PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The American Athletic Conference has announced the monthly tennis honors for the month of September.
MEN’S TENNIS PLAYER OF THE MONTH
Tyler Schick • Jr. • Tulane • Short Hills, N.J.
Schick defeated four combined ranked opponents at the Gators Ranked +1 on Sept. 22-24 in Gainesville, Florida. The junior, who is unranked, took down No. 67-ranked Strahinja Rakic of Mississippi State, No. 88-ranked McClain Kessler of Florida and No. 90-ranked Parker Wynn of Louisville. In doubles action, Schick paired with teammate Lius Erlenbusch to defeat the Cardinals’ duo of Wynn and Christopher Morin-Kougoucheff, who are ranked No. 29. The New Jersey native finished the weekend with a 3-1 singles record and 2-1 doubles mark.
WOMEN’S TENNIS PLAYER OF THE MONTH
Celia Ruiz • Jr. • ECU • Pontevedra, Spain
Ruiz defeated a pair of nationally ranked opponents at the Oracle ITA Masters in Malibu, California. The junior tallied wins against No. 55-ranked Lauren Proctor, 6-4, 7-6 (3), and No. 77-ranked Marianna Petrei of Idaho, 6-3, 6-2. Ruiz entered the fall with a No. 95 ranking, becoming the first player in program history to earn a top-100 ranking by the ITA.
MEN’S TENNIS UPDATE
UCF freshmen Gabriel Decamps and Alan Rubio, who will join the Knights in January, were among the top juniors to qualify for singles and doubles at the 2017 U.S. Open Junior Tennis Championships. Senior Korey Lovett earned a singles ranking of No. 23 to begin the fall season, which begins for UCF at the Bedford Cup in Tallahassee on Oct. 6.
UConn senior Jonathan Edwards and sophomore Evan Powell shared the D Singles Flight crown, while juniors Jack McLister and Hank Hill won the B Doubles Flight in the UConn Invitational. Hill and freshman John Michael Holtmann both earned opening round victories at the Quinnipiac Invitational. The Huskies return to action at the Army Invitational on Oct. 6-8.
ECU sophomore Austin Allen won his singles flight at the Elon Invitational, defeating UNCG’s Eric Whisnant to claim his first tournament title of his career. Junior Will Bissett also made a singles championship, but came up short in the Powell singles flight. The Pirates return to action at the ITA Carolina Regional hosted by North Carolina in Chapel Hill, Oct. 13-16.
Memphis senior Kai Lemke used a straight set win over Alabama's Alexey Nesterov to claim the consolation singles title in the Crimson draw to begin the fall season. Lemke, Felix Rauch, Chris Patzanovsky, Shakeel Manji, Jan Pallares, Turner Voges and Matt Story will compete in the 2017 Saint Francis Health System ITA Men's All-American Championships.
USF opened the fall at the LSU Cajun Classic, where sophomore Nils Heimer defeated Louisiana's Pearse Dolan. Grayson Goldin, Alberto Barroso-Campos and Peter Bertran will represent the Bulls at the 2017 Saint Francis Health System ITA Men's All-American Championships.
Temple kicked off its fall slate at the Navy Invitational, where the Owls went 18-6 overall. Juan Araoz, Alberto Caceres Casas, Uladzimir Dorash and Thomas Sevel will compete at the 2017 Saint Francis Health System ITA Men's All-American Championships.
Tulane senior Constantin Schmitz, ranked No. 13, made it to the championship match of his singles draw at the Florida Ranked +1 Tournament, but fell to Florida's 59th-ranked Johannes Ingildsen. Schmitz, Ewan Moore, Tyler Schick and Luis Erlenbusch will be competing at the 2017 Saint Francis Health System ITA Men's All-American Championships.
Tulsa freshman Joshua Goodger won his flight of the Drake Invitational, defeating Nathan Reekie of Omaha. Lucca Baptista, Goodger, Jarod Hing, Boriss Kamdem, Majed Kilani, and Mitchell Pritchard will represent the Golden Hurricane at the 2017 Saint Francis Health System ITA Men's All-American Championships.
Wichita State junior Haru Inoue, who enters the fall season ranked No. 58, finished the Laguna Niguel Futures event with a 3-1 record. Marius Frosa, Murkel Dellien, Inoue, Miroslav Herzan, Eddie Stoica and Andrea Caligiana of the Shockers’ team will participate in the 2017 Saint Francis Health System ITA Men's All-American Championships.
WOMEN’S TENNIS UPDATE
UCF junior Natalia Serrano and senior Monica Matias won in the top doubles flight of the Bedford Cup, defeating FGCU's Bridget Forster and Maja Ormberg, 6-1. In an ITF sanctioned event in Charleston, S.C., freshmen Ksenia Kuznetsova and Maria Martinez earned second-place doubles honors.
Cincinnati freshman Alexia Coutino led the way at the UC Invitational with a 3-0 record at the No. 5 singles position while also adding a 2-0 record while playing at the No. 3 doubles slot with Antonella Bramato. At the Western & Southern Collegiate Invitational, freshman Maria Teixido Garcia and sophomore Ellee Bullock took second place in Flight 4 and Flight 5, respectively, of the singles draws.
UConn opened the season with a 21-4 record in singles play at the Quinnipiac Invitational, claiming three singles titles and a doubles title. Junior Jacquelyn Fitz-Randolph led the Huskies with a pair of singles and doubles victories at the Harvard Fall Classic. UConn picked up its first dual match win of the season with a sweep of Quinnipiac, 7-0.
ECU junior Celia Ruiz, who is the first player in program history to earn a top-100 ITA ranking (No. 95), reached the quarterfinals of the Oracle ITA Masters. Freshman Chiao Hsia, sophomore Nastja Rettich, senior Maria Gomez and freshman Victoria Dixon all won their singles flights at the ECU Invitational. Ruiz has been selected to compete in singles and doubles, with teammate Lisa Hofbauer, at the 2017 Riviera/ITA Women's Tennis All-American Championships.
Houston sophomore Constandena Nicolaou won the Flight 7 finals at the Rice Invitational as she went 3-0 to start the fall season. Sophomore Tsveta Dimitrova will compete at the 2017 Riviera/ITA Women's Tennis All-American Championships.
Memphis opened fall play at the Missouri Invitational. The sophomore duo of Claire Sullivan and Josephine Cao picked up a win in doubles play, while senior Hanna Sohn and freshman Laura Bente earned wins in singles action. They closed out competition with five singles victories on the final day. The Tigers return to action at the Samford Invitational on Oct. 6-8.
USF began the fall slate at the Rice Invitational, where juniors Nicole Dzenga and Vanja Klaric claimed the Flight 1 doubles title. In the Bedford Cup, Klaric and senior Juliana Cardoso made it to the finals of their singles flight.
SMU got the fall season started at the Rice Invitational, where junior Ana Perez-Lopez and sophomore Charline Anselmo advanced to their flight finals. Junior Liza Buss, who is ranked No. 77, advanced to the third round of the Stillwater Pro Tennis Classic. Buss will be competing at the 2017 Riviera/ITA Women's Tennis All-American Championships.
Temple kicked off the fall at the Cissie Leary Invitational. The Owls won four total matches at the Princeton Invitational, headlined by a pair of wins from junior Alice Patch. They resume play at the City 6 Tournament on Oct. 7-8.
Tulane gets its fall season started at the Samford Invitational on Oct. 6-8.
Tulsa started the fall season at the Stillwater Pro Tennis Classic, where freshman Tamara Kupkova picked up the first win of her career.
Wichita State senior Gabriela Porubin and sophomore Fatima Bizhukova, who rank No. 16, took down a No. 32-ranked Missouri tandem to remain perfect on the year (3-0). Porubin and Bizhukova are set to compete at the 2017 Riviera/ITA Women's Tennis All-American Championships.