PROVIDENCE, R.I. – USF junior Justin Roberts and Cincinnati graduate student Kelly Poggensee-Wei
have been chosen as the American Athletic Conference Men’s and Women’s Players of the Week for the week-ending Feb. 12.
       
AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE MEN’S TENNIS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Justin Roberts • Jr. • USF
Roberts keyed USF’s 4-2 win against No. 16 Mississippi State with victories at No. 2 singles and No. 2 doubles, including the clinching point in singles play. Roberts battled back after dropping the first set to score a 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 decision in singles play and helped the Bulls to their only doubles win of the day with a 6-3 victory. .
 
AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE WOMEN’S TENNIS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Kelly Poggensee-Wei • Gr. • Cincinnati
Poggensee-Wei was 2-0 in both singles and doubles play to lead Cincinnati to dual match wins against Wright State (4-3) and Ball State (6-1) last week. She clinched the win against Wright State with a 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-1) win at No. 2 singles and she earned a three-set win at No. 2 against Ball State (6-7 (8-10), 6-2, 6-2), winning 14 of her final 21 sets.
 
 
 
AROUND THE AMERICAN
SMU is ranked No. 21 in the Feb. 8 Oracle/ITA Division I men’s tennis rakings as the Mustangs moved up one spot from last week. Tulane was listed as receiving votes in the national poll.
 
The Feb. 8 ITA men’s singles rankings have Tulsa’s Or Ram-Harel at No. 23, Tulane’s Constantin Schmitz at No. 30, UCF’s Korey Lovett at No. 43, SMU’s Hunter Johnson at No. 44, SMU’s Ronald Slobodchikov at No. 49, USF’s Peter Betran at No. 71, USF’s Alberto Barroso-Camps at No. 81, Memphis’ Ryan Peniston at No. 97 and Tulsa’s Majed Kilani at No. 115.
 
The men’s doubles tandems in the Feb. 8 ITA rankings are Majed Kilani/Or Ram-Harel of Tulsa at No. 23 and Yates Johnson/Hunter Johnson of SMU at No. 39.
 
Tulsa’s women’s team narrowly missed out on a spot in the top 25 in the Feb. 1 Oracle/ITA Division I women’s tennis rankings, as the Golden Hurricane was one of two teams listed in the receiving votes category. Tulsa’s doubles tandem of Rongrong Leenabanchong/Martha Matoula is listed at No. 59 in the Feb. 8 ITA rankings.
 
The American Athletic Conference Men’s and Women’s Tennis Championships will be held in April at the new USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida. The state-of-the-art complex features 10 courts and is the home site for USTA player development and the USTA’s community tennis division.
 

MEN’S TENNIS UPDATE
UCF (4-1) has not competed since Jan. 29. Korey Lovett has gone 5-0 in dual matches at the No. 1 spot at leads the Knights in wins this season, while Chris Barrus is 4-0 in dual matches. UCF resumes play Friday against Tennessee Tech and takes on Florida Atlantic Sunday.
 
UConn (2-4) fell 6-1 to Army in the Huskies’ lone match of last week. Jacob Appleton was a three-set winner at No. 5 singles to give the Huskies their lone team point. UConn will face Temple Saturday in Philadelphia.
 
East Carolina (7-1) saw its seven-match winning streak end with a 4-3 setback to Richmond before the Pirates bounced back with a 4-1 win against Appalachian State. Fredric Lehfeldt has gone 7-0 at the No. 4 singles spot to lead East arolina, while Vlad Anghel and Ronny Georgi are both 6-1 in singles. The Pirates head to Philadelphia Friday to face Temple before visiting Delaware Saturday.
 
Memphis (4-2) was idle last week. The Tigers have been led by Andrew Watson, who has gone 3-0 in dual matches at No. 2 singles, and Chris Patzanovsky, who has a 3-0 mark at No. 4 singles. The Tigers back in action Feb. 17 at Indiana.
 
USF (2-3) scored a 4-2 win against No. 16 Mississippi State in the Bulls’ only dual match of last week. USF dropped the doubles point, but took four of the five singles matches that were completed, including successive three-set wins at No. 4, No. 3 and No. 2 to clinch the victory. Justin Roberts and Peter Bertran won in both singles and doubles for USF, which is off until a Feb. 24 dual match against No. 25 Texas A&M.
 
SMU (4-2), which is ranked No. 21 in this week’s Oracle/ITA ranking, scored a 7-0 win at Army last week Thursday. Arkadijs Slobodkins was a 6-0, 6-0 winner at No. 5 singles to pace the Mustangs, who saw their scheduled match at Dartmouth canceled due to snow in the New England region. SMU hosts Sacramento State and Prairie View A&M this week.
 
Temple (3-4) won its second straight dual match as the Owls scored a 5-2 victory against Fairleigh Dickinson. Artem Kapshuk, Thomas Sevel and Uladzimir Dorash all won in singles and doubles play to spark the Owls, who took the top three spots on the singles ladder. Temple hosts a pair of American Athletic Conference teams this week as East Carolina visits Friday, while UConn heads to Philadelphia Saturday.
 
Tulane (6-1) won dual matches against Auburn (5-2) and North Florida (4-2) to extend its winning streak to three matches. Constantin Schmitz remains unbeaten (5-0) at the No. 1 singles spot this season, while three players - Luis Erienbusch, Sebastian Rey and Tyler Shick - take 5-1 records into Thursday’s match against LSU.
 
