DENVER - Seattle U's singles players Colton Weeldreyer and Kelli Woodman, and NM State's doubles team Stijn de Haan and Mauri Benitez and Grand Canyon's doubles team Lana Rinaldi and Emilia Occhipinti have been named the Western Athletic Conference Tennis Players of the Week, respectively, for Jan. 29-Feb. 4.
Weeldreyer, a freshman from Auburn, Wash., finished the weekend 2-1. Friday, Weeldreyer lost a tough match against Gonzaga's number two 6-7 (3-7), 3-7, but bounced back with two victories the following day. He started the day battling Eastern Washington's number two as he came out victorious 6-4, 6-4. Weeldreyer finished the day defeating Whitworth's number two 6-0, 6-1.
Woodman, a redshirted senior from Denver, finished the weekend 2-0 as she took on opponents from Montana and Montana State. Friday, she took down Montana's fourth flight competitor 6-3, 6-2. She claimed her second victory of the weekend the next day over Montana State's fourth flight 6-1, 6-2.
Haan, a junior from Veldhoven, Netherlands, and teammate Benitez, a junior from Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain, went 3-1 in Las Vegas competing all weekend in the second flight. The duo opened with a 7-5 victory over Weber State's pair before falling to LMU's 7-6 to finish the first day of competition. They bounced back the next day as they bested host UNLV's pair in a back-and-forth battle 7-6 (8-6) before completing the weekend with a 6-1 win against UC Riverside's duo.
Rinaldi, a senior from Belgium, and partner Occhipinti, a sophomore from Ragusa, Italy, finished the weekend 2-0 while competing in the top flight. The first pair the duo defeated was from Sand Diego as they won 6-4. Rinaldi and Occhipinti finished the weekend with a victory over Arizona's pair 6-2.
Other male singles nominees: Chicago State's George Botha claimed a three-set victory over Eastern Illinois' third flight 6-4, 3-6, 1-0 (10-8)… Grand Canyon's Mathieu Rajaonah took down Western New Mexico's number one flight 6-0, 6-0… NM State's Louis Menard went 1-1 over the weekend dropping the first decision to Weber State's sixth flight 7-5, 7-5 and defeated UNLV's sixth flight 6-4, 6-4… UT Rio Grande Valley's Yehonatan Kaufman forced a third set in the victory over UTSA's third flight 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Other female singles nominees: Chicago State's Katarina Drazic came back to win 2-6, 7-5, 10-8 against Bradley's fifth flight… Grand Canyon's Lana Rinaldi went unfinished in both second flight match ups she played this past weekend (San Diego 6-4, 2-5 and Arizona 1-6, 6-4, 3-4)… Kansas City's Melinda Johnson beat UT Arlington's third flight 7-6, 6-3, but lost to Wichita State's number three 6-1, 6-1… NM State's Lindsay Harlas was victorious over Northern Arizona's third flight 4-6, 7-5, 1-0 (10-5) and went unfinished with Abilene Christian's third flight 7-6, 1-2. UT Rio Grande Valley's Dominique Ibarra defeated UT Arlington's third flight 6-4, 6-1 and went unfinished with TCU's third flight 6-3, 1-1.
Other male doubles nominees: Chicago State's Christian Gonzalez/Felix Savard defeated Eastern Illinois top flight 6-4… Grand Canyon's Mathieu Rajaonah/Lorenzo Fucile took down Western New Mexico's top flight 6-1.
Other female doubles nominees: Chicago State's Lorea Gamboa/Leshia Gadacz beat Bradley's second flight 6-4… Kansas City's Melinda Johnson/Yana Grechkina finished the weekend with a 1-1 record as the number one flight as they took down UT Arlington's duo 6-0 and lost to Wichita State's pair 6-2… Seattle U's Kyra Jung/Hannah Gianan went undefeated as they won 6-4 in the second flight against both Montana and Montana State.