PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Memphis junior Andrew Watson and SMU freshman Sarai Monarrez Yesaki have been chosen as the American Athletic Conference Men’s and Women’s Players of the Week for the week-ending March 6.
       
AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE MEN’S TENNIS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Andrew Watson • Jr. • Memphis
Watson led Memphis to a pair of dual match victories, including a 4-3 win against No. 18 Cornell, as the Tigers improved to 10-2 on the year. He won in both singles and doubles play against the Big Red, scoring a 6-0, 6-4 decision at No. 2 singles and adding a 6-3 victory at No. 1 doubles. He played at No. 1 singles in a 4-0 win against Jackson State and cruised to a 6-0, 6-1 win.
 
AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE WOMEN’S TENNIS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Sarai Monarrez Yesaki • Fr. • SMU
Monarrez Yesaki helped SMU to a pair of dual match wins as she went 2-0 at No. 2 singles in wins against UCF and Arizona. She was a 6-1, 3-6, 6-1 winner in a 5-2 victory against the Knights and delivered a key 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 victory to help the Mustangs rally past the Wildcats. Monarrez Yesaki added a doubles win in the victory against UCF as the Mustangs improved to 10-2 on the spring season.
 
 
AROUND THE AMERICAN
UCF’s men’s team will host Penn State Wednesday in a USTA College MatchDay event at the USTA National Campus in Orlando. The match will be carried live on ESPN3.
 
Five American Athletic Conference men’s teams are ranked in the Oracle/ITA Division I men’s tennis rankings of Feb. 28. Tulane is ranked No. 25, while Memphis is one spot back at No. 26. SMU is No. 39, USF is No. 40, and Tulsa is No. 48.
 
The March 7 ITA men’s singles rankings have Tulsa’s Or Ram-Harel at No. 27, Tulane’s Constantin Schmitz at No. 38, UCF’s Korey Lovett at No. 44, SMU’s Ronald Slobodchikov at No. 50, SMU’s Hunter Johnson at No. 56, Memphis’ Andrew Watson at No. 78, USF’s Peter Bertran at No. 98, Tulane’s Sebastian Rey at No. 118, USF’s Alberto Barroso-Campos at No. 122, and Tulane’s Ewan Moore at No. 125.
 
The men’s doubles tandems in the March 7 ITA rankings are Yates Johnson/Hunter Johnson of SMU at No. 18,  Majed Kilani/Or Ram-Harel of Tulsa at No. 43, Sebastian Rey/Chi-Shan Jao of Tulane at No. 73, Harrison Richmond/Mariano Porter of UCF at No. 78, and Peter Bertran/Vadym Kalyuzhnyy of USF at No. 80.
 
The American has three women’s teams in the March 7 edition of the Oracle/ITA rankings. Tulane is at No. 42, followed by No. 43 SMU and No. 44 Tulsa.
 
Tulane’s doubles tandem of Naz Karagoz/Elena Muller is ranked No. 76 in the Oracle/ITA rankings of March 7.
 
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 (7-4) the Knights defeated Davidson 6-1 in their only dual action from last week, putting an end to a three-match slide. UCF will host Penn State Wednesday in a USTA College MatchDay showdown at the USTA National Campus in Orlando. The match will be carried live on ESPN3. The Knights then face No. 48 Tulsa Friday and No. 29 South Alabama Sunday.
 
UConn (5-6) picked up a pair of wins last week as the Huskies beat Fairfield 4-3 and topped Siena 7-0. Sophomore Hank Hill clinched the win against the Stags with a straight-set victory at No. 6 singles. UConn is idle this week and returns to action March 14 at Florida Atlantic.
 
East Carolina (9-3) lost 5-2 to Georgia Southern in the Pirates’ only match from last week, dropping back-to-back matches for the first time this season. East Carolina faces Davis & Elkins and Palm Beach Atlantic Friday in Hilton Head, South Carolina.
 
Memphis (10-2) began the week with a pair of 4-0 wins against Jackson State and the Tigers punctuated a 3-0 week with a 4-3 win against No. 18 Cornell to get their 10th win of the season. The Tigers won the top two places on the singles ladder against Cornell, including a three-set, match-clinching victory at No. 1 by Ryan Peniston. Memphis, ranked No. 26 nationally, heads to Stillwater, Oklahoma, to face No. 4 Oklahoma State and San Diego State.
 
USF (4-5), which is ranked No. 40 nationally, began the week with a 7-0 win against Michigan State, but the Bulls came up just short against No. 17 Baylor, falling 4-3 after the Bears got the deciding point on a three-set, two-tiebreaker match at No. 6 singles. USF hosts North Florida and UNC Wilmington Wednesday and hosts the USF Spring Break Tournament Friday through Sunday.
 
SMU (8-3), ranked No. 39 nationally, won the doubles point, but couldn’t hold on in single play in a 5-2 setback to No. 41 TCU in the Mustangs’ only match from last week. The loss snapped a five-match winning streak for SMU, which hosts Navy Monday.
 
Temple (8-7) ran its winning streak to four matches with victories against Drexel (4-0) and Oral Roberts (4-2), but Tulsa put an end to the streak as the No. 50-ranked Golden Hurricane handed the Owls a 5-2 setback. Temple visits Navy Friday in its only dual match of this week.
 
Tulane (8-2), which is ranked No. 25 in the Oracle/ITA rankings of March 7, did not play last week. The Green Wave is back in action Friday against Penn and hosts Middle Tennessee Sunday.
 
Tulsa (6-7), ranked No. 48 nationally, put an end to a six-match slide with a pair of wins last week as the Golden Hurricane beat Temple (5-2) and Oral Roberts (6-1). Tulsa took three of the top four singles positions in the win against the Owls and won five of the six singles matches against the Golden Eagles. Tulsa heads to Florida this week for a pair of matches against American Athletic Conference teams. The Golden Hurricane visits UCF Friday and No. 40 USF Sunday.
 
