This Week in WAC Men's Tennis - Jan. 30
This Week in WAC Men's Tennis - Jan. 30
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GRAND CANYON AND CHICAGO STATE REPRESENT ATHLETE OF THE WEEK HONORS
Chicago State's George Botha and Grand Canyon's Emilia Occhipinti, Grand Canyon doubles team Lorenzo Fucile and Mathieu Rajaonah and doubles team Emilia Occhipinti and Celina Buhr have been named the Men's and Women's Western Athletic Conference Tennis Athletes of the Week, respectively, for January 22-28.
Botha, a senior from Cradock, South Africa, went 3-0 over the weekend helping the Cougars to wins over University of Illinois-Chicago and St. Francis University. He picked up the only point for CSU in their loss to Wright State. Botha won the match-tying set for Chicago State as they fought back from a 3-0 deficit against UIC to win the match 4-3.
Occhipinti, a junior from Ragusa, Italy, defeated opponents from Southern Utah (5-7, 6-4, 6-2) and Nevada (6-2, 6-2) to go 2-0 on the weekend. She helped the Lopes to a 5-2 win over Southern Utah. Occhipinti moves to 3-1 on the season in singles play.
Fucile, a junior from Messina, Italy, and Rajaonah, a senior from Marseille, France, kept their perfect doubles record intact picking up two more wins and moving to 4-0 on the season. The pair defeated opponents from Florida Gulf Coast and Sacramento State 6-4.
Occhipinti and Buhr, a junior from Hamburg, Germany, were the only doubles team from GCU to go 2-0 over the weekend. They picked up a controlling win over Southern Utah, 6-2, followed by a 6-4 win over Nevada.
Other male singles nominees: Lorenzo Fucile of Grand Canyon won twice against Florida Gulf Coast and Sacramento State to move to 3-1 on the season… NM State's Enrique Asmar opened his season with a pair of dominating wins over Mesa CC and Western New Mexico… Samuel de Felipe Garcia of UT Rio Grande Valley finished the week 1-1 earning a victory against Prairie View A&M.
Other female singles nominees: Kansas City's Thanushree Vale won 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 against an opponent from Bradley to clinch the win for the Roos… Lindsay Harlas of NM State posted a controlling win, 6-1, 6-1, over Western New Mexico… Seattle U's Alisa Sabotic competed in the Redhawks' first match of the season against Washington.
Other male doubles nominees: NM State's Stijn de Haan and Mauri Benitez won easily over pairs from Mesa CC and Western New Mexico… Yehonatan Kaufman and George Hutchings of UT Rio Grande Valley finished the weekend 1-0 defeating Prairie View A&M 6-2.
Other female doubles nominees: Grace Ball and Thea Dassy of Kansas City kicked off their year going 1-1 with a win over Bradley… NM State's Rebecca Keijzerwaard and Yadira Rubio defeated a Western New Mexico duo 6-0.
THIS WEEK IN WAC MEN'S TENNIS
CHICAGO STATE
The Cougars opened their weekend with a 1-6 loss to Wright State. George Botha picked up CSU's solo point with a 6-2, 6-1 win from the three slot. Chicago State answered with a 4-3 victory over the UIC Flames. CSU lost the doubles point but reponded in singles. Jakov Suler, George Botha, Felix Savard, and Gonzalo Martinez all won their singles matches to clutch the overall victory. The Cougars ended their week with a clean 7-0 sweep over St. Francis.
GRAND CANYON
The Lopes snagged two wins over Florida Gulf Coast, 6-1, and Sacramento State, 7-0. Against FGCU, Grand Canyon earned the doubles point with Lorenzo Fucile and Mathieu Rajaonah and Valentin Lang and Jakub Novak both getting wins. Lorenzo Fucile and Mathieu Rajaonah earned quick wins in individuals, 6-3, 6-1 and 6-3, 6-2, respectively, leading the Lopes to the 6-1 victory. GCU followed with a sweeping victory of Sacramento State.
NM STATE
NM State swept the weekend defeating Mesa CC and Western New Mexico. The Aggies opened action sweeping Mesa CC on all three courts in doubles. NMSU continued the dominance throughout the singles match to take the win, 6-1. The Aggies completed the weekend sweep with a 4-0 victory over Western New Mexico.
UT RIO GRANDE VALLEY
UT Rio Grande Valley finished all of their matches with 4-0 scores picking up one win and dropping two losses. UTRGV lost their first to No. 9 ranked Texas A&M. They bounced back with a clean win over Prairie View A&M. UTRGV earned the doubles point with Yehonatan Kaufman and George Hutchings and Samuel de Felipe Garcia and Georgeije Babic both getting wins. de Felipe Garcia, Babic, and Hutchings all snagged individual wins to seal the team victory. UT Rio Grande Valley was then bested by Rice in their final match of the weekend.
2019 WAC TOURNAMENT
The 2019 WAC Men's and Women's Tennis Tournaments will be hosted by UT Rio Grande Valley on April 26-28 in Brownsville, Texas. All six teams will compete in the Tournament as the first round will be No. 4 seed against No. 5 seed and No. 3 seed takes on No. 6 seed. No. 1 and No. 2 seeds earn a ticket straight to the semifinals. The winner of the tournament will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament as the WAC representative. The reigning tournament champion is NM State as they defeated NM State 4-0 in the Championship match last year.
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
The 2019 Tennis National Championships will take place in Orlando, Fla. at the USTA National Campus Collegiate Center on May 16-25.