This Week in WAC Women's Tennis - April 28
This Week in WAC Women's Tennis - April 28
OCCHIPINTI AND PRUDHOMME NAMED PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Grand Canyon doubles team Emilia Occhipinti and Autum Prudhomme have been named the TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference Tennis Athletes of the Week for April 20 through April 26.
Alvarez, a freshman from Cagua, Venezuala, finished the week with a perfect 2-0 record to close out the regular season. On Saturday, Alvarez came back from a loss in the first set to take down Eastern Illinois' Aleksa Lazarevic. He then helped the Cougars earn the win over Saint Louis with a win over the Billikens' Eliott Ekindi (6-2,6-2).
Suler, a junior from Zagreb, Croatia, and Perez Plaza, a junior from Madrid, Spain, combined for a pair of wins last week. The tandem opened the week with a top-flight win over Ming-Chieh Chiu and Nam Pham of Illinois State. Additionally, they prevailed over Saint Louis' Ekindi and David Hopper on Sunday, winning 6-3 in their final match of the regular season.
Occhipinti, a senior from Ragusa, Italy, and Prudhomme, a senior from Glendale, Ariz., extended their winning streak to 11 matches with a win against Northern Arizona last week. The duo defeated Elinor Beazley and Gina Dittmann by a score of 7-6 on Friday.
BY THE NUMBERS
Entering the WAC tournament, Grand Canyon holds the best team winning percentage with a record of 10-8 (.556). Individually, Tarleton's Martha Makantasi has put together a singles record of 16-2 to lead the league in singles play. UT Rio Grande Valley has the top doubles team as Lea Karren and Valeria Montero hold a doubles record of 7-2.
In WAC play, Grand Canyon finished as the only undefeated team as the Lopes concluded their season with a 6-0 record against WAC opponents. Individually, six different players went unbeaten in conference singles matches. Each with a record of 6-0, Tarleton's Celia Vaudiau is joined by Grand Canyon's Joely Lomas, Natasha Puehse, Emilia Occhipinti and Jana Weiss to lead the way. Meanwhile, Grand Canyon's Emilia Occhipinti and Autum Prudhomme pace the conference in doubles play, posting a 6-0 record.
PRUDHOMME COLLECTS WIN NO. 150
In his 14th season at the helm of the Grand Canyon tennis program, Head Coach Greg Prudhomme tallied his 150th win. The benchmark win came as the Lopes swept Chicago State and place GCU on track to earn the WAC regular seaon title.
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.
Grand Canyon earned the regular season title and the No. 1 seed after ending WAC play with a perfect 6-0 record. The Lopes will await the winner of the match between the No. 4 and No. 5 seed.
NM State is headed straight to the semifinals with a No. 2 seed and 4-2 record. The Aggies will face the third seeded Seattle U Redhawks.
UT Rio Grande Valley enters the tournament with a 3-3 record in conference play, earning the No. 3 seed.
Taking the fourth seed is Chicago State. The Cougars will matchup with No. 5 Seattle U on April 30 in the lone quarterfinal contest.
The tournament begins Friday, April 30, with the Cougars and Redhawks set to begin play at 9 a.m. local time.