PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Tulane junior Constantin Schmitz and UCF senior Cortney Cesarini have been chosen as the American Athletic Conference Men’s and Women’s Players of the Week for the week-ending Feb. 5.
        
AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE MEN’S TENNIS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Constantin Schmitz • Jr. • Tulane
Schmitz, ranked No. 54 in the ITA men’s singles rankings, earns Men’s Player of the Week honors for the second straight week after he keyed Tulane’s 7-0 win against previously unbeaten Santa Clara. Schmitz won a third-set tiebreaker at No. 1 singles to complete the sweep and improve to 4-0 in singles play in 2017 dual matches.
 
AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE WOMEN’S TENNIS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Cortney Cesarini • Sr. • UCF
Cesarini led UCF to dual match wins against Florida A&M and Georgia Southern by going 2-0 in both singles and doubles play, dropping only two games in the two matches. She was a 6-1, 6-0 winner at No. 4 singles against the Rattlers and took a 6-0, 6-1 decision against the Eagles. She added 6-0 pro-set wins at No. 1 doubles to help UCF improve to 6-1 on the dual season.
 
 
 
AROUND THE AMERICAN
SMU is ranked No. 22 in the Feb. 1 Oracle/ITA Division I men’s tennis rakings as the Mustangs moved up one spot from last week. USF, Tulane and Tulsa were all receiving votes in this week’s poll.
 
The Jan. 8 ITA men’s singles rankings have Memphis’ Ryan Peniston at No. 35, Tulsa’s Or Ram-Harel at No. 46, Tulane’s Constantin Schmitz at No. 54, USF’s Peter Bertran at No. 77, Memphis’ Andrew Watson at No. 111, and UConn’s Justin Warren and Arnaud Valentin at No. 115.
 
The men’s doubles tandems in the Jan. 8 ITA rankings are Harrison Richmond/Mariano Porter of UCF at No. 27; Francois Kellerman/Okkie Kellerman of Tulsa at No. 36; and Peter Betran/Vadym Kalyuzhnyy of USF 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. Memphis’ Anki Wind is ranked No. 91 and East Carolina’s Sarah Sarjoo is ranked No. 111 in the Jan. 8 ITA women’s singles 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) was idle last week. 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 is off until a Feb. 17 match against Tennessee Tech.
 
UConn (2-3) split its two matches last weekend, with a 5-2 setback to St. John’s and a 6-1 win against Merrimack. Jonathan Edwards has gone 3-0 for the Huskies at the No. 6 singles spot, while Jacob Appleton has turned in a 3-2 singles mark. UConn will take on Army and Buffalo in West Point, New York, this weekend.
 
East Carolina (6-0) remained unbeaten with a 6-1 victory against Navy last Sunday as the Pirates continued their best start under 11th-year head coach Shawn Heinchon. East Carolina won at the No. 2 through No. 6 spot on the singles ladder and captured the doubles point against the Midshipmen. East Carolina hosts Richmond Friday and Appalachian State Sunday.
 
Memphis (4-2) scored back-to-back 7-0 wins against Arkansas Pine Bluff last Friday to improve to 4-2. The Tigers registered straight-set wins in all six singles spots in both matches as Chris Patzanovsky, Matt Story and Shakeel Manji all went 2-0 on the week. The Tigers are off until a Feb. 17 match at Indiana.
 
USF (1-3) dropped road matches to No. 3 Ohio State and No. 18 Michigan, falling 6-1 to both teams. Alberto Barroso has gone 3-1 in the first four matches, playing primarily at No. 4 singles. The Bulls host Mississippi State Sunday in their only dual match of the week.
 
SMU (3-2), which is ranked No. 22 in this week’s Oracle/ITA ranking, heads to the Northeast for two matches this week. The Mustangs visit Army Thursday before visiting Dartmouth Saturday.
 
Temple (2-4) earned its second win of the spring as the Owls defeated Villanova 5-2. Artem Kapshuk scored a 6-1, 6-0 victory at No. 1 singles and helped Temple claim the doubles point with a 6-2 decision with Vineet Naran at the No. 1 spot. Temple hosts Fairleigh Dickinson Friday.
 
Tulane (4-1) saw five of its six singles players register straight-set wins as the Green Wave handled previously unbeaten Santa Clara 7-0 to win for the fourth time in five spring matches. Constantin Schmitz has gone 4-0 in dual matches at the No. 1 singles spot, helping the Green Wave to go a combined 5-0 at No. 1 and 5-0 at No. 6. Tulane hosts Auburn Friday and entertains North Florida Sunday.
 
Tulsa (4-4) was idle last week after the Golden Hurricane wrapped up a stretch of four straight matches against top-25 teams. Tulsa is in the middle of a stretch in which it faces six top-25 opponents in seven matches, the lone exception a Feb. 10 match at Tennessee.
 
 

WOMEN’S TENNIS UPDATE
 
UCF (6-1) extended its dual match winning streak to four matches as the Knights handled Florida A&M (7-0) and Georgia Southern (5-2). 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 has a 10-day layoff before the Knights visit North Florida Feb. 15.
 
