BROULEAU NAMED WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
New Mexico State’s Jim Brouleau has been named the Verizon Western Athletic Conference Tennis Player of the Week for April 18-24.
A senior from Poitiers, France, Brouleau went 3-0 at No. 2 singles and 2-1 at No. 1 doubles last week as the Aggies picked up three WAC wins to secure the No. 2 seed in this week’s WAC Tournament. He posted straight-set wins over Idaho’s Lachlan Reed and Nevada’s Kristian Kuharszky. He also defeated Boise State’s Scott Sears, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, to clinch the match for NM State, the Aggies’ first-ever win over the Broncos. In doubles, he and partner Matej Stakne defeated Idaho’s Marius Cirstea and Alex Joitoiu and Boise State’s Jeff Mullen and Nathan Sereke. The duo fell in a close match, 9-7, to Nevada’s Kristian Kuharszky and Victor Ouvrard. NM State finished the season with a 14-7 record, the best record by the Aggies since going 15-6 in 2000 in the Best West.
Other male nominees included: Andy Bettles, Boise State; and Jakob Asplund, Utah State.
WAC IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
In the April 26 ITA team rankings, four WAC teams are ranked in the top 75. Fresno State is the highest ranked WAC team at No. 42. Idaho comes in at No. 51, followed by New Mexico State (No. 52) and Boise State (No. 55).
Individually, the WAC has three singles players ranked in the top 125. Arthur Surreaux of New Mexico State is the highest ranked WAC player at No. 73. Remi Boutillier of Fresno State is next at No. 94, followed by Dennis Lajola of Hawai’i at No. 111.
In doubles, the WAC has three teams ranked in the top 75. Fresno State’s pairing of Rikus de Villiers and Boutillier are the No. 16 duo, while Scott Sears and Damian Hume of Boise State are No. 36 and Jim Brouleau and Surreaux of New Mexico State are ranked No. 75.
WAC TOURNAMENT TO BE HELD IN BOISE
The 2011 WAC Men’s Tennis Tournament will be held this Friday-Sunday, April 29-May 1 in Boise, Idaho. Hawai’i, winners of three-straight WAC Tournament titles, defeated No. 2-seed Fresno State, 4-3 in last year’s tournament. Fresno State earned the top seed in the tournament with a perfect 6-0 mark in WAC play.