TicketSmarter WAC Tennis Athletes of the Week Announced
DENVER – Grand Canyon's Jonathan Da Silva and Natasha Puehse, Seattle U doubles team Lucas Cerbelli and Eli Ogilvy and Chicago State doubles team Katarina Drazic and Kristina Pukhaeva have been named the TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference Tennis Athletes of the Week for March 23 through March 29.
Da Silva, a freshman, finished the week with a 3-0 record as he moved up in the singles lineup to start WAC play, winning each of his matches in straight sets. He opened his week with a win over Idaho State's Gary Rendek (6-2, 6-1) before taking down Chicago State's Jakub Zamorski (6-0, 6-1) and NM State's Jordy Visser (6-4, 6-1).
Cerbelli, a senior from Madrid, Spain, and Ogilvy, a senior from Toronto, Canada, helped jump start a two-match win streak for the Redhawks as they finished the week with a perfect 3-0 record. They opened the week with a win over Northern Arizona's Alex Groves and Facundo Tumosa (7-6). Cerbelli and Ogilvy then teamed up to earn a grind-it-out win over UT Rio Grande Valley's Samuel de Felipe Garcia and Carlo Izurieta, winning by a score of 7-6 (7-4). The senior duo closed the week with a 7-5 victory over Chicago State's Jakov Suler and Jesus Perez.
Puehse, a sophomore from Scottsdale, Ariz., collected her third weekly award of the season as she went 2-0 against Idaho State last week to extend her win streak to six matches and tie Jana Weiss for the team lead in singles wins. On Tuesday, Puehse was victorious against ISU's Hristina Cvetkovic (6-2, 6-2). Puehse then turned in a second dominating win as she defeated the Bengals' Alexandra Arkhipov (6-0, 6-2) on Wednesday.
Drazic, a senior from Sarasota, Florida, and Pukhaeva, a junior from Vladikavkaz, Georgia, combined to help the Cougars earn their first win over a Division I program this season as they defeated Northern Iowa, 4-3. Against the Panthers, the tandem prevailed over Emma Carr and Olivia Fain by a score of 7-5. Drazic and Pukhaeva then earned the Cougars' only doubles win in a match with Eastern Illinois on Sunday.
Other men's singles nominees: Chicago State's Pedro Alvarez went undefeated last week with singles wins coming against Grand Canyon and Seattle U… NM State's Nicolas Buitrago went 2-0 in top-flight action last week, earning wins in matches against UT Rio Grande Valley and Grand Canyon… Seattle U's Lucas Cerbelli earned a pair of wins last week, taking down Northern Arizona's Eban Straker Meads and Chicago State's Jesus Perez… UT Rio Grande Valley's Carlo Izurieta notched his team-leading seventh win of the season in a match with Seattle U.
Other men's doubles nominees: Chicago State's Max Sandoval and Jakub Zamorski helped the Cougars clinch the doubles point with a win over Seattle U's Billy Givens-Jensen and Emilio Monroy… Grand Canyon's Jiri Novak and Valentin Lang have now won their last six matches as they finished the week with a 3-0 record… UT Rio Grande Valley's Samuel de Felipe Garcia and Carlo Izurieta recorded the Vaqueros' lone doubles win against NM State, defeating Nicolas Buitrago and Jordy Visser (6-4).
Other women's singles nominees: Chicago State's Kristina Pukhaeva earned a win over Northern Iowa's Emma Carr to help Chicago State pick up its second win of the year… Dixie State's Kyra Harames paced the Trailblazers with a pair of singles wins as she led her team to back-to-back wins over Colorado Mesa… NM State's Harsha Challa picked up a win over a Power Five opponent last week, defeating Arizona's Kayla Wilkins (7-5, 7-6 (7-4))… Tarleton's Elsa Boisson turned in the Texans' lone singles victory against Texas State… UT Rio Grande Valley's Katarina Sasaroga tallied the Vaqueros' only point in a doubleheader against Houston last week.
Other women's doubles nominees: Dixie State' Juliana Honczaruk and Ya-Chi Hsu finished the week with a 2-0 record as they defeated a pair of Colorado Mesa doubles teams… Grand Canyon's Joely Lomas and Taylor Andersen pushed their win streak to six matches as they took down a pair of Idaho State doubles teams… Tarleton's Faustine Palatte and Mihaela Codreanu defeated Texas State's Nikita Pradepp and Chacadyah Lewis by a narrow 7-5 score.