DENVER - UT Rio Grande Valley's singles player Koby Jansen and Kansas City's singles player Aliona Ladutska, and Chicago State's doubles teams Christian Gonzalez and Felix Savard and Leshia Gadacz and Lorea Gamboa have been named the Western Athletic Conference Tennis Players of the Week, respectively, for March 12-18.
Jansen, a senior from Queensland, Australia, won both of his singles matches this week to improve to 8-4 on the season. Jansen defeated Louisiana's top singles player in straight sets 6-3, 6-1 that helped his team tie the match. He followed that with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 win over Nicholls State's first flight competitor that clinched the win for UT Rio Grande Valley.
Ladutska, a senior from Minsk, Belarus, battled Iowa State's top competitor and came out victorious with a 7-6, 6-3 decision. She helped her team defeat a Big 12 team for the first time ever. Ladutska is also riding a four match winning streak and has won six of her last seven decisions.
Gonzalez, a senior from Mungia, Spain, and teammate Savard, a junior from Laval, Quebec, captured a pair of close victories last week in Orlando's USTA National Campus. They earned a 6-4 win over North Carolina Central's top duo then knocked off Howard's pair by a 6-4 margin. The duo improved to a WAC-leading 17-7 record that includes a 13-3 mark at the No. 1 flight before starting conference play.
Gadacz, a senior from Toronto, Ontario, and partner Gamboa, a senior from Gamiz-Fika, Spain went 1-1 last week for the Cougars in Orlando which improved their doubles record to 11-5 with a 10-3 mark in dual matches. The duo began the week's slate with a close 6-4 defeat to Georgia Southern's second flight pair before capturing a 6-1 win over Howard's duo the following day. The seniors have gone 7-3 over their last 10 matches.
Other male singles nominees: Chicago State's Christian Gonzalez extended his personal winning streak to career-best 10 matches with the 6-4, 6-0 victory over the fourth flight from North Carolina Central and 6-1, 6-1 over his opponent from Howard… Grand Canyon's Lucas Grego extended his winning streak to eight with the two wins at the fourth flight, including 6-3, 6-2 over Florida Gulf Coast and 6-3, 6-4 over Illinois State… Kansas City's Alex Pozo defeated Omaha's second flight 6-1, 6-0… NM State's Christofer Goncalves was victorious over New Mexico's top flight 6-3, 6-0… Seattle U's Trenton Nield defeated Lewis-Clark State's top competitor 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.
Other female singles nominees: Chicago State's Anastasiia Goncharova fell to Georgia Southern's second flight 4-6, 1-6 before defeating Howard's second flight 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 6-1… Seattle U's Michelle Lui competed as top seed for the weekend and gathered a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Northern Colorado, was leading 3-0 before Illinois State's competitor retired claiming her second win on the weekend before falling 6-0, 6-4 to Washington… UT Rio Grande Valley's Anastasia Belyaeva went unfinished in the fourth flight spot against both Houston (6-4, 2-4) and Rice (4-6, 0-1) before claiming a 6-3, 6-3 victory over New Mexico.
Other male doubles nominees: Grand Canyon's Valentin Lang/Justin Cvitanovic fell to Florida Gulf Coast's second flight 6-1 before bouncing back 6-3 over the second flight duo from Illinois State… Kansas City's Airam Castellano/Alex Pozo defeated Omaha's top duo 6-3 for their third win in a row… NM State's Stijn de Haan/Mauri Benitez clinched the doubles point with their 6-4 victory over New Mexico's second flight duo… Seattle U's Arshak Ghazaryan/Emilio Monroy defeated Lewis-Clark State's top duo 6-2… UT Rio Grande Valley's Koby Jansen/Yehonatan Kaufman clinched the doubles point with a 6-4 victory over Louisiana's top pair.
Other female doubles nominees: Kansas City's Ioanna Lathouri/Katie Fries went unfinished (4-4) against the third flight from Iowa State… UT Rio Grande Valley's Anastasia Belyaeva/Lasya Patnaik competed as the third flight as they went unfinished (2-5) with Houston, lost 6-0 to Rice and defeated New Mexico's dup 6-2.