 

WOMEN’S TENNIS UPDATE
 
UCF (10-2) saw a string of seven straight wins come to an end with a 5-2 setback at SMU last week. SMU became the first team to win the doubles point against UCF in regular-season play since March 11, 2016. UCF hosts Furman Thursday and South Alabama Friday before heading to New Orleans Monday for a match against Tulane.
 
Cincinnati (7-4) beat Evansville 6-1 in its lone match of last week as the Bearcats took five of six singles spots and claimed the doubles point. Kelly Poggensee-Wei is 8-3 at No. 2 singles to lead the Bearcats, who are off until a March 14 visit to SMU.
 
UConn (4-6) dropped its fourth straight dual match as the Huskies fell 5-2 at Yale last week. The Huskies claimed the doubles point, winning at all three positions, but saw its lone singles win come at No. 6, where Shea Flanagan scored a straight-set victory. the Huskies host Houston Friday and head to Florida Atlantic Monday.
 
East Carolina (3-5) was idle last week. The Pirates have a busy week ahead, however, beginning with Thursday’s match at South Carolina State. East Carolina will face Charleston Friday and will remain in the city to take on No. 3 North Carolina Saturday.
 
Houston (6-7) went 2-1 last weekend as the Cougars won at Kansas State (4-2), lost at Nebraska (4-0), and beat Illinois State (4-1). Freshman Tsveta Dimitrova and junior Sveva Mazzari lead the Cougars with six singles wins each this spring. Houston returns home for the first time in a month to face Bowling Green Tuesday before the Cougars return to the road for Friday’s match at UConn.
 
Memphis (4-4) beat Jackson State 6-1 in its only match from last week as each of the five singles winners from the Tigers won in straight sets, including a 6-0, 6-0 showing at No. 4 by Marta Morga. The Tigers hosts Southern Illinois Sunday.
 
USF (5-5) edged North Florida 4-3 to even its spring record as the Bulls got the game-winning point at No. 5 singles. Olga Martinez clinched the match with a three-set victory, battling back from a 1-0 deficit. the Bulls host Penn State Thursday and take on Penn Saturday in Tampa.
 
SMU (10-2) picked up a pair of victories last week as the Mustangs beat UCF 5-2 before rallying for a 4-3 win against Arizona, helping the Mustangs to the No. 43 spot in the March 7 Oracle/ITA rankings. Ana Perez-Lopez delivered the clinching win against the Wildcats as she battled back from a one-set deficit to take a 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 win at No. 3 singles. SMU, which has won its last four matches, hosts Wichita State Friday and Georgia State Monday.
 
Temple (8-6) split a pair of matches last week as the Owls edged Drexel 4-3 before dropping a 5-2 decision to Tulsa. beat Drexel 4-3; lost to Tulsa 5-2. Temple is idle until a March 16 dual match against Delaware.
 
Tulane (14-4), which is ranked No. 42 in the Feb. 28 Oracle/ITA ranking, edged Southern Mississippi 4-3 before taking a 4-1 win against UAB, giving the Green Wave three straight wins. Tulane faces UTSA Friday in San Antonio before the Green Wave returns home Monday to host UCF.
 
Tulsa (13-4) had a banner week as the Golden Hurricane went 3-0 with wins against Purdue (6-1), Temple (5-2) and No. 13 Baylor (4-3). The win against Baylor came when Tulsa rallied to take four of the six singles matches after dropping the doubles point. The clinching point came from Martha Matoula at No. 5 singles, who won the last three games of the second set to earn a 7-5 6-3 victory. Tulsa, which is ranked No. 44 in the March 7 national rankings, is off this week and resumes play against Liberty March 15.
 

This Week In The American

MEN
Wednesday, March 8	North Florida at USF	10 a.m.
	UNC Wilmington at USF	3 p.m.
	Penn State at UCF (WatchESPN)	6 p.m.
Friday, March 10	East Carolina vs. Davis & Elkins (Hilton Head, S.C.)	10 a.m.
	East Carolina vs. Palm Beach Atlantic (Hilton Head, S.C.)	1 p.m.
	Memphis at Oklahoma State	2 p.m.
	Virginia Commonwealth at USF	2 p.m.
	Penn at Tulane	2 p.m.
	Temple at Navy	2:30 p.m.
	Tulsa at UCF	6 p.m.
Saturday, March 11	TBD at USF	11 a.m.
	Memphis vs. San Diego State (Stillwater, Okla.)	1 p.m.
Sunday, March 12	South Alabama at UCF	1 p.m.
	Tulsa at USF	1 p.m.
	Middle Tennessee at Tulane	2 p.m.
Monday, March 13	Navy at SMU	Noon
WOMEN
Tuesday, March 7	Bowling Green at Houston	2 p.m.
Thursday, March 9	Furman at UCF	Noon
	Penn State at USF	Noon
	East Carolina at South Carolina State	1 p.m.
Friday, March 10	South Alabama at UCF	Noon
	Houston at UConn	Noon
	East Carolina at Charleston	1 p.m.
	Tulane at UTSA	4 p.m.
	Wichita State at SMU	7 p.m.
Saturday, March 11	East Carolina vs. North Carolina (Charleston, S.C.)	10 a.m.
	Penn at USF	11 a.m.
Sunday, March 12	Southern Illinois at Memphis	11 a.m.
Monday, March 13	UCF at Tulane	Noon
	UConn at Florida Atlantic	11 a.m.
	Georgia State at SMU	4 p.m.

 
 
all times Eastern