DENVER
- New Mexico
State's Matej
Stakne and Boise
State's Lauren
Megale have been named the Verizon Western Athletic Conference Tennis
Players of the Month for October.
Stakne, a junior from Rab, Croatia (Gymnasium HS), exceeded expectations by
advancing to the semifinals at the ITA Mountain Regional Tournament that was
held in Las Vegas, Nev., on Oct. 20-24. Stakne won five
consecutive matches en route to the semifinals with his most impressive win
coming against No. 3 seed Yannick Weihs of Denver in the quarterfinals of the singles
main draw. He came from behind to beat Weihs 3-6, 6-3, 7-6. Stakne was the only
player not seeded in the top 25 left in the tournament by the round of 16. He
was also the only WAC player to advance past the round of 16.
Megale, a senior from Boise, Idaho
(Arizona State),
capped off an impressive month with a semifinals appearance at the ITA Mountain
Regional Championship held in Las
Vegas, Nev., on Oct.
20-24. Megale battled her way to the semi-final where she lost to No. 1 seeded
Anastasia Putilina of Utah,
2-6, 6-2, 6-3. Megale and teammate Sonia Klamczynska also advanced to the round
of eight in doubles competition at the regional championship. Megale recorded a
6-4 singles record to go along with a 5-2 doubles record over the month of
October. Her four singles losses came against opponents ranked in the top-75.
Other male nominees included: Filipp Pogostkin, Boise State;
David
Ayoun, Fresno State; Lachlan Reed, Idaho;
Wessim
Derbel, Nevada; Jakob Asplund, Utah State
Other female nominees included: Katarin Poljakova, Hawai’i; Marianne Jodoin, Fresno
State; Lauren
Simpson, Idaho; Michelle Okhremchuk, Nevada; Isabela Kulaif, New Mexico State; Chau Truong, New Mexico State; Hailey Swensen, Utah State