Cincinnati (2-2) saw its record fall to the .500 mark as the Bearcats dropped a 6-1 decision to Marshall. Freshman Anna Philp picked up her team-leading fourth singles win of the season with a straight-set victory at the No. 5 spot against Marshall for the Bearcats’ lone team point. Cincinnati heads to Wright State Saturday before a Sunday home match against Ball State.
 
UConn (3-2) gained a split of its two-match swing to the states of Kansas and Missouri as the Huskies fell 6-1 to Kansas State, but rallied for a 4-3 win against UMKC. Junior Yelyzaveta Pletnyeva accounted for UConn’s lone team point against Kansas State and followed with a straight-set win against UMKC. UConn heads to West Point, New York, for weekend matches against Stony Brook and Army.
 
East Carolina (1-1) began its 2016-17 season with a pair of dual matches last week as the Pirates fell 6-1 at North Carolina State and beat Appalachian State, 7-0. Freshman Lisa Hofbauer took a three-set win against the Wolfpack and followed with a straight-set win against the Mountaineers to begin her career with a 2-0 singles record at the No. 2 spot. .
 
Houston (2-2) ended a four-match homestand with a 4-3 setback to Texas A&M Corpus Christi last Saturday. Tsveta Dimitrova was the only Cougar player to win in single and doubles as she scored a straight-set victory at No. 1 singles. Houston hits the road to face UTEP Saturday and New Mexico State Sunday.
 
Memphis (3-1) fell for the first time in the 2017 spring season as the Tigers dropped a 5-0 decision at LSU last Saturday. The Tigers are off until a Feb. 18-19 trip to Minneapolis for matches against Missouri and Minnesota.
 
USF (2-3) split its two matches last week with a 7-0 win against Southern Mississippi and a 7-0 setback to Texas Tech. Ana Roman and Juliana Cardoso are tied for the team lead with three singles wins each, while Roman has paired with Brooke Lashway for a 3-1 mark at No. 3 doubles. The Bulls host Stetson and Troy in dual matches this weekend.
 
SMU (5-0) won three dual matches in a busy week to remain unbeaten in the 2017 dual season. The Mustangs topped Sam Houston State (7-0), Northwestern State (6-1) and UT Rio Grande Valley (7-0) last weekend. Senior Dasha Sharapova leads the squad with a 5-0 singles record in dual matches, while sophomores Ana Perez-Lopez and Ellie Zogg are both 4-0. SMU is idle this week and faces Texas A&M Corpus Christi Feb. 15.
 
Temple (4-3) split a pair of matches against local opponents as the Owls were 5-0 winners against Villanova before falling 6-1 to Penn. Mariana Bedon provided the lone team point against Penn with a straight-set win at No. 6 singles, while the Owls took all four singles matches that were completed against Villanova. Temple hosts Fairleigh Dickinson Friday in its lone match of this week.
 
Tulane (7-1) saw its season-opening winning streak snapped with a 5-2 setback at Arizona, but the Green Wave bounced back with a 4-1 victory against UTEP to improve to 7-1. Junior Naz Karagoz is off to a 7-1 start at No. 1 singles, while junior Sade Atkinson and freshman Christina Sisti are both 5-1 thus far. Tulane visits Winthrop and Furman this week.
 
Tulsa (6-2) was a 4-2 winner against North Texas before the Golden Hurricane dropped a 4-1 decision to No. 5 Oklahoma State. Senior Marcelina Cichon. who saw a 12-match winning streak end against Oklahoma State, has gone 6-1 in singles play in dual matches, while sophomore Martha Matoula is 5-1 in dual matches after she scored a straight-set win at No. 5 against Oklahoma State.

This Week In The American
MEN                                                                                                               

Thursday, Feb. 9	SMU at Army	6 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 10	Auburn at Tulane	2 p.m.
	Richmond at East Carolina	2:30 p.m.
	Tulsa at Tennessee	6 p.m.
	Fairleigh Dickinson at Temple	6:30 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 11	SMU at Dartmouth	Noon
	UConn at Army	4 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 12	UConn vs. Buffalo (West Point, N.Y.)	9 a.m.
	Appalachian State at East Carolina	11 a.m.
	Mississippi State at USF	1 p.m.
	North Florida at Tulane	1 p.m.

                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                       
WOMEN                                                                                                         

Friday, Feb. 10	East Carolina at North Carolina Central	1 p.m.
	Tulane at Winthrop	2 p.m.
	Fairleigh Dickinson at Temple	6:30 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 11	UConn vs. Stony Brook (West Point, N.Y.)	10:30 a.m.
	East Carolina at Davidson	1 p.m.
	Houston at UTEP	1 p.m.
	Tulane at Furman	1 p.m.
	Sam Houston State at Tulsa	1 p.m.
	Stetson at USF	2 p.m.
	Cincinnati at Wright State	2:30 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 12	UConn at Army	Noon
	Troy at USF	Noon
	Houston at New Mexico State	1 p.m.
	Ball State at Cincinnati	2 p.m.
	Middle Tennessee at Tulsa	3 p.m.

 
 
all times Eastern