PROVIDENCE, R.I. – UCF junior Danny Kerznerman and Memphis junior Anki Wind have been chosen as the American Athletic Conference Men’s and Women’s Tennis Players of the Week for the week-ending March 27.
       
AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE MEN’S TENNIS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Danny Kerznerman • Jr. • UCF
Kerznerman helped UCF to a 4-1 win against No. 29 Florida State as he won at both singles and doubles against the Seminoles. He paired with Korey Lovett to clinch the doubles point with a 7-5 win at the No. 2 spot, and he went on to take a 6-3, 6-1 victory at No. 2 singles against the No. 125-ranked player nationally. Kerznerman improved to 15-1 in singles play, while he and Lovett improved to 5-0 in doubles in 2017.
 
AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE WOMEN’S TENNIS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Anki Wind • Jr. • Memphis
Wind was a combined 4-0 in singles and doubles play to lead Memphis to wins against Middle Tennessee and Virginia Commonwealth. Playing at No. 1 singles, Wind won a three-set decision against Middle Tennessee and a straight-set victory against VCU, while she paired with Katherine Cao to win at No. 2 doubles against both opponents. Wind has helped Memphis to six wins in the Tigers’ last seven matches.
 
 
AROUND THE AMERICAN
Five American Athletic Conference men’s teams are ranked in the Oracle/ITA Division I men’s tennis rankings of March 28. USF is ranked No. 26, while Tulane is three spots back at No. 29. Memphis is No. 34, SMU is No. 38 and UCF is No. 39 in this week’s ranking.
 
The March 21 ITA men’s singles rankings have Tulane’s Constantin Schmitz as the conference’s highest-ranked player at No. 18. Tulsa’s Or Ram-Harel is at No. 25, while SMU’s Ronald Slobodchikov is No. 55, USF’s Sasha Gozun is No. 62, UCF’s Korey Lovett is No. 63, Memphis’ Andrew Watson is No. 75 and SMU’s Hunter Johnson is No. 83.
 
The men’s doubles tandems in the March 21 ITA rankings are Yates Johnson/Hunter Johnson of SMU at No. 35,  Alberto Barroso-Campos/Sasha Gozun of USF at No. 50, Majed Kilani/Or Ram-Harel of Tulsa at No. 54 and Sebastian Rey/Chi-Shan Jao of Tulane at No. 73.
 
The American has two women’s teams in the March 21 edition of the Oracle/ITA rankings. Tulsa is No. 31 and Tulane is No. 43.
 
East Carolina’s Celia Ruiz has earned a spot in the March 21 Oracle/ITA singles rankings. Ruiz enters the national ranking at No. 124 among all Division I players.
 
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 (11-5), upended No. 29 Florida State, 4-1, in Tallahassee. The Knights extended their winning streak to three matches and are ranked No. 39 in the March 28 Oracle/ITA team rankings. The Knights, who have registered three wins against top-30 opponents this season, host No. 26 USF Saturday at the USTA National Campus. 
 
UConn (7-8) posted a 4-3 win over Hofstra University Sunday afternoon from the East Hartford Tennis Club.  The Huskies notched their second-straight win and improved to 7-8 on the season. The Huskies swept all three doubles matches to take the team point and built a 3-0 lead before Christopher Toner clinched the match with a win at No. 1 singles. UConn hosts Boston University Saturday and Bryant Sunday.
 
East Carolina (14-4) posted a 6-1 win over Liberty at the River Birch Tennis Complex Tuesday afternoon. The Pirates clinched the doubles point winning at both No. 1 and No. 2 before going on to win five of six singles matches in the victory. With six regular season matches remaining, the Pirates already have their most wins in a season since they went 18-7 in the 2013-14 season. East Carolina visits Winthrop and Charleston this week.
 
Memphis (12-5) is ranked No. 34 in the Oracle/ITA rankings of March 28. The Pirates fell to Texas Tech, 4-1, last Friday and dropped a 4-0 decision to No. 4 Baylor Sunday. Memphis has two matches against ranked opponents on tap for this week with Saturday’s date against No. 38 SMU and Sunday’s match against No. 29 Tulane.
 
USF (11-6) did not play last week. The Bulls, who are ranked No. 26 in the March 28 Oracle/ITA rankings, face a pair of nationally ranked opponents this week. USF hosts No. 29 Tulane Thursday before heading to Orlando to face No. 39 UCF Saturday.
 
SMU (10-7), which is ranked No. 38 nationally, fell to No. 7 Oklahoma State, 4-2, on Sunday afternoon in Dallas. The highlight for the Mustangs came at No. 1 doubles, where SMU’s tandem of Hunter Johnson/Yates Johnson was a 7-5 winner against Oklahoma State’s duo, which was ranked No. 2 nationally. The Mustangs’ Ronald Slobodchikov scored a straight-set win against the nation’s No. 77-ranked player at No. 2 singles. The Mustangs visit No. 29 Memphis Saturday.
 
Temple (12-8) was a 7-0 winner against La Salle and a 4-0 winner against Saint Francis (N.Y.) to take both ends of a doubleheader last Saturday. The Owls have won four of their last five matches heading into this Sunday’s visit to St. John’s.
 
