HAWAI`I’S WEBER NAMED WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Hawai`i’s Andreas Weber has been named the Verizon Western Athletic Conference Tennis Player of the Week for April 19-25. This is the first honor of the season and second of his career for Weber.
A senior from Huenfeld, Germany, Weber picked up singles and doubles wins to help UH pick up a 6-1 win over Idaho to clinch a share of the WAC regular-season title and secure the top seed to the WAC Tournament. At No. 1 singles, he defeated Idaho’s Artem Kuznetsov 6-1, 6-2. At No. 1 doubles, he teamed with Philipp Eberhard to defeat Abid Akbar and Adrian Simon, 8-6. Weber went a perfect 5-0 in singles in WAC play and has won six straight singles matches and eight of his last nine.
Other nominees included: Nevada’s Laurent Garcin became the all-time singles wins leader at Nevada with 72 after he won a pair of singles matches at the No. 2 position last week … Amit Maharaj of Utah State went 1-0 at No. 4 singles and 1-0 at No. 2 doubles in a sweep of Idaho State.
WAC IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
In the April 27 ITA team rankings, the WAC has five teams ranked in the top 75. Fresno State leads the way at No. 29, followed by Boise State at No. 42, Hawai`i at No. 43, New Mexico State at No. 68 and Idaho at No. 73.
Individually, Boise State’s James Meredith is ranked No. 47, while Dennis Lajola of Hawai’i is No. 121.
In doubles, the WAC has two ranked teams. Fresno State’s Rikus de Villiers and Remi Boutillier are No. 24, while Hawai`i’s Philipp Eberhard and Andreas Weber are No. 75.
WAC TOURNAMENT KICKS OFF FRIDAY IN FRESNO
The 2010 WAC Tennis Tournament begins this Friday, April 29, in Fresno, Calif., where top-seeded Hawai‘i will look for its third-straight crown. The host Bulldogs are the No. 2-seed in the tournament, and like Hawai’i, have a first-round bye. Last year, the Rainbow Warriors knocked off No. 1-seed Boise State, 4-2.