This Week in WAC Men's Tennis - April 28
This Week in WAC Men's Tennis - April 28
ALVAREZ, SULER AND PEREZ PLAZA NAMED PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Chicago State's Pedro Alvarez and doubles team Jakov Suler and Jesus Perez Plaza 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.
Other men's singles nominees: Grand Canyon's Valentin Lang notched his sixth-straight victory as he came away with a 6-0, 6-2 win over NAU's Eban Straker-Meads.
BY THE NUMBERS
NM State holds the best winning percentage in overall play (.375). Individually, Chicago State freshman Pedro Alvarez claims the best singles record at 17-4. In doubles play, Grand Canyon's team of Valentin Lang and Jiri Novak have been the best duo, managing a record of 9-6 on the season.
In conference play, Grand Canyon sits atop the league with a 3-0 record. In singles action, NM State's Nicolas Buitrago finished as the only player with a 4-0 record to lead the conference. Meanwhile, three Grand Canyon duos share the top spot in doubles play. Valentin Lang and Jiri Novak, Mariano Argote and Justin Cvitanovic and Freddie Grant and Loic Van Zeggelaar each finished WAC play with a 3-0 record.
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 May 1 with the final day of matches scheduled for May 2.
Grand Canyon was named WAC Regular Season Co-Champions and earned the No. 1 seed after ending WAC play with a perfect 3-0 record. The Lopes are set to do battle with the No. 4 seed in the semifinals on May 1.
NM State also claimed a share of the regular season title as it is headed straight to the semifinals with a No. 2 seed and a 3-1 record. The host Aggies will face the third seed to open the tournament.
Seattle U enters the tournament with a 2-2 record in conference play, earning the No. 3 seed.
Taking the fourth seed is Chicago State. This marks the third time in the last four tournaments that the Cougars pick up the No. 4 spot.
The tournament begins Saturday, May 1, with both the semifinal matches beginning at 1 p.m. local time.