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WAC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Chicago State's Gabriel Niculescu and Seattle U's Kelli Woodman have been named Western Athletic Conference Tennis Players of the Week, respectively, for March 28 - April 3.
Niculescu, a freshman from Bucharest, Romania played number 1 singles and defeated DePaul's Sten Leusink 6-3,4-6, 10-7. This is the first time in CSU history that a men's tennis player defeated a power conference school at number 1 singles. On Sunday against number #51 Notre Dame, Gabriel picked up wins in Singles and Doubles. Gabriel teamed with partner Christian Gonzalez to defeat Notre Dame's Grayson Broadus and Nathan Griffin 6-4. Gabriel continued his winning ways in singles to defeat Kenny Sabacinski 6-4, 5-7, 14-12. This is also first time is CSU History that a player has picked up an individual singles and doubles win against an ITA top 75-ranked team.
Woodman, a junior from Denver, Colo. (Cherry Creek HS) was the only Redhawk to win all four singles matches this week, earning SU's only team point vs. CSU Fullerton and NM State. With partner Michelle Lui, she won all three doubles matches to finish after the match vs. CSU Fullerton remained unfinished. Now on a team-leading 4 match singles winning streak and has won 8 of her last 10 singles matches.
Other men's nominees: UT Rio Grande Valley's Elliot Johnstone went 2-0 over last week after defeating Laredo Community College's Victor Bravo 6-2, 6-2 on court four. He then teamed with Andres Hernandez to pick up a doubles win over Osni Junior and Bravo on court two. Johnstone now improves to 11-7 on the season in singles.
Other women's nominees: Chicago State's Marnie Perez-Ochoa went 7-1 between singles and doubles play. The only bump in the road was a 6-2 loss in doubles to Seattle U's Carey/Maloney. Grand Canyon's Lana Rinaldi helped the Lopes earn two wins at the WAC cluster over the weekend, picking up wins over UTRGV and UMKC. Against the Vaqueros, Rinaldi pulled out the 6-0, 7-5 win in singles. Against UMKC, she started doubles with a 6-3 win on court 3 and was dominant on court 5 in a 6-2, 6-1 singles victory. NM State's Ashvarya Shrivastav had an excellent weekend on the courts this past weekend, going 3-0 at No. 1 singles and 2-1 at No. 2 doubles. Shrivastav's stout play also guided NM State to its first Western Athletic Conference regular-season championship as the Aggies went undefeated in league play. Shrivastav has now won eight of her last night matches, including a five-straight victories in singles play at weekend's end. The only blemish to her weekend was a very close 7-6 loss to Chicago State's No. 2 doubles pair. The senior won her matches in doubles playing with two different teammates, both of whom she has not played with all year. UT Rio Grande Valley's Natacha Minc went 3-1 in singles and 2-2 in doubles last week. She defeated Valparaiso's Meg Modesto 4-6, 6-0, 6-0 to start her weekend. She then picked up a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 win over Seattle U's Madison Maloney to clinch the win for the Vaqueros in their final conference match of the season. Minc then closed out her weekend with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Laredo Community College's Sheerly Bueno to improve to 8-7 on the season. In doubles, she teamed with Doris Aleksovska to pick up a pair of wins. They defeated Valparaiso's Meg Modesto and Randi Wind 6-4 and then they closed out their weekend with a 7-5 win over Laredo Community College's Lorena Marruffo and Eileen Gallegos.
CHICAGO STATE
Freshman Gabriel Niculescu (Bucharest, Romania) recorded the lone point for the Chicago State men's tennis team as it was defeated by host DePaul this evening, 6-1, at the Lakeshore Sport and Fitness Center. Niculescu evened his record to 3-3 in the No. 1 singles position after defeating Sten Leusink in a three-set battle via scores of 6-3, 4-6 and 10-7. The Chicago State men's tennis finished off its weekend slate here Sunday night as it dropped a pair of matches to No. 51 Notre Dame at the Eck Tennis Pavilion falling 6-1 in the first match and 5-1 in the second contest that only consisted of singles matches. The Chicago State women's tennis team continued its five-match homestand here Friday night by falling to Seattle, 6-1, at the H-F Racquet and Fitness Club to kick off the second Western Athletic Conference cluster of the season. Chicago State women's tennis received wins from senior Marnie Perez-Ochoa (Louisville, Ky./Male) and freshman Monica Pulgar (Madrid, Spain/San Jose de Cluny) as it fell to defending Western Athletic Conference champion New Mexico State, 5-2, here today at the H-F Racquet and Fitness Club. They concluded its Western Athletic Conference slate here Sunday afternoon with a 5-2 defeat to Missouri-Kansas City at the Park Forest Tennis & Health Club.
GRAND CANYON
The Grand Canyon women's tennis team began its final weekend of play in the Western Athletic Conference with a win over UT Rio Grande Valley. The Lopes won eight of the nine matches played against the Vaqueros to improve to 8-8 this season. They closed out its Western Athletic Conference schedule in grand fashion with an impressive win over Missouri-Kansas City. The Lopes ended conference with a 4-1 record after sweeping the Roos 7-0 to improve to 9-8 this season.
