JASPER NAMED WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Boise State's Stephanie Jasper has been named the Verizon Western Athletic Conference Tennis Player of the Week, respectively, for Feb. 14-20.
Jasper, a senior from Bozeman, Mont. (Montana State), helped Boise State to a pair of victories over Washington State, 5-2, and WAC-rival Idaho, 6-1, by going undefeated in each of her singles and doubles matches. She had to work for her singles victory against Washington State's Andjela Kankaras, as she defeated her in three sets, 6-1, 6-7, 6-1, at the No. 4 spot. Jasper earned another hard fought victory in her doubles match against the Cougars as she and teammate Sandy Vo defeated Ksenia Googe and Kankaras, 8-8 (7-4) at No. 2. Jasper excelled against Idaho with a straight set victory over the Vandals' Silvia Irimescu, 6-0, 6-2, in the No. 3 singles matchup. In doubles, she matched with Vo again, this time to defeat Idaho's No. 2 pairing of Yvette Ly and Molly Knox, 8-4.
Other female nominees included: Anna Zurek, Louisiana Tech; Kristina Voytsekhovich, Utah State.
WAC IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
In the Feb. 22 ITA rankings, two WAC teams were ranked in the top 60. Boise State comes in at No. 42, while Fresno State is at No. 60.
Fresno State and Hawai'i each have one singles player ranked in the top 100. Katarina Poljakova of the Rainbow Wahine garners the No. 94 ranking, and Marianne Jodoin comes in at No. 99 for the Bulldogs.
There are currently no doubles teams in the WAC ranked in the top 100.
BOISE STATE PICKS UP SECOND WAC VICTORY
The No. 44 ranked Boise State Broncos opened its weekend double header with a victory over Washington State, 5-2, in Pullman, Wash. The Broncos followed up that victory with an important win over WAC-rival Idaho, 6-1. Against Washington State, Morgan Basil gave Boise State its sixth win of the season as she topped Marina Nicolas, 6-2, 7-5, at No. 6.
The Broncos managed to remain perfect (2-0) in WAC play by taking five of six singles matches and winning the doubles point against Idaho in their match Feb. 20.
IDAHO LOSES FIRST WAC MATCH
The Vandals fell, 6-1, to WAC-rival Boise State Feb. 20 in Pullman, Wash. Molly Knox won Idaho's lone point of the match. She won the first set of her No. 5 singles match 6-3, and was leading 3-2 in the second set when her opponent retired.
LA. TECH STAYS UNDEFEATED AT HOME
The Lady Techsters remained undefeated at home with their 4-3 win over Southeastern Louisiana on Saturday. Anna Zurek improved to 4-1 on the season with a, 6-4, 6-2 , win in No. 2 singles over Laura Verges.
NEW MEXICO STATE WINS TWO, DROPS ONE
The Aggies recorded two wins and lost another in a three game home set in Las Cruces, N.M. from Feb. 18-20. New Mexico State swept through Northern Colorado and Seattle, defeating both teams by a 7-0 score. Northern Arizona flipped the script on the Aggies on the final day as the Lumberjacks won, 7-0. Junior Manon Sylvain highlighted the match against Northern Colorado's as she defeated Adrianna Nieto, 6-0, 1-6, 7-5, in the No. 1 match.
Senior Isabela Kulaif returned to action for the first time since she fell to an injury four matches ago to face Seattle. Her return was successful as she defeated Ariel Ohno, 7-6, 6-1.
SAN JOSE STATE WINS SECOND DUAL MATCH OF SEASON
The Spartans defeated Sonoma State, 6-1, Feb. 20 in Rohnert Park, Calif. Freshman Sabastiani Leon Chao led the charge from the No. 1 singles position as she won a second-set tiebreaker to seal her win against Dana Carollo, 6-2, 7-6(5).
UTAH STATE SPLITS IN LAS VEGAS; WINS AT HOME
The Aggies lost to UNLV, 0-7, but defeated UC Riverside, 4-2, while in Las Vegas, Nev. Feb. 18-19. Leading the way for the Aggies against UC Riverside was senior Hailey Swenson in the No. 2 position as she defeated Jamie Raney, 6-2, 6-3.
Utah State defeated Eastern Washington, 7-0, after returning to Logan, Utah, Feb. 21. Every Aggie won their singles matches in straight sets against the Eagles.
WAC TOURNAMENT TO BE HELD IN BOISE
The 2011 WAC Tennis Tournament will be held April 27-May 1 in Boise, Idaho.
Top-seeded Boise State earned its first-ever WAC Women's Tennis Championship last season with a 4-3 win over No. 3-seed Fresno State in the title match. The Broncos' victory ended the Bulldogs streak of eight-straight titles.