This Week in WAC Men's Tennis - March 24
This Week in WAC Men's Tennis - March 24
ALVAREZ, SULER AND SANDOVAL NAMED PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Chicago State's Pedro Alvarez and doubles team Jakov Suler and Max Sandoval have been named the TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference Tennis Athletes of the Week for March 16 through March 22.
Alvarez, a freshman from Cagua, Venezuela, posted a perfect record last week as he earned wins in Chicago State's meetings with Butler and Illinois-Chicago. Alvarez secured a tight victory over Butler's Filip Tensing (6-3, 3-6, 10-3) to start the week. He then followed that performance with a commanding win over Illinois-Chicago's Artem Iermolov (6-1, 6-2).
Suler, a junior from Zagreb, Croatia, and Sandoval, a freshman from Michoacan, Mexico, collected a pair of doubles wins to finish with an undefeated record on the week. The tandem opened the week with a win over Butler's Zach Trimpe and Drew Michael (6-4). Suler and Sandoval then came away with a 6-3 win over Illinois Chicago's Luiz Dos Santos and Casey Schrader to pick up the lone doubles win for the Cougars on Sunday.
Other men's singles nominees: UT Rio Grande Valley's Carlo Izurieta recorded his team-leading sixth singles victory as he took down Incarnate Word's Marwin Krallemann.
Other men's doubles nominees: UT Rio Grande Valley's Luka Jankovic and Zane Kohrs helped the Vaqueros clinch the doubles point with a win over Incarnate Word's Marwin Krallemann and Pietro Perego (6-3).
UP NEXT
The week of tennis matches in the WAC kicked off with Seattle U traveling to Flagstaff, Ariz., to take on Northern Arizona. Conference play also gets underway this week as Grand Canyon plays host to the season's first WAC pod. Friday, Chicago State will battle with the Lopes while Seattle U takes on UT Rio Grande Valley. Chicago State then sees Seattle U on Saturday before UTRGV competes against NM State. The Aggies then take on Grand Canyon to close the week out on Sunday.
BY THE NUMBERS
Entering conference play, Seattle U holds the top percentage on the season. Individually, Chicago State freshman Pedro Alvarez has been the top singles player in the WAC with a record of 8-4 in his debut season. Alvarez is also a part of the top doubles team as he and Javier Sanchez have teamed up to post a record of 4-3 thus far.
IT'S BIGGER IN TEXAS (AND UTAH)
On Jan. 14, the WAC announced the addition of five new schools in the upcoming years. Abilene Christian, Lamar, Sam Houston, Stephen F. Austin and Southern Utah were all offered and accepted membership invitations. With the addition, the WAC will have six schools in Texas, more than any other conference in the country, and three schools in Utah, also a national best. The four Texas schools will join the league on July 1, 2021 and Southern Utah will follow 365 days later, officially joining the WAC on July 1, 2022.
WAC CHAMPIONSHIP HEADED TO NEW MEXICO
The 2021 WAC Tennis Championships will be headed to the campus of NM State with both the men and women competitng for a title in Las Cruces, N.M. Play is set to begin on April 30 with the final day of matches scheduled for May 2.