FRESNO STATE TO REPRESENT WAC IN NCAA TOURNAMENT
Fresno State will represent the WAC in the 2011 NCAA Men’s Tennis Team Championships. The No. 38 Bulldogs (16-8) will head to the campus of California in Berkeley, Calif., where they will face No. 19 Minnesota (19-5) in the first round at 11 a.m. (PT) Friday, May 13. The two teams met earlier in the season on Jan. 29 at the ITA Kick-Off weekend on a neutral-site match at the Los Angeles Tennis Center with the Gophers winning 4-2.
In the other half of the bracket, No. 15 California (12-7) hosts Marist (18-3). The winners of the two first-round matches will play in the second round at 3 p.m. Saturday, May 14.
The winner of each first- and second-round site advances to the NCAA Division I Men’s Tennis Championships May 19-24 at the Taube Tennis Center in Palo Alto, Calif., hosted by Stanford.
THREE WAC PLAYERS SELECTED TO NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
One WAC singles player and one WAC doubles team were among the 64 singles players and 32 doubles teams selected to compete in the 2011 NCAA Division I Men’s Tennis Championships, and the WAC had tournaments.
In singles, New Mexico State’s Arthur Surreaux was the WAC’s automatic qualifier. In doubles, Fresno State’s Rikus de Villiers and Remi Boutillier, who are currently ranked No. 15, received the WAC’s automatic qualifier.
Automatic qualification into the Division I singles championships was awarded to any conference with one or more eligible singles players ranked in the ITA Top 125 for eligible/entered singles players. For conferences with more than one singles player within the ITA Top 125, the NCAA subcommittee applied the NCAA selection criteria to determine which student-athlete was the automatic qualifier from those conferences. All singles players must have a record of a minimum of 13 completed singles matches in order to be selected as an automatic qualifier or an at-large selection.
Automatic qualification into the Division I doubles championships was be awarded to any conference with one or more eligible doubles teams ranked in the ITA Top 60 for eligible/entered doubles teams. For conferences with more than one doubles team within the ITA Top 60, the NCAA subcommittee applied the NCAA selection criteria to determine which doubles team is the automatic qualifier from those conferences. All doubles teams must have a record of a minimum of 10 completed doubles matches in order to be selected as an automatic qualifier or an at-large selection.
The singles and doubles competition will be conducted May 25-30 at the Taube Tennis Center in Stanford, Calif., following the conclusion of the team championship that runs May 19-24. Stanford will serve as host.
FRESNO STATE CLAIMS 2011 WAC TOURNAMENT TITLE
After losing the doubles point, top-seeded Fresno State rebounded to defeat No. 2-seed New Mexico State 4-1 to claim the 2011 WAC Tennis Tournament title and earn the WAC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
All-Tournament Team
Singles
Remi Boutillier, Fresno State
Jim Brouleau, New Mexico State
Damian Hume, Boise State
Lachlan Reed, Idaho
Arthur Surreaux, New Mexico State
Rikus de Villiers, Fresno State
Doubles
Remi Boutillier/Rikus de Villiers, Fresno State
Damian Hume/Scott Sears, Boise State
Arthur Surreaux/Orlando Superlano, New Mexico State
ALL-WAC
The WAC 2011 men’s tennis award winners, as selected by the league’s head coaches, were announced at the WAC Tennis Tournament banquet. Hawai‘i’s Dennis Lajola was named WAC Player of the Year, while Boise State’s Andy Bettles was selected as Freshman of the Year. Fresno State head coach Jay Udwadia earned Coach of the Year honors.
Lajola, who is currently ranked No. 114 nationally, posted a 13-11 mark this season at No. 1 singles. He went 5-1 in WAC play, with all five wins coming in straight sets. A two-time WAC Player of the Week, he is 4-8 on the season vs. ranked opponents.
Bettles went 20-7 on the year, playing at all six positions. He went 5-0 in WAC play, with wins at the Nos. 1-4 positions.
Udwadia led his team to the WAC regular-season title with a perfect 6-0 record. The Bulldogs posted a 14-87 overall record and earned the top seed in this week’s WAC Tournament. This is the first time he has earned the honor during his career.
First Team All-WAC Singles
Remi Boutillier, Fresno State
Marius Cirstea, Idaho
Rikus de Villiers, Fresno State
Damian Hume, Boise State
Dennis Lajola, Hawai‘i
Lachlan Reed, Idaho
First Team All-WAC Doubles
Rikus de Villiers/Remi Boutillier, Fresno State
Damian Hume/Scott Sears, Boise State
Dennis Lajola/Jon Brooklyn, Hawai‘i
Second Team All-WAC Singles
Jakob Asplund, Utah State
Jim Brouleau, New Mexico State
Wessim Derbel, Nevada
Leo Rosenberg, Hawai‘i
Orlando Superlano, New Mexico State
Arthur Surreaux, New Mexico State
Second Team All-WAC Doubles
Jim Brouleau/Matej Stakne, New Mexico State
Bryan Marchant/Sven Poslusny, Utah State
Jeff Mullen/Nathan Sereke, Boise State
WAC Player of the Year: Dennis Lajola, Hawai‘i
WAC Freshman of the Year: Andy Bettles, Boise State
WAC Coach of the Year: Jay Udwadia, Fresno State