Denver ? Boise State’s Clancy Shields and Fresno State’s Anastasia Petukhova have been named Western Athletic Conference Men’s and Women’s Tennis Players of the Week, respectively, for March 30 ? April 5.
Shields, a senior from Grand Junction, Colo. (Grand Junction HS), powered No. 23rd-ranked Boise State over No. 36 New Mexico, 4-3, on Sunday. Shields, the No. 26th-ranked player in the nation, was a part of two points for the Broncos in the win over the Lobos, the Mountain West Conference’s top-ranked team. He first teamed up with teammate Stanley Sarapanich, taking the first doubles match of the day, to set the pace for the BSU sweep of the doubles point. In singles play, the senior took out UNM’s Graeme Kassautzki, 6-2, 6-7, 6-2, to take the point in the No. 2 position, tying the score at 3-3. Overall, it marks the seventh WAC Men’s Tennis Player of the Week award for Shields in his four-year career at Boise State.
Petukhova, a junior from Moscow, Russia (A.M. Gorky), finished with a perfect 3-0 record in singles play on the weekend, propelling Fresno State to three wins, including two over ranked teams. In the Bulldogs’ 6-1 win over No. 56 Pepperdine on Monday, Petukhova defeated the Waves’ Alexandria Walters, 6-4, 6-1. In Fresno State’s WAC opener, she didn’t lose a game in the 6-0, 6-0 victory against San Jose State’s Amber Silverstone. The Bulldogs went on to beat the Spartans 7-0. In the weekend finale, Petukhova took down Florence De Vrye of No. 56 Nevada, 6-4, 7-6. She and her doubles partner Renata Kucerkova won in the No. 1 doubles position to fuel the 7-0 victory of the Wolf Pack. This is the first time this season the junior has garnered the WAC weekly honor.
Other male nominees included: Fresno State’s Mirko Zeplatal, Hawai?i’s Sascha Heinemann and Utah State’s Jakob Asplund.
Other female nominees included: Boise State’s Klaudia Wlodarczyk, Hawai?i’s Ellen Linsenbolz, Nevada’s Maria Mizyuk and Utah State’s Bridgette Strickland.