PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Tulsa sophomore Or Ram-Harel and SMU sophomore Dasha Sharapova are the latest American Athletic Conference Players of the Week in men’s and women’s tennis.
Ram-Harel – the Men’s Tennis Player of the Week – was instrumental in Tulsa picking up two more wins over ranked opponents last weekend, including the Golden Hurricane’s second victory over a top-10 opponent this season. Friday against No. 70 Michigan, Ram-Harel downed the Wolverines’ Michael Zhu at No. 1 singles in straight sets (6-3, 6-1) to go along with a No. 1 doubles victory. Sunday against No. 10 Ohio State, Ram-Harel defeated No. 44 Chris Diaz of the Buckeyes (5-7, 6-2, 6-1) in a 5-2 Tulsa victory. The weekly award is the second of the year for the sophomore from Kiryat Ivon, Israel. The Golden Hurricane moved up nine spots to No. 20 in the ITA rankings with the victories.
Sharapova was perfect on the weekend for the Mustangs in wins over No. 64 Hawaii and Cal State Fullerton and earns her first career Women’s Tennis Player of the Week award. The sophomore from Gomel, Belarus, defeated Martina Kostalova of the Rainbow Wahine at No. 3 singles (2-6, 6-2, 6-2) Wednesday to help the Mustangs to a 6-1 victory. Thursday against Cal State Fullerton, Sharapova defeated the Titans’ Danielle Pham at No. 3 (6-2, 6-1) in a 5-2 victory. Sharapova was also 2-0 in doubles play with a pair of victories at No. 1. The wins over Hawaii and Cal State Fullerton propelled SMU into the ITA rankings, where they sit at No. 74 entering this week.
In other action from the past week:
- SMU’s men’s squad picked up wins over No. 49 Pepperdine and No. 54 Cal Poly. Junior Nate Lammons was perfect on the weekend, as he went 2-0 at both No. 4 singles and No. 2 doubles.
- The UCF men’s team picked up a pair of victories, defeating Western Michigan 6-1 last Tuesday and Georgia Southern 5-2 Sunday.
- The Knights’ women’s squad downed Furman 4-3 in its lone match of the week.
- The Tulane women’s squad defeated Samford 4-1 Saturday and Cincinnati 6-1 Monday. The Green Wave hosts Houston Tuesday.
- No. 34 Houston defeated Memphis 4-3 Saturday to open a four-match stretch against conference foes. Freshman Mina Markovic picked up a singles and a doubles win in the victory.
- The Tigers also fell to No. 23 Rice on their trip to Texas.
- The No. 61 Memphis men fell to No. 32 Oklahoma State and No. 49 Pepperdine in a pair of matches last weekend. Senior Connor Glennon won both his clashes at No. 1 singles.
- East Carolina’s men’s team fell to FGCU in its lone match of the weekend. The Pirate women dropped a decision to Notre Dame before they downed Bryant and McMurry in a 2-1 week.
- The No. 20 USF men went 3-0 on the weekend, defeating Furman, Tulane and UNC Wilmington.
- Tulane’s men’s squad defeated No. 52 North Florida prior to the match with USF and fell to No. 48 Penn State Sunday.
- The USF women fell to No. 72 Florida State, Furman and No. 56 Illinois in a weekend invitational in Tampa.
- Temple’s men’s team downed La Salle 7-0 in the Owls’ lone match of the week.