MISSOURI-KANSAS CITY
The UMKC women's tennis squad jumped out early but couldn't hold on Friday in Chicago against defending WAC Champion New Mexico State, falling 4-3. Grand Canyon won all the close matches on Saturday in Chicago, and in the end came away with a 7-0 victory over UMKC on day two of the WAC Cluster. They finished WAC play with a victory on Sunday evening, taking out Chicago State by a 5-2 score in the final match of the cluster.
NM STATE
Senior Ashvarya Shrivastav clinched the winning point for the NM State women's tennis team in a back-and-forth battle with UMKC on Friday at the H-F Racquet & Fitness Club.The women's tennis team continued its hot play on Saturday, picking up its seventh-straight win with a 5-2 dispatching of Chicago State at the H-F Racquet & Fitness Club.
SEATTLE U
Kelli Woodman was the only Redhawk to win all four singles matches this week, earning SU's only team point vs. CSU Fullerton and NM State … With partner Michelle Lui, won all three doubles matches to finish after the match vs. CSU Fullerton remained unfinished. Woodman is now on a team-leading 4 match singles winning streak and has won 8 of her last 10 singles matches. The Redhawks return home for two non-conference matches to close the regular season before the WAC tournament at the end of April.
UT RIO GRANDE VALLEY
The Vaqueros picked up a win in their lone match of the season after they defeated Laredo Community College last Thursday. With the win, the Vaqueros improve to 10-12 on the season. The Vaqueros now have three in double figures in singles victories with Juan Cruz Soria leading the way with 13 while Elliot Johnstone has 11 and Koby Jansen has 10. The Vaqueros next head to Kansas City for the second WAC cluster of the season as they face Chicago State and UMKC. The Vaqueros went 3-1 last week and now improve to 8-7 on the season. They recorded wins over Valparaiso, Seattle U and Laredo Community College. Freshman Tara Donaho improved to 11-3 on the season while senior Reegan Greenwood is now 8-7 on the season and is currently tied for fourth in program history in career singles victories with 51. The Vaqueros will next head to Dallas to face Dallas Baptist on Friday and UTEP on Saturday.
WAC ANNOUNCES PRE-CONFERENCE MEN'S TENNIS COACHES POLL
The Western Athletic Conference announced its men's tennis pre-conference coaches polls, as voted on by the six head coaches in the league. Grand Canyon was selected as the pre-season favorite.
Grand Canyon was picked as the favorite with four first-place votes and 24 points overall. NM State captured second place with 21 points and two first-place votes. Right behind the Aggies is UT Rio Grande Valley with 16 points. Missouri-Kansas City with 15 points and Seattle U with 9 points grab the fourth and fifth spots and Chicago State rounds out the poll with five points.
The 2016 Western Athletic Conference Tennis championships will be hosted by UT Rio Grande Valley and will take place in Brownsville, Texas, April 29-May 1.
2016 Pre-Season Men's Tennis Coaches Poll
Rank Team (1st - Place Votes) Points
1 Grand Canyon (4) 24
2 NM State (2) 21
3 UT Rio Grande Valley 16
4 Missouri-Kansas City 15
5 Seattle U 9
6 Chicago State 5
WAC ANNOUNCES PRE-CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TENNIS COACHES POLL
The Western Athletic Conference announced its women's tennis pre-season coaches polls, as voted on by the six head coaches in the league. Grand Canyon and NM State were selected as the pre-season favorites.
Grand Canyon and NM State tied as the favorite to win the conference championship with three first-place votes and 23 total points. Missouri-Kansas City, Seattle U and UT Rio Grande Valley were close behind, earning 13 points each. Chicago State rounds out the poll in sixth place with five points.
The 2016 Western Athletic Conference Tennis championships will be hosted by UT Rio Grande Valley and will take place in Brownsville, Texas, April 29-May 1.
2016 Pre-Season Women's Tennis Coaches Poll
Rank Team (1st - Place Votes) Points
T-1 Grand Canyon (3) 23
T-1 NM State (3) 23
T-3 Missouri-Kansas City 13
T-3 Seattle U 13
T-3 UT Rio Grande Valley 13
6 Chicago State 5
WAC CHAMPIONSHIP
The 2016 WAC Tennis Championship travels to Brownsville, Texas from April 29th to May 1st. This year's championships will be hosted by Texas Rio Grand Valley. The New Mexico State men will look to repeat a WAC title. The Grand Canyon women won the regular season while New Mexico State won the tournament last season.
April 29-May 1
Location: Brownsville, Texas
Host: Texas Rio Grande Valley
Admission: Free
2016 USTA/ITA REGIONALS
The USTA/ITA Regional Championships will feature some of the top men's and women's players across the country. Over 8,000 student-athletes from NCAA Division I, II, III, NAIA, Junior and Community Colleges compete across 85 USTA/ITA Regional Championships around the country.
Region/Host
Midwest: Notre Dame
Mountain: New Mexico
Northeast: Yale
South: Alabama
Central: Arkansas
Southeast: Florida
Northwest: Washington
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS - The 2016 Tennis National Championships will take place in Tulsa, Oklahoma at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center. Tulsa will be the host May 19-30.
May 19-30
Location: Tulsa, Okla.
Host: Tulsa
Admission: Free