Tulane (13-3), which is ranked No. 29 in the Oracle/ITA rankings of March 28, improved to 8-0 at home this season with a 4-1 win against Dartmouth in the Green Wave’s only match from last week. Tulane has a pair of road matches against nationally ranked opponents in store for this week with a Thursday visit to No. 26 USF and a Sunday trip to No. 34 Memphis.
 
Tulsa (10-12) fell 4-1 at No. 9-ranked North Carolina last Saturday. Sophomore Dominic Bechard moved to 3-3 on the year in singles play against ranked opponents as he picked up a singles win over the Tar Heels’ No. 54-ranked player. Tulsa hosts Texas Tech Friday and No. 4 Baylor Sunday.
 
 

WOMEN’S TENNIS UPDATE
 
UCF (12-6) scored a 6-1 win against Milwaukee last Tuesday in the Knights’ only dual match from last week. The Knights close the regular season with a pair of matches against nationally ranked opponents, beginning with Saturday’s trip to Miami to face No. 30 Florida International.
 
Cincinnati (9-6) scored 5-2 wins against Butler and Dayton in last week’s dual matches. Carolina Morton won a pair of straight-set decisions in singles to key the Bearcats, who host Temple and Rhode Island this week.
 
UConn (6-8) did not play last week and will return home to host Fairfield Tuesday at the Manchester Racquet Club. The Huskies will then head to the state of Louisiana for a Saturday match at New Orleans and a Sunday match at No. 43 Tulane.
 
East Carolina (6-8) went 1-2 in its three matches last week as the Pirates dropped a 4-3 heartbreaker to Liberty, defeated Richmond 4-1, and fell 6-1 to No. 31 Wake Forest, completing a stretch of seven straight road matches. The Pirates host Charotte Thursday and have a pair of road matches set for Saturday, with a morning visit to Elon and an afternoon trip to North Carolina A&T.
 
Houston (8-10) came up short on a two-match trip to the state of Utah as the Cougars fell 7-0 to Utah and 4-1 to Brigham Young. Houston will face Lamar Sunday in its lone match of the week.
 
Memphis (10-5) has won seven of its last eight matches after the Tigers scored a 4-2 win against Middle Tennessee and a 4-1 win against Virginia Commonwealth last week. Junior Anki Wind keyed the victories with wins at No. 1 singles and No. 2 doubles against both opponents. The Tigers host North Texas Saturday.
 
USF (9-8) split a pair of matches last week as the Bulls fell 6-1 to No. 30 Florida International before handing Temple a defeat by the same score. The Bulls play their final three regular-season dual matches in Houston, beginning with an April 7 matchup at Rice.
 
SMU (14-3) won its fourth straight match and matched its win total from a season ago after a 4-3 victory against Louisiana Tech. Ellie Zogg clinched the match with a straight-set win at No. 6 singles. The Mustangs’ lone match this week is Saturday’s home contest against UT Arlington.
 
Temple (9-9) dropped a pair of matches in the state of Florida as the Owls fell 4-0 at No. 30 Florida International and came up short 6-1 at USF. The Owls head to Ohio this week with a Friday match at Miami (Ohio) and a Saturday trip to Cincinnati.
 
Tulane (18-5) is ranked No. 43 in the March 28 Oracle/ITA rankings. The Green Wave scored a 4-0 win against Louisiana, despite playing without regular lineup staple Naz Karagoz. Sophomore Sofia Kurtz stepped in to win in  both singles and doubles play. Tulane hosts Middle Tennessee Friday, Louisiana Tech Saturday and UConn Sunday.
 
Tulsa (16-5), which is ranked No. 31 in the March 28 Oracle/ITA rankings, saw a six-match winning streak end as the Golden Hurricane fell 6-1 to No. 18 Arkansas. The lone team point came from Ksenia Laskutova, who won a third-set tiebreaker against Arkansas’ top player, who is ranked No. 48 nationally. Tulsa is idle this week as the Golden Hurricane faces Wichita State April 5.

This Week In The American

MEN
Thursday, March 30	Tulane at USF	1 p.m.
Friday, March 31	East Carolina at Winthrop	1 p.m.
	Texas Tech at Tulsa	6 p.m.
Saturday, April 1	East Carolina at Charleston	1 p.m.
	Boston University at UConn	2 p.m.
	SMU at Memphis	3 p.m.
	USF at UCF	6 p.m.
Sunday, April 2	Temple at St. John’s	TBA
	Bryant at UConn	1 p.m.
	Tulane at Memphis	1 p.m.
	Baylor at Tulsa	5 p.m.
WOMEN
Tuesday, March 28	Fairfield at UConn	3 p.m.
Thursday, March 30	Charlotte at East Carolina	1 p.m.
Friday, March 31	Middle Tennessee at Tulane	11 a.m.
	Temple at Miami (Ohio)	Noon
Saturday, April 1	UCF at Florida International
	East Carolina at Elon	10 a.m.
	Temple at Cincinnati	10 a.m.
	North Texas at Memphis	11 a.m.
	Louisiana Tech at Tulane	11 a.m.
	UConn at New Orleans	11 a.m.
	UT Arlington at SMU	2 p.m.
	East Carolina at North Carolina A&T	4 p.m.
Sunday, April 2	Rhode Island at Cincinnati	10 a.m.
	UConn at Tulane	11 a.m.
	Lamar at Houston	2 p.m.

                                      
                                      
all times Eastern