United Athletic Conference

Tarleton's Martha Makantasi and UT Rio Grande Valley's women's doubles team Sandra Putz and Katarina Sasaroga have been named the TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference Tennis Athletes of the Week for Feb. 1 through Feb. 7.

 

Makantasi, a freshman from Metamorfosi, Greece, continued to impress in her debut season as she picked up her fourth consecutive singles victory of the young season. Against Abilene Christian, Makantasi dominated at the No. 3 spot, winning her match against Sylvia Viljoen by a score of 6-4, 6-1. She also looked strong in her match with UT Arlington as she was up 1-0 after the first set before the clinching point was scored.

 

Putz, a redshirt sophomore from Munich, Germany, and Sasaroga, a redshirt sophomore from Gothenburg, Sweden, tallied their first doubles win of the season in a matchup with Texas State. The duo earned the win over Chacadya Israel-Lewis and Nikita Pradeep 6-3. Putz and Sasaroga were also out front against Stephen F. Austin's Elena Bleicher and Lucy Furness before the doubles point was clinched.

 

Other women's singles nominees: Grand Canyon's Natasha Puehse prevailed over a tough opponent in Cal Poly's Dominique Stone, winning 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 at the No. position… NM State's Gavi Kalaga earned her first singles victory of the season by taking down Weber State's Pei-Hsuan Kuo 6-4,6-3 in flight No. 4… UT Rio Grande Valley's Sandra Putz recorded the lone point for the Vaqueros as she defeated Stephen F. Austin's Ai Noa Fabre 7-5, 0-6, 10-8.

 

Other women's doubles nominated: Grand Canyon's Emilia Occhipinti and Autum Prudhomme put together their first win of the year as they battled to a tough 7-5 victory. 

 

The Grand Canyon women traveled to San Luis Obispo, Calif., to take on a very talented Cal Poly team. The Lopes trailed early and were unable to make a comeback, falling 1-6. The doubles team of Emilia Occhipinti and Autum Prudhomme won their first match of the year together as they took down Cal Poly's Melissa LaMette and Delanie Dunkie in a tight 7-5 match. Natasha Puehse also looked strong as she won in the No. 1 spot 6-4, 1-6, 6-3.

 

The Aggies went up to The Beehive State as they battled with Weber State and Stephen F. Austin in Salt Lake City, Utah. NM State had a tough time as they fell 0-5 to a good Pac-12 squad in Utah and dropped their match with Weber State 1-6. Despite the trouble, junior Gavi Kalaga was a bright spot for the Aggies as she earned the only point against Weber State. Kalaga took down the Wildcat's Pei-Hsuan Kuo 6-3, 6-4.

 

The Redhawks also took on a Pac-12 foe as they battled with crosstown rival Washington. The Huskies took control early and ultimately took the match by a score of 7-0. Hannah Grossman was very competitive in her two sets with Washington's Zoey Weil, falling 3-6, 2-6.

 

The Texans stayed within the confines of Texas as they were on the road against Abilene Christian and UT Arlington. Tarleton dropped a close 2-5 match to Abilene Christian while falling to UT Arlington 0-4. Against ACU, the Texans lost the doubles point but received good showings from both Martha Makantasi and Jemi Aguilar. Makantasi took down her opponent in the No. 3 spot (6-4, 6-1) while Aguilar won 6-2, 6-2 in flight No. 2.

 

The Vaqueros were back in action as they took on Stephen F. Austin and Texas State in San Marcos, Texas. UTRGV fought hard in both, however, fell 1-6 to SFA and 0-7 to Texas State. Katarina Sasaroga and Sandra Putz had an impressive week as they defeated Texas State's Chacadya Israel-Lewis and Nikita Pradeep 6-3 in doubles play. Putz also added a singles win against Stephen F. Austin, prevailing over Ai Noa Fabre 7-5, 0-6, 10-8.