TicketSmarter WAC Tennis Athletes of the Week Announced
DENVER – NM State's Louis Menard, Dixie State's Kyra Harames, NM State's men's doubles team Jordy Visser and Nicolas Buitrago and Dixie State's women's doubles team Rachel Mellor and Emma Templeman have been named the TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference Tennis Athletes of the Week for Feb. 16 through Feb. 22.
Menard, a junior from Annecy, France, was dominant all weekend, posting a perfect 3-0 record from the Aggies' No. 1 spot. Menard started his weekend in impressive fashion as he handed Troy's Carles Anton his first dual match singles loss of the year, winning 6-2, 5-7, 6-2. He then added a pair of two-set victories, including a 6-1, 6-2 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi's Ryuya Ata that helped carry NM State past the Islanders.
Visser, a freshman from Bemmel, Netherlands, and Buitrago, a senior from Bogotá, Colombia, joined forces to go 2-1 on the week and help the Aggies secure their second team win on the season. The duo opened its weekend with a 6-2 win over Troy's Amer Bedwan and Manuel Bernard on Saturday. On Sunday against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, the pair took down the Islanders' Ryuya Ata and Kyohei Yamanaka in top-flight action as they set the tone for a 4-1 NM State victory.
Harames, a redshirt senior from Spokane, Wash., was the top performer for the Trailblazers this weekend in Salt Lake City. After dropping a 3-6 decision in her first set against Utah's Madeline Lamoreaux, Harames fought back to force a tiebreaker, in which she played to a 3-10 loss against the Ute's top singles player.
Mellor, a freshman from Mandurah, Australia, and Templeman, a sophomore from Springville, Utah, saw competition from a couple of talented pairings from Utah (5-1) and Boise State (3-2). Against Utah, the duo battled to a 3-6 loss against the one-loss tandem of Emily Dush and Madeline Lamoreaux.
Other men's singles nominees: Chicago State's Pedro Alverez notched the Cougars' lone win in singles play last week as he took down North Dakota's Petro Alex 6-4, 6-0… Grand Canyon's Valentin Lang picked up his 45th career win in singles play on Saturday as they defeated Sacramento State's Hermont Legaspi (6-3, 6-4)… UT Rio Grande Valley's Carlo Izurieta went 2-1 on the weekend, managing wins over Troy's Pelayo Antuna and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi's Ryuya Ata.
Other men's doubles nominees: Chicago State's Jakov Suler and Jesus Perez Plaza picked up their third win of the year as a duo, collecting a win against North Dakota in flight No. 1… Grand Canyon's Freddie Grant and Loic Van Zeggelaar clinched the doubles point against Sacramento State as the Lopes went on to win their first dual of the season… Seattle U's Mats Krause and Julian Worn teamed up to collect a pair of wins on the week, including a 6-1 victory over Idaho's Adam Taylor and Vivek Ramesh… UT Rio Grande Valley's Samuel de Felipe Garcia and Carlo Izurieta notched their first win alongside each other as they defeated UTSA's Juri Reckow and Slava Gulin, 6-3.