DENVER - UT Rio Grande Valley's singles player Yehonatan Kaufman and Kansas City's singles player Aliona Ladutska, and Chicago State's doubles team Christian Gonzalez and Felix Savard and UT Rio Grande Valley's doubles team Dominique Esparza and Doris Aleksovska have been named the Western Athletic Conference Tennis Players of the Week, respectively, for March 19-25.
Kaufman, a junior from Ramat HaSharon, Israel, picked up his fifth, sixth and seventh singles wins of the season after going undefeated this week. Kaufman recorded a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Southern Utah's third flight to help UTRGV clinch the team win. He then followed with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Oral Roberts third flight to pick up the team win. Kaufman then closed out his weekend with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Prairie View's third flight to help his team pick up their third victory of the week.
Ladutska, a senior from Minsk, Belarus, pushed her winning streak to seven straight and nine of the last ten decisions. She competed at the top flight this past weekend as WAC play officially began. She took down UT Rio Grande Valley's competitor with a score of 6-2, 7-6 (7-3). The next day Ladutska earned a 2-6, 6-4, 10-7 victory over Seattle U's competition. Ladutska finished the weekend with a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Chicago State's counterpart.
Gonzalez, a senior from Mungia, Spain, and teammate Savard, a junior from Laval, Quebec, earned their fourth consecutive win in CSU's final preparation for WAC play last week with a neutral-site match against Oral Roberts. The duo posted a close 6-4 victory on the top court which improved their overall record to 18-7 and moved their dual-match mark to 14-3. The win was their sixth over their last eight matches this month.
Esparza, a senior from Veracruz, Mexico, and partner Aleksovska, a junior from Tetovo, Macedonia, went 3-0 as a team this weekend as they helped UTRGV clinch the doubles point each of the first three WAC matches. The dup clinched the doubles point against Kansas City with a 6-2 victory over their second flight. The pair came together to defeat Grand Canyon's duo 6-2. They then clinched the doubles point against Seattle U with a 6-2 victory over their second best duo. As a team, the duo has posted an 8-1 record this season.
Other male singles nominees: NM State's Sergi Espias defeated the third flight from Arizona with a hard fought 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), 10-8 victory.
Other female singles nominees: Chicago State's Alana Andrews lost her first sixth flight match against Grand Canyon 1-6,4-6 before she collected two victories (NM State 7-6 (7-5), 6-1 and Kansas City 6-2, 1-6, 11-9) to round out the weekend... Grand Canyon's Celina Buhr went 3-0 on the weeked at the No. 5 spot as she took down her opponents from Chicago State (7-5, 6-4), UT RIo Grande Valley (6-3, 7-5) and NM State (6-3, 6-3)... NM State's Lindsay Harlas went 3-0 in the second flight with victories over Texas A&M-Kingsville (6-0, 6-0), Chicago State (6-4, 4-6, 6-3) and Grand Canyon (6-3, 6-3)… UT Rio Grande Valley's Dominique Ibarra also went 3-0 at the third flight as she took down Kansas City's athlete 6-1, 6-1, Grand Canyon's competitor 6-3, 6-3 and Seattle U's third flight 6-1, 6-0.
Other male doubles nominees: None.
Other female doubles nominees: Grand Canyon's Lana Rinaldi/Emilia Occhipinti competed as the top duo as they defeated Chicago State's pair 6-4 before dropping the decision to UT Rio Grande's pair 6-2 and rounded out the weekend with a victory over NM State's opponents 6-2... NM State's Lindsay Harlas/Rebecca Keijzerwaard won at the first flight against both Texas A&M- Kingsville 9-7 and Chicago State 6-2 before falling to Grand Canyon 6-2… Seattle U's Michelle Lui/Kelli Woodman defeated both Kansas City's duo 7-6 (7-5) and UT Rio Grande Valley's pair 6-4 as the top doubles team.