TicketSmarter WAC Tennis Athletes of the Week Announced
DENVER – UT Rio Grande Valley's Mateo Schmit, Tarleton's Martha Makantasi, UT Rio Grande Valley's men's doubles team Zane Kohrs and Luca Jankovic and 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.
Schmit, a redshirt senior from Neuquen, Argentina, went undefeated last week to improve to 4-1 on the season as the Vaqueros took on Lamar and Texas Lutheran. On Friday, he overcame a first set loss and went on to defeat Lamar's Brandon Do 1-6, 6-1, 10-6. Schmit then dominated against Texas Lutheran, collecting the victory over Tyler Sargent 6-0, 6-0.
Kohrs, a redshirt junior from Dallas, Texas, and Jankovic, a redshirt freshman from Belgrade, Serbia, moved to 3-2 on the year following a commanding win against Texas Lutheran. The duo did not drop a single set against the Bulldogs' Matthew Stephenson and Ryan Schulte, going on to win 8-0.
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.