ARLINGTON, Texas – University of Texas Rio Grande Valley’s Emilien Burnel and Abilene Christian’s Daniel Morozov and Jose Maria Rastrojo have been named the TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Men’s Tennis Players, for the month ending on Saturday, Sept. 30.
 
Burnel (Sr.) is awarded the Men’s Singles Player of the Month as he went 4-1 throughout September. In the first fall tournament, Burnel went undefeated and won the Singles A Draw at the Jake Frederick Memorial Islander Open, hosted by Texas A&M – Corpus Christi. He took on and defeated UIW’s Noah DeLuna 6-0, 6-1, TAMU-CC’s Etienne Marty (injury retirement) and UIW’s Joao Sasso 6-3, 6-3 in the draw final. Burnel became the first UTRGV men’s tennis player since 2018 to get selected to compete at the ITA Men’s All-American Championships in Tulsa. There he went 1-1 in the pre-qualifying draw, defeating Furman’s Elijah Poritzky 6-3, 6-4 in the first round before falling 6-2, 6-1 to Michigan State’s Luke Baylis.
 
Morozov (Jr.) and Rastrojo (Sr.) are awarded the Men’s Doubles Players of the Month as they went 4-1 together throughout September. In their first tournament together in the Jake Frederick Memorial Islander Open, they defeated Whitehead/Krolo from UTRGV 6-2 and TAMU-CC’s Zacala/Marty (injury retirement) in the opening rounds before falling in the Flight A Doubles Finals. Morozov and Rastrojo rebounded the next tournament in the US College Cup in Torreon, Mexico by claiming the Flight B Doubles title, collecting wins against TCU’s Alonso/Swan 6-4 and Oklahoma’s Trodson/Anselmo 6-4.
 
2023 TicketSmarter WAC Men’s Tennis Players Monthly Awards
 
MEN’S SINGLES PLAYER OF THE MONTH
Emilien Burnel, Sr., UTRGV (Sept)
 
MEN’S DOUBLES PLAYERS OF THE MONTH
Daniel Morozov, Jr., and Jose Maria Rastrojo, Sr., ACU (Sept)