United Athletic Conference

 

NM State's Louis Menard and 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.

 

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.

 

Last week, the Chicago State men's team battled with North Dakota on Saturday and Sunday. The Cougars dropped both duals but showed promise in doubles play. Pedro Alverez and Max Sandoval teamed up to collect their first win on the season, defeating North Dakota's Johnatan Parat and Lucas Percy 6-1. In the Cougars' second dual, Jesus Perez Plaza and Jakov Suler won in the top flight by a score of 6-2 over Cian McDonnell and Gerhard Sullwald.

 

NM State had another busy week as they competed in the H-E-B Tournament of Champions in Corpus Christi, Texas. The Aggies battled with Troy, UTSA and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, finishing the week 1-2 with a win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. In its 4-1 victory over the Islanders, NM State picked up a pair of wins in doubles play and added three singles wins. The duo of Jordy Visser and Nicolas Buitrago took down the top tandem for the Islanders while Corey Clarke and Martin Simecek won at the No. 3 spot. Along with Buitrago and Clarke, Louis Menard also added a win in singles play as the Aggies earned their second win of the year. 

 

The Redhawk men took on Idaho last week and after a strong start, fell 2-5 to the Vandals. Seattle U claimed the doubles point after a pair of commanding wins. Mats Krause and Julian Worn picked up the first win of the day as they knocked off Idaho's Adam Taylor and Vivek Ramesh 6-1. Eli Ogilvy and Emilio Monroy clinched the point for the Redhawks after prevailing at the No. 1 spot. In singles play, Krause was the only Redhawk to come out on top as he won in the No. 5 spot, defeating Ramesh 6-3, 7-6 (9-7).

 

The Vaqueros joined NM State at the H-E-B Tournament of Champions as they dropped a trio of matches against Troy, UTSA and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Redshirt junior Carlo Izurieta led the way for UTRGV as he notched singles wins against both Troy and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Against UTSA, Izurieta was joined by Samuel de Felipe Garcia to earn doubles win over the Roadrunners' Juri Reckow and Slava Gulin.