PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Tulane junior Constantin Schmitz and Cincinnati senior Lauren Bellinger have been chosen as the American Athletic Conference Men