ON TAP IN WAC MEN’S TENNIS ? The conference regular season comes to a close this week as six of the seven WAC teams do battle in Boise in a round-robin format. With the WAC tournament coming up next week, the league's top seed is still up for grabs. In total there will be nine matches played on the campus of Boise State this weekend. Idaho, the only WAC team to complete conference play, will host Seattle University, Eastern Washington and Lewis and Clark State College.
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK (April 6 - 12 )
Denver ? Boise State’s Kean Feeder and New Mexico State’s Sophia Marks have been named Western Athletic Conference Men’s and Women’s Tennis Players of the Week, respectively, for April 6 ? 12.
Feeder, a senior from Portland, Ore. (Cascade College), improved to an 18-4 dual singles record on the season after picking up three wins over the past week in the No. 1 singles spot. He helped the Broncos to 6-1 wins over Denver and No. 73 New Mexico State, as well as a 5-2 victory over No. 67 Nevada. He now holds a 6-1 record in the No. 1 spot and improved to 22-5 in singles play including the fall tournament matches. The senior defeated New Mexico State’s Jim Brouleau (7-5, 6-4) and Nevada’s Laurent Garcin (5-7, 6-0, 6-1) in the two WAC matches. In doubles play with partner James Meredith, the pair improved to a six-match winning streak after picking up three wins over the past week. They hold a 17-7 record over the entire season which also matches their dual record together. This marks the third time this season the senior has garnered the WAC weekly honor.
Other male nominees included: Fresno State’s Rikus de Villiers, Nevada’s Augustin Myard and New Mexico State’s Stefan McKinney.
TEAM NOTES
Boise State Broncos (18-7, 3-0)
The Broncos improved to 18-7 on the season, and 3-0 in WAC play after picking up wins over Denver, No. 73 New Mexico State and No. 67 Nevada this past weekend ... the win against the Wolf Pack marked their seventh-consecutive win and their 12th victory against a ranked opponent this year ... BSU earned its seventh WAC Tennis Player of the Week this week after Kean Feeder collected his third award of the year ... Feeder improved No. 1 singles record to 6-1 after going undefeated on the week, 3-0 ... Boise State will host its final regular season matches at home when six of the seven WAC men’s tennis teams will make the trip to Boise to compete in a round robin tournament ... the tournament will be held April 17 and 18 at Boise State’s Appleton Tennis Complex.
Fresno State Bulldogs (14-7, 3-0)
Fresno State dropped to 13-7 on the year after a 5-2 setback against No. 8-ranked Stanford in Palo Alto last week ... sophomore Rikus de Villiers earned a point for Fresno State at the No. 3 position after his 6-2, 6-7 (4), 6-4, upset victory over No. 102 Richard Wire ... it wasn’t the only upset the Bulldogs had on the day; playing at the No. 5 spot, freshman Remi Boutillier earned a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, win over No. 117th-ranked Gregory Hirshman ... the loss snapped a seven-match winning streak for Fresno State ... the team looks forward with three WAC matches left, two against ranked opponents ... the Bulldogs will battle for a chance for the No. 1 seed in the WAC tournament when they do battle with No. 19 Boise State in Boise over the weekend ... also closing out the regular-season slate are No. 66 Nevada and New Mexico State.
Hawai?i Rainbow Warriors (5-8, 2-1)
Last time out, Hawai?i finished 2-1, with two 7-0 sweeps of Idaho and Utah State ... the Rainbow Warriors fell to No. 40th-ranked Fresno State, 4-3, in a hard fought match ... Sascha Heinemann went 3-0 in singles play last week, and 2-1 in doubles play ... he took down Fresno State’s Remi Boutillier, 6-4, 7-5, at the No. 4 position ... UH’s match against Utah State on Saturday ended a four-match streak against ranked opponents ... after a week off, UH returned to the court against No. 8 USC in Los Angeles, losing in a hard fought match, 4-3, on Tuesday ... staying on the mainland, the team will finish out its WAC schedule ... on April 17, the Rainbow Warriors travel to Boise to take on New Mexico State, No. 19 Boise State and No. 66 Nevada.
Idaho Vandals (14-9, 1-5)
Idaho registered its 14th win of the season after a 7-0 sweeping of Portland State on Saturday ... the Vandals made quick work of Portland State and doubles and carried the momentum over to singles where Idaho did not drop a set ... the team has concluded its conference schedule and looks toward three more matches in preparation for the WAC tournament that begins on April 24 in Honolulu ... UI hosts Seattle, Lewis and Clark State College and Eastern Washington this weekend as it looks for momentum going into the conference tournament.
Nevada Wolf Pack (11-4, 2-1)
Nevada played to its second victory against a ranked team after a 4-3 defeat of No. 73 New Mexico State last weekend in Reno ... the Wolf Pack then went up against the WAC’s best team, No. 19 Boise State, falling 5-2 ... the loss snapped a five-match winning streak ... junior Augustin Myard played a key role to our match against New Mexico State Friday, defeating Matej Stakne 6-2, 2-6, 7-5 in the No. 5 position to give the Wolf Pack the win over the Aggies ... Myard also picked up another singles win in the No. 4 position, defeating Boise State’s Cristian Hodel 7-5, 6-4 ... he and Laurent Garcin picked up an upset win over Boise State’s Clancy Shields and Stanley Sarapanich, 8-5 ... this week, the team travels to Boise to finish out its regular season against No. 46 Fresno State, Hawai?i and Utah State.
New Mexico State Aggies (11-8, 1-2)
The Aggies dropped both their conference matches over the weekend, to No. 67 Nevada and No. 19 Boise State ... senior Stefan McKinney won his only singles match of the week, as he picked up the Aggies’ only team point in a loss to No. 19 Boise State ... he defeated Stanley Sarapanich, 6-2, 7-5 at the No. 5 position ... seven of NM State’s eight losses have come to ranked opponents and the other loss was to a Cal Poly team that has been in and out of the rankings this year ... the Aggies are 1-7 against ranked opponents and two of those losses were by one point ... New Mexico State has faced seven ranked opponents in its last 10 matches ... with a 1-2 conference record, the team finishes off its regular season WAC matches, NM State travels to Boise to compete against Hawai?i, No. 46 Fresno State and Utah State.
Utah State Aggies (8-9, 0-3)
USU fell to 8-9 overall with a 0-3 conference record after three-straight sweeps by conference opponents Idaho, No. 40 Fresno State and No. 63 Hawai?i .... the Aggies are 2-4 in their last six matches ... prior to its loss to Montana State, the team had won four out of five non-conference matches ... prior to its four-match losing streak, the team had won eight matches of its 10 matches in a two month stretch from late January to March 24 ... after a week off from competition, USU looks forward to April 17 when the team takes on top-ranked Boise State, New Mexico State and No. 66 Nevada.
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.