TicketSmarter WAC Tennis Athletes of the Week Announced
DENVER – Grand Canyon's Jiri Novak, NM State's Bella Nguyen, Seattle U men's doubles team Julian Worn and Mats Krause and UT Rio Grande Valley women's doubles team Ana Platisa and Kristyna Mamicova have been named the TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference Tennis Athletes of the Week for Feb. 23 through March 1.
Novak, a freshman from Protejov, Czech Republic, earned his second straight singles victory as he out-dueled his New Mexico counterpart. Novak dominated in the No. 3 flight, taking the singles point by a score of 6-1, 6-3 over Sergio Molina. Novak now hoists the Lopes best record in singles play at 3-4.
Worn, a freshman from Frankfurt, Germany, and Krause, a freshman from Bad Soden am Taunus, Germany, managed their third doubles win of the year as they moved to 3-2 on the year. The rookie tandem combined to earn the win over George Fox's Camden Camacho and Hunter Fujimori 6-3. The win was also Seattle U's lone doubles win against the Bruins on Friday.
Nguyen, a freshman from Long Beach, California, put together a perfect three-match stretch in singles play while helping the Aggies' team secure their first win of the new year. Nguyen defeated New Mexico's Hsiang-Wen Huang to start her weekend before helping NM State secure a 6-1 victory behind a 6-2, 6-1 win over Seward County CC's Lorena Torrico. She also earned a hard-fought two-set victory over UTSA's Catalina Cabrique to close out her impressive weekend.
Platisa, a redshirt sophomore from Belgrade, Serbia, and Mamicova, a redshirt freshman from Prague, Czech Reoublic, led the Vaqueros to their first win of the season as UTRGV split their double header with Texas A&M-Kingsville. The duo picked up their first two wins of the season and helped clinch the doubles point in both matches. In the second meeting against the Javelinas, Platisa and Mamicova took down Laura Montalvo and Maya Donkor to jump start the Vaqueros 4-0 victory.
Other men's singles nominees: Seattle U's Mats Krause notched his second singles win of the season as he prevailed over George Fox's Vahag Pashayan in two sets (6-3, 6-1).
Other women's singles nominees: Grand Canyon's Jana Weiss finished the week with a 2-0 record, highlighted by a 6-3, 6-1 win over Omaha's Natalie Lorentz that helped propel the Lopes to the 5-2 victory… Tarleton's Jemi Aguilar collected back-to-back wins in the No. 2 flight to push her singles winning streak to five and put her in a tie for the second-best singles record in the conference… UT Rio Grande Valley's Lea Karren finished the week with a 2-1 singles record as she tallied her first career win and helped UTRGV to its first win of the season.
Other women's doubles nominees: Grand Canyon's Taylor Andersen and Joely Lomas earned a win over Omaha's Colby Kelley and Brook Covington to help GCU secure its first team win of the season… NM State's Harsha Challa and Gavi Kalaga turned in a pair of wins last week, including earning the Aggies' lone doubles win against rival New Mexico… Tarleton's Faustine Palatte and Mihaela Codreanu won their matchup against Dallas Baptist's Ira Vogelman and Leslie Omeire as they were paired together for the first time this season.