DENVER - Kansas City's singles players Airam Castellano and Aliona Ladutska, and Seattle U's doubles team Matt Alderson and Colton Weeldreyer 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 April 2-8.
Castellano, a senior from Gran Canaria, Spain, extended his six match winning streak with a victory over Drake's top flight opponent this past weekend. With the 7-6, 6-3 win, Castellano also extended his school record with 75 career singles win.
Ladutska, a senior from Minsk, Belarus, pushed her winning streak to nine straight with a 2-0 performance over the weekend. She took down the top flight from Grand Canyon 6-2, 6-4 before defeating NM State's No. 1 7-5, 6-2. Ladutska finished WAC play with a perfect 5-0 record as the top flight for Kansas City.
Alderson, a senior from Bainbridge Island, Wash., and teammate Weeldreyer, a freshman from Auburn, Wash., paired up to defeat North Dakota's top doubles team 6-4 to lead Seattle U to a 5-2 win on senior day.
Rinaldi, a senior from Belgium, and partner Occhipinti, a sophomore from Ragusa, Italy, went 2-0 on the weekend as the first flight duo. At the beginning of the weekend, the pair matched up against Kansas City's duo and defeated them 6-4. For the final match of conference play, they defeated Seattle U's top pair 6-2. Rinaldi and Occhipinti finished with a 4-1 record as they have won the last three matches.
Other male singles nominees: Seattle U's Arshak Ghazaryan defeated North Dakota's second flight 6-3, 6-0… UT Rio Grande Valley's Dennis Boisseau defeated Laredo Community College's top competitor 7-5, 6-4.
Other female singles nominees: Chicago State's Katarina Drazic defeated both UT Rio Grande Valley's (6-0, 6-3) and Seattle U's (6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (4)) fifth flight and clinched the team victory against Seattle U… Grand Canyon's Kylie Waschuk was victorious over Kansas City's sixth flight 6-3, 6-3 and clinched the team victory over Seattle U as she took down her opponent 2-6, 6-1, 6-4… Seattle U's Hannah Gianan went 3-0 as the second flight as she defeated opponents from NM State (6-4, 6-2), Chicago State (7-5, 6-3) and Grand Canyon (2-6, 6-2, 6-2)… UT Rio Grande Valley's Anastasia Belyaeva helped her team clinch the regular season title and the number one seed in the tournament as she took down Chicago State's fourth flight 6-1, 6-4 and NM State's fourth flight 7-5, 6-4.
Other male doubles nominees: UT Rio Grande Valley's Yehonatan Kaufman/ Elliot Johnston were victorious over Laredo Community College's second flight 6-2.
Other female doubles nominees: Chicago State's Mariya Kostyuk/Katarina Drazic paired as the top flight as they defeated opponents from UT Rio Grande Valley (7-5) and Seattle U (7-5)… Kansas City's Aliona Ladutska/Grace Ball defeated Grand Canyon's second flight duo 6-0 and NM State's duo 6-3… Seattle U's Hannah Gianan/Kyra Jung went 2-1 as they defeated NM State's second flight duo 6-3 before losing to Chicago State's pair 7-5 but bounced back with a 6-2 victory over Grand Canyon's competitors… UT Rio Grande Valley's Lasya Patnaik/Anastasia Belyaeva competed as the third flight and defeated both Chicago State's pair (7-6) and NM State's duo 6-0.