DENVER – Hawai’i’s Chas Okamoto and Fresno State’s Marianne Jodoin have been named Verizon Western Athletic Conference Men’s and Women’s Tennis Athletes of the Week, respectively, for the week of Feb. 6-12.
Okamoto, a freshman from Kapaa, Oahu (Kapaa HS), picked up the lone win for Hawai’i in its dual with Stanford last Tuesday. Okamoto defeated Denis Lin in the No. 2 singles flight, 6-4, 6-1, 1-0 tiebreaker, as UH fell 6-1 to the Cardinal, the ninth-ranked team in the nation. This is the third time this year that Okamoto has earned a singles victory against an opponent from a ranked team.
Jodoin, a sophomore from Varennes, Canada (Ecole Georges HS), earned a pair of singles victories and a doubles win last weekend against Hawai’i and No. 34 Saint Mary’s. Jodoin opened the weekend with the first win over Hawai’i’s No. 1 doubles team, Katarina Polijakova and Jamie Pawid, 8-5, with partner Tanya Murtagh. She then bested Hawaii’s Barbara Pinterova, 7-6, 6-2, at No. 1 singles. On Sunday, Jodoin and Murtagh fell to Saint Mary’s No. 1 doubles team, Catherine Isip and Elizabeth Searl, 8-6. She ended the weekend with another big win against Isip, the No. 82 singles player in the nation, 6-3, 6-3, giving her the only singles win against the Gael’s and a perfect singles record for the weekend.
Other men’s nominees included: Fresno State senior Remi Boutillier … New Mexico State junior Luis Ramirez … Utah State junior Sven Poslusny.
Other women’s nominees included: Hawai’i senior Barbara Pintertova …Idaho freshman Sophie Vickers … Louisiana Tech junior Vivian ten Dolle … Utah State junior Jaci West … Nevada sophomore Michelle Okhremchuk.