Tulsa (4-6) fell 7-0 to Tennessee and No. 7 UCLA in last week’s dual matches. The Golden Hurricane is off until a Feb. 24 match against No. 14 Oklahoma, which will complete a run of six nationally ranked opponents in Tulsa’s last seven matches.
 

WOMEN’S TENNIS UPDATE
 
UCF (6-1) junior Emilia Granstrom remains unbeaten in the 2017 season with a 7-0 record in singles, playing primarily at No. 3 and No. 4, and a 7-0 mark in at No. 2 doubles. UCF returns from a 10-day layoff as the Knights visit North Florida Wednesday and host Florida Gulf Coast Friday.
 
Cincinnati (4-2) earned a pair of dual matches last week as the Bearcats took a 4-3 decision at Wright State and a 6-1 victory against Ball State. The match against Wright State came down to the No. 2 singles spot, where Kelly Poggensee-Wei battled to a 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-1) win for the clinching point. Cincinnati is on the road for matches against Toledo (Friday) and Michigan State (Saturday) this week.
 
UConn (4-2) was a 5-2 winner against Stony Brook in the Huskies’ lone dual match last week. Junior Yelyzaveta Pletnyeva is off to a 5-1 start in dual matches, competing at the No. 2 spot. After the Huskies’ scheduled match against Army was postponed due to inclement weather, UConn heads to Philadelphia for matches against Drexel and Temple this week.
 
East Carolina (2-2) split a pair of dual matches last week as the Pirates cruised past North Carolina Central 6-1 before falling 5-2 at Davidson. Sophomore Celia Ruiz won in straight sets in both of her matches at No. 1 singles. East Carolina heads to Old Dominion Thursday before the Pirates host UNC Greensboro Saturday.
 
Houston (4-2) went on the road to claim a pair of wins last week as the Cougars edged UTEP 4-3 before taking a 4-0 win at New Mexico State. Lauren Alter won two straight-set decisions at No. 4 singles to lead the way. Houston continues its month-long road trip with two matches in Louisiana this week. The Cougars visit Tulane Friday before facing LSU Sunday.
 
Memphis (3-1) has been idle since Feb. 4. The Tigers return to the court with a trip to Minneapolis, Minnesota, this week. Memphis will face Missouri Saturday and will take on Minnesota Sunday.
 
USF (4-3) put itself above the .500 mark as the Bulls rolled to a 7-0 win against Stetson and a 6-1 victory against Troy last week. Ana Roman and Juliana Cardoso lead the squad with 5-2 singles records as Roman plays at the No. 1 spot, while Cardoso has played in the middle of the lineup. The Bulls head to LSU Friday before visiting Tulane Sunday.
 
SMU (5-0) was idle this week as the Mustangs get ready to face Texas A&M Corpus Christi Wednesday. SMU then has a Sunday dual match at Oklahoma. Dasha Sharapova leads the Mustangs with a 5-0 singles record, whle Ana Perez-Lopez, Ellie Zogg and Liza Buss are all 4-0.
 
Temple (5-3) was a 7-0 winner against Fairleigh Dickinson in the Owls’ only dual match of last week. Temple took all three doubles spots and didn’t drop a set in singles play to improve to 5-3. Temple visits Georgetown Tuesday before the Owls host UConn Saturday.
 
Tulane (8-2) split a pair of matches last week as the Green Wave got past Winthrop 4-3 before falling to Furman by the same score. Naz Karagoz has gone 7-3 at the No. 1 singles spot and is tied with Christina Sisti for the team lead in dual match wins. The Green Wave will host two of its American Athletic Conference counterparts this week a Friday match against Houston and a Sunday meeting with USF.
 
Tulsa (8-2) won a pair of dual matches to win, giving the Golden Hurricane four wins in its last five contests. Tulsa handled Sam Houston State 7-0 before taking a 6-1 win against Middle Tennessee last week. Sophomore Martha Matoula took a pair of straight-set wins at the No. 5 spot to lead the way. Matoula and partner Rongrong Leenabanchong are ranked No. 59 in last week’s ITA doubles ranking. Tulsa visits Oklahoma Saturday in search of its third straight win.

This Week In The American
MEN                                                                                                               

Thursday, Feb. 16	Tulane at LSU	6:30 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 17	East Carolina at Temple	10 a.m.
	Tennessee Tech at UCF	1 p.m.
	Sacramento State at SMU	5:30 p.m.
	Memphis at Indiana	7 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 18	UConn at Temple	5:30 p.m.
	Prairie View A&M at SMU	5:30 p.m.
	East Carolina at Delaware	6 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 19	Florida Atlantic at UCF	Noon

 
 
                                                                                                                       
WOMEN                                                                                                         

Tuesday, Feb. 14	Temple at Georgetown	12:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Feb. 15	UCF at North Florida	5 p.m.
	Texas A&M Corpus Christi at SMU	5 p.m.
Thursday, Feb. 16	East Carolina at Old Dominion	1 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 17	Florida Gulf Coast at UCF	1 p.m.
	Cincinnati at Toledo	1 p.m.
	Houston at Tulane	2 p.m.
	USF at LSU	5 p.m.
	UConn at Drexel	6 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 18	UCF at Michigan State	10 a.m.
	Memphis vs. Missouri (Minneapolis, Minn.)	11 a.m.
	UNC Greensboro at East Carolina	Noon
	Tulsa at Oklahoma	1 p.m.
	UConn at Temple	5:30 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 19	Memphis at Minnesota	11 a.m.
	Houston at LSU	Noon
	SMU at Oklahoma	Noon
	USF at Tulane	2 p.m.

 
 
all times Eastern