DENVER - Grand Canyon's singles player Lucas Grego and Chicago State's singles player Katarina Drazic, and Grand Canyon's doubles team Freddie Grant and Grego and Kansas City's doubles team Ioanna Lathouri and Katie Fries have been named the Western Athletic Conference Tennis Players of the Week, respectively, for March 5-11.
Grego, a junior from Longwy, France, won all three of his singles this past weekend while participating in the Golden State Invite. He competed in the Invite as the fifth flight for Grand Canyon and first took down his Nevada opponent 7-5, 6-4. He continued his great play the following day as he defeated UC Davis's counterpart 6-1, 6-3 before claiming his sixth consecutive singles victory on the last day of the tournament against UT Arlington's fifth flight with a victory of 7-6 (7-4), 6-0. Grego's three wins over the weekend helped his team collect their first overall victory of the Golden State Invite.
Drazic, a freshman from Sarasota, Fla., finished with a 3-0 mark last weekend at the fourth and fifth singles flight which improved her season record to 7-4 in dual matches. She kicked off last week's slate with a 6-3, 6-4 victory at No. 5 against Omaha's fifth flight and followed that by defeating Oakland's fifth flight by a 6-2, 6-3 margin. Drazic then concluded the weekend with a close 7-6 (7-5), 7-5 win over Lewis's fourth flight.
Grant, a freshman from Surrey, England, and teammate Grego dropped their first decision as the third flight of the weekend to Nevada's pair 6-3 before bouncing back with two victories over the pair from UC Davis 7-6 (8-6) and UT Arlington's duo 6-4.
Lathouri, a freshman from Athens, Greece, and partner Fries, a junior from Overland Park, Kan., went 2-0 over the weekend as they competed as the third flight. Their first victory of the weekend was against a duo from Northwest Missouri State downing pulling a 6-2 triumph. The next day, the pair took on Missouri State competitors as they took a 6-4 victory to go undefeated for the weekend.
Other male singles nominees: Chicago State's Christian Gonzalez earned a pair of victories as the fourth flight beginning with a 7-5, 7-6 (7-2) victory over Wright State's competition and finished with a 6-3, 6-4 win against the opponent from Lewis… Kansas City's Tom Kruse defeated Northwest Missouri State's third flight 6-1, 6-2.
Other female singles nominee: Grand Canyon's Kylie Waschuk came out victorious over Montana State's No. 6 6-4, 6-4 and Drake's sixth flight 6-0, 6-0… Kansas City's Aliona Ladutska went 5-6, unfinished against Northwest Missouri State's top competitor and defeated Missouri State 7-6, 6-0 on the top court… Seattle U's Kali McCollister defeated North Dakota's fifth flight 7-5, 4-6, 6-2… UT Rio Grande Valley's Dominique Esparza picked up a 7-6, 6-3 on the top court against Texas A&M- Corpus Christi.
Other male doubles nominees: Kansas City's Airam Castellano/Alex Pozo paired together to defeated the top duo at Northwest Missouri State 6-2… Seattle U's Emilio Monroy/Arshak Ghazaryan went unfinished against the third flights of UC Davis 2-5 and Nevada 4-3 before defeating St. Mary's College duo 6-3.
Other female doubles nominees: Chicago State's Leshia Gadacz/Lorea Gamboa competed as the second flight for the weekend as they defeated the duos of Omaha 6-3 and Oakland 6-1 before dropping a 4-6 decision against a pair from Lewis… Grand Canyon's Lana Rinaldi/Emilia Occhipinti defeated the top pair from Montana State 7-6 and lost to Drake's top duo 6-2… Seattle U's Kelli Woodman/Michelle Lui were victorious on the top court against North Dakota's pair 6-2… UT Rio Grande Valley's Doris Aleksovska/Dominique Esparza defeated Texas A&M- Corpus Christi's second flight 6-2.