TicketSmarter WAC Tennis Athletes of the Week Announced
DENVER – UT Rio Grande Valley's Samuel de Felipe Garcia, Grand Canyon's Jana Weiss, UT Rio Grande Valley doubles team Carlo Izurieta and de Felipe Garcia and Tarleton doubles team Mihaela Codreanu and Faustine Palatte have been named the TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference Tennis Athletes of the Week for March 30 through April 6.
De Felipe Garcia, a redshirt sophomore from Oviendo, Spain, tallied his third win of the season as he was responsible for the Vaqueros' first singles win against Prairie View A&M. He took down the Panthers' Juan Malham Viada (6-2, 6-1) to secure his third win of the season.
Izurieta, a redshirt junior from Guayaquil, Ecuador, and de Felipe Garcia picked up their team-leading fifth doubles victory last week. The duo prevailed in top-flight action over Prairie View A&M's Jorge Juarez and Malham Viada (6-1).
Weiss, a junior from Klagenfurt, Austria, helped lead the Lopes to a perfect weekend as she improved to 4-0 in WAC play with her seventh consecutive victory. Weiss opened play with a win in flight No. 3 on Thursday over UT Rio Grande Valley's Kristyna Mamicova (6-3, 7-5). She then took down Seattle U's Hannah Grossman by a score of 6-1, 6-0 on Friday, collecting her 11th singles win of the season.
Codreanu, a junior from Norristown, Pa., and Palatte, a sophomore from Lyon, France, picked up a pair of thrilling wins in the No. 2 flight of both matches last week. The tandem earned tiebreak victories over NM State and UT Rio Grande Valley to collect its sixth win of the season and help the Texans complete a 2-0 weekend in WAC play.
Other women's singles nominees: Chicago State's Katarina Dukic was a perfect 2-0 in singles play last week, earning wins in the No. 4 spot against Seattle U and Dixie State… Dixie State's Julianna Honczaruk secured wins in singles play against both NM State and Chicago State… NM State's Chloe Gavino was the lone WAC player to earn three wins last week as she tallied wins in play against Arizona, Dixie State and Tarleton… Tarleton's Celia Vaudiau led the Texans to a pair of WAC wins as she collected wins over NM State's Bella Nguyen and UT Rio Grande Valley's Ana Platisa… UT Rio Grande Valley's Sandra Putz improved to 4-4 on the season as she picked up wins in matchups against Tarleton and Prairie View A&M.
Other women's doubles nominees: Chicago State's Kristina Pukhaeva and Katarina Drazic notched a pair of 6-2 wins last week as they helped the Cougars earn their first WAC victory of the season… Dixie State' Juliana Honczaruk and Rachel Mellor finished the week with an unbeaten record as they earned wins against NM State and Chicago State… Grand Canyon's Autumn Prudhomme and Emilia Occhipinti moved to 4-0 in league play as they earned wins against UTRGV and Seattle U… NM State's Harsha Challa and Gavi Kalaga went 2-0 last week, including helping the Aggies clinch the doubles point in their 4-3 win over Tarleton on Thursday.