TicketSmarter WAC Tennis Athletes of the Week Announced
DENVER – NM State's Nicolas Buitrago, Grand Canyon's Jana Weiss, NM State doubles team Louis Menard and Jordy Visser and Tarleton doubles team Martha Makantasi and Jemi Aguilar have been named the TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference Tennis Athletes of the Week for April 13 through April 19.
Buitrago, a senior from Bogota, Colombia, pushed his singles match winning streak to seven matches as he took down UT-Permian Basin's Aditya Iyer (6-3, 6-1). With the win, Buitrago currently owns the longest active winning streak in singles action among all WAC players.
Menard, a junior from Annecy, France, and Visser, a freshman from Bemmel, Netherlands, combined for a win in top-flight action against UT-Permian Basin on Saturday. The tandem defeated Paul Schwieger and Aditya Iyer by a score of 6-2 to help the Aggies clinch the doubles point against the Falcons.
Weiss, a junior from Klagenfurt, Austria, moved her singles match winning streak to nine matches as she was perfect in WAC play last week. On Friday, Weiss earned a 6-0, 6-1, win over Chicago State's Katarina Drazic. She then followed Friday's showing with a 6-1, 6-0 victory over NM State's Miranda Bishard.
Makantasi, a freshman from Metamorfosi, Greece, and Aguilar, a junior from Orlando, Fla., had an outstanding week as they were perfect in top-flight action against WAC opponents and added wins against UT-Permian Basin and UTEP. Tuesday, the tandem earned a win over UTPB's Anaya Singh and Krystal Smith and continued their strong start with a win over UTEP's Thassane Abrahim and Veronika Lebisova. Makantasi and Aguilar closed their week with a win over Dixie State's Kyra Harames and Sabrina Longson (6-3) before prevailing over Seattle U's Hannah Giannan and Jillian Rasmussen (6-2) on Saturday.
Other men's singles nominees: Chicago State's Pedro Alvarez finished the week with a perfect 2-0 record as he earned wins in singles play against Eastern Illinois and Cardinal Stritch.
Other men's doubles nominees: Chicago State's Javier Sanchez and Pedro Alvarez extended their winning streak to four matches, defeating tandems from Eastern Illinois and Cardinal Stritch.
Other women's singles nominees: Tarleton's Martha Makantasi put an exclamation point on a stellar freshman season as she earned wins in WAC play against both Dixie State and Seattle U… UT Rio Grande Valley's Isabelle Bahr helped UTRGV to a pair of wins as she earned match victories at the No. 1 spot against Seattle U and Dixie State.
Other women's doubles nominees: Grand Canyon's Emilia Occhipinti and Autumn Prudhomme capped off a 10-match winning streak as they defeated teams from Chicago State and NM State last week… UT Rio Grande Valley's Isabelle Bahr and Katarina Sasaroga improved to 9-5 as a duo, earning back-to-back wins in top-flight action against Seattle U and Dixie State.