This Week in WAC Men's Tennis - March 31
This Week in WAC Men's Tennis - March 31
DA SILVA, CERBELLI AND OGILVY NAMED PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Grand Canyon's Jonathan Da Silva and Seattle U doubles team Lucas Cerbelli and Eli Ogilvy 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.
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).
UP NEXT
This week's action features only a pair of WAC teams as UT Rio Grande Valley and Chicago State take the courts. The Vaqueros will be playing host to Prairie View A&M for a doubleheader on Saturday. Meanwhile, Chicago State takes on crosstown rival University of Chicago on Monday.
BY THE NUMBERS
Following the first week of WAC pod play, Seattle continues to hold the top winning percentage. Individually, Chicago State freshman Pedro Alvarez claims the best singles record at 10-4. In doubles play, Grand Canyon's team of Valentin Lang and Jiri Novak have been the best duo, managing a record of 7-4 on the season.
In conference play, both Seattle U and Grand Canyon escaped the weekend unscathed as both teams are 2-0. In singles action, six players hoist a record of 2-0 as Chicago State's Pedro Alvarez, Grand Canyon's Justin Cvitanovic, Lang, Jonathan Da Silva and Freddie Grant and NM State's Nicolas Buitrago each finished the week with no losses. Four tandems also went 2-0 last week to sit atop the doubles standings. Grand Canyon has three of teams with a perfect record as Mariano Argote and Cvitanovic, Grant and Loic Van Zeggelaar and Lang and Novak are each unbeaten. Seattle U's Lucas Cerbelli and Eli Ogilvy also had a perfect week.
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.