TicketSmarter WAC Tennis Athletes of the Week Announced
DENVER – NM State's Louis Menard, Tarleton's Martha Makantasi, UT Rio Grande Valley's men's doubles team Alberto Mello and Te Kani Williams and Tarleton's women's doubles team Makantasi and Elsa Boisson have been named the TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference Tennis Athletes of the Week for Jan. 25 through Jan. 31.
Menard, a junior from Annecy, France, posted a 2-0 record in singles action over the weekend as the Aggies traveled to Las Vegas to compete with UNLV, Weber State and Montana. Menard earned his first win of the season as he took down Weber State's Arthur Serafim (6-1, 6-2). He backed up that performance with a quick 6-2, 6-1 victory over last week's Big Sky Tennis Player of the Week, Montana's Ed Pudney.
Mello, a redshirt junior from San Paulo, Brazil, and Williams, a redshirt sophomore from Auckland, New Zealand, shined in their first time together as a duo. Mello and Williams helped the Vaqueros earn the doubles point in their matches against Our Lady of the Lake and Howard Payne. Against OLLU, the pair took down Michael Canales and Rosendo Ceballos (6-4). Their second win came over Dominic Denado and Landon Fereer of HPU, once again by a score of 6-4.
Makantasi, a freshman from Metamorfosi, Greece, dominated last week as she helped lead the Texans to a perfect 2-0 weekend. On Saturday, she secured a singles win in the third flight against Lamar, winning 7-5, 6-4 as the Texans went on to collect their first Division I win. Against UT Rio Grande Valley, she earned the first singles point of the afternoon as she won 6-0, 6-2 to help Tarleton notch their first WAC win.
Makantasi and Boisson, a freshman from Fontenay-le-Comte, France, teamed up to win their first two career doubles matches. The rookie duo started their weekend strong, earning the win over Lamar's Jayci Wong and Elena Rubio, 6-1. They also controlled their second match as they conquered UTRGV's Katarina Sasaroga and Sandra Putz, 6-2.
Other men's singles athlete nominated: UT Rio Grande Valley's Te Kani Williams surpassed his win total from a season ago as he posted a 3-0 weekend, which included a win over Louisiana's Oriol Fillat Gimenez.
Other men's doubles team nominated: NM State's Jordy Visser and Louis Menard went 2-0 on the weekend and helped the Aggies earn the doubles point against UNLV, taking down the tandem of Zach Garner and Tom Ciszewski (6-4).
Other women's doubles nominees: Dixie State's Alexandra Hildreth and Kyra Harames posted a doubles win over Utah State's Naya Tillitt and Lillian Okamoto by a score of 6-4… UT Rio Grande Valley's Isabelle Bahr and Valeria Montero secured the Vaqueros only doubles win of the weekend as they took down Tarleton's Mihaela Codreanu and Jemi Aguilar (6-3)
Other women's singles nominees: Dixie State's Emma Templeman proved tough against Utah State's Zara Ryan, battling to a 4-6, 3-6 loss… NM State's Chloe Gavino picked up the Aggies' first singles win of the 2021 season as she took down Arizona's Talya Zandberg (6-4, 6-2)… UT Rio Grande Valley's Isabelle Bahr recorded the lone points in both of the Vaqueros matches last week, including earning a close win over Lamar's Bianca Vitale (6-3, 3-6, 10-6).