ON TAP IN WAC MEN’S TENNIS ? With only five matches on the schedule this week, many teams are taking a break before the last weekend of competition next week. No. 19 Boise State hosts a non-conference opponent in Denver on Thursday, while No. 67 Nevada and No. 73 New Mexico State do battle in Reno on Friday. On Saturday, the Broncos will face both the Wolf Pack and the Aggies. Idaho will also host a non-conference match when Portland State travels to Moscow.
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK (March 30 - April 5 )
Denver ? Boise State’s Clancy Shields has been named Western Athletic Conference Men’s Tennis Player of the Week 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.
Other male nominees included: Fresno State’s Mirko Zeplatal, Hawai?i’s Sascha Heinemann and Utah State’s Jakob Asplund.
TEAM NOTES
Boise State Broncos
The Broncos moved up to No. 19 in the ITA rankings after a crucial 4-3 victory over No. 36th-ranked New Mexico, the Mountain West Conference’s top team ... senior leader Clancy Shields was a part of two points in Boise State’s win against the Lobos, earning him WAC Player of the Week honors for the second time this season ... 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 ... the win marked the 10th win against a ranked opponent this season and the fifth-straight overall win ... the team is now 5-1 in ITA Mountain Regional matches ... BSU has an early week match-up against Denver on Thursday and then gets ready for a quick turn around before it travels to Reno, Nev., to take on conference foes No. 67 Nevada and No. 73 New Mexico State on Saturday.
Fresno State Bulldogs
Fresno State is currently on a seven-match winning streak after going 4-0 last week, including three WAC victories ... highlighting the week was a 7-0 romping of No. 67 UC Irvine, but it was the Bulldogs tough play against No. 63 Hawai?i that stood out ... Bulldogs avenged a 4-2 loss in the 2008 WAC Championship match by taking Friday’s match, 4-3 ... junior Mirko Zapletal went 5-0 with victories on Sunday, Tuesday, Friday and two on Saturday ... he played the first three matches of the week and the No. 2 spot, but moved up to to No. 1 for the final two to cap off his undefeated week ... Fresno State now has a week off after a road match against No. 8 Stanford was cancelled due to weather concerns ... the team next takes the court on April 17 to take on No. 67 Nevada.
Hawai?i Rainbow Warriors
Hawai?i finished 2-1 last weekend, 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 ... this week, the team is ranked 70th in the latest ITA rankings ... UH will take a week off in hopes to prepare for three WAC foes in the final week of competition ... on April 17, the Rainbow Wahine travel to Boise to take on No. 73 New Mexico State, No. 19 Boise State and No. 67 Nevada.
Idaho Vandals
Idaho lost to Fresno State 6-1 on Sunday and was swept by Hawaii 7-0 on Saturday ... the Vandals close out their conference schedule 1-5 this season ... the lone point for Idaho during the two matches came from Stanislav Glukhov as he upset Rudolf Siwy of Fresno State in singles play ... Siwy went into the match ranked 64th in the nation in singles ... UI has just one match on the slate for this upcoming with in a home dual against Portland State, a team that it had previously beat 5-2 on March 28 ... the team will also look down the road with three more matches in preparation for the WAC Championship ... matches against Seattle, Lewis and Clark State and Eastern Washington all remain on the schedule for the Vandals.
Nevada Wolf Pack
One week ago, Nevada improved its national ranking to 61, but has since dropped to No. 67, the third-best ranking in the WAC after a 3-0 weekend, with victories coming against Gonzaga (6-1,) St. Mary’s (4-3) and Montana (5-2) a week ago ... freshman Wessim Derbel broke into the national rankings for the first time this year at No. 123 ... he is now 11-1 and is also on a five-match winning streak in the No. 2 spot ... against Gonzaga, Derbel defeated Roman Dojcak 4-6, 6-2, 10-7 and against Saint Mary’s Derbel defeated Lucas Tirelli 6-4, 6-2 ... playing at the top position, junior Laurent Garcin earned WAC weekly honors after he went 3-0 on the weekend and moved into fourth place on the school’s all-time singles win list ... the Wolf Pack returns to conference play against New Mexico State on April 10.
New Mexico State Aggies
After an idle week, the Aggies hit the court this week with two WAC matches and look to improve upon its 1-0 conference record ... five of New Mexico State’s last eight opponents have been nationally ranked and the Aggies close out the year facing four more ranked teams in their five remaining matches ... the team boasts a ranking of 73, making it the fifth team to be ranked in the conference ... New Mexico State is 1-5 against ranked teams... the Aggies have four players that have already earned 10 singles victories this spring... New Mexico State’s last three matches have all been decided by a single point... NMSU has a 9-1 record when they win the doubles point, but are just 2-5 when they don’t capture it.
Utah State Aggies
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 ... this week, USU takes a break from action and looks forward to April 17 when the team takes on top-ranked Boise State, No. 73 New Mexico State and No. 67 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.