No. 56 Nevada early last week ... UH’s conference match against San Jose State was cancelled due to poor weather conditions ... with only one more weekend left of regular-season play, the match will not be made up ... Hawai?i currently sits in the sixth spot in the WAC standings after four conference matches ... highlighting its season so far, UH defeated No. 74 Washington State, 4-3, back in mid-March ... if the season ended today, the team would be matched up against New Mexico State, who holds the third spot in the conference standings.
Idaho Vandals (19-6, 3-2)
Idaho finished the week 4-1, with one conference loss ... the Vandals began the week with a 4-3 victory over regional foe Gonzaga and earned a shortened 6-0 win against San Jose State ... they had their WAC record fall to 3-2 after a 7-0 setback to No. 65 Nevada ... UI rebounded well against Seattle and Lewis-Clark State College on Sunday, winning both matches 6-1 ... sophomore Barbara Maciocha had an exceptional week for Idaho as she went undefeated, playing in four out of the five matches ... she was 4-0 in singles play ... the team hosts Eastern Washington in an early week match, just in time to prepare for the final WAC matches of the season in Las Cruces ... the Vandals will take on No. 15 Fresno State, Hawai? and New Mexico State this weekend.
Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters (2-17, 0-5)
The Lady Techsters were swept in both matches they played last weekend ... La. Tech lost both WAC matches to No. 15 Fresno State and New Mexico State, 7-0 ... freshman Laura Rodriguez picked up a couple of games against Fresno State at the No. 5 spot, while Maartje de Wit went to a tie breaker and almost won her second WAC match of the season at the No. 3 spot against NM State ... the team concludes the regular season this weekend with matches against No. 63 Nevada, San Jose State and Utah State ... all three matches will be played in Logan, Utah.
Nevada Wolf Pack (10-8, 4-2)
The 63rd-ranked Wolf Pack won both its matches last weekend, in a 7-0 sweep of Idaho and a 4-3 win against San Francisco ... Nevada improved its conference record to 4-2, with the only losses coming at the hands of Boise State and Fresno State, both ranked teams ... sophomore Caroline Stevens began the season on a seven-match losing streak, but has since won her last six out of seven matches ... she took down Idaho’s Alexandra Ulesanu 6-3, 3-6, 10-7 in the No. 4 position, for her sixth win ... the team closes out its regular season schedule with Louisiana Tech and Utah State ... both matches will be played in Logan, Utah ... with the WAC Championship looming, the team is eager to slide into third place, to take the three-seed.
New Mexico State Aggies (9-10, 3-2)
Last time out, NM State won two out of three matches, with wins coming against Utah State and Louisiana Tech, 6-1 and 7-0, respectively ... the team’s loss came at the hands of No. 15 Fresno State, 7-0 ... the Aggies now hold a 12-3 all-time record in WAC regular season matches... junior Sophia Marks leads New Mexico State with her 11 singles victories ... Marks earned WAC Tennis Player of the Week honors by compiling a 2-1 singles record on the weekend, including a match where she took No. 17 Melanie Gloria to three sets in the No. 1 position ... ... the Aggies have won three out of their last four matches... NM State is hosting its last three matches before the WAC Championships in Las Cruces, April 18-19.
San Jose State Spartans (11-12, 0-5)
SJSU had a WAC match against Hawai?i cancelled early last week due to adverse weather conditions ... after a delay, the team finally got to take the court against Idaho, before suffering a 6-0 loss to the Vandals ... the doubles point was not played ... this week, the Spartans look to close out the 2009 regular season on a strong note as they try to earn their first conference victories against Louisiana Tech and Utah State in Logan ... SJSU is currently tied with both teams for the seventh-seed in the upcoming WAC championship, April 23-26.
Utah State Aggies (3-18, 0-5)
Utah State suffered back-to-back conference losses over the weekend after a 6-1 loss to New Mexico State and then a 7-0 defeat the hands of No. 15 Fresno State ... freshman Monica Abella won the Aggies only point in USU’s , 6-1, loss against New Mexico State Friday ... Abella won her number three singles match in a hard fought, 6-3, 4-6, 10-5, thee set win against the Aggies’ Stephanie Eusebe ... this week, the team will prepare for its final WAC matches of the season with scheduled duals against Louisiana Tech, San Jose State and No. 63 Nevada in Logan ... this will mark the third time this season the Aggies will host matches 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, Fresno State, will look to defend its crown after the Bulldogs earned their seventh-consecutive WAC title with a 4-1 win over second-seeded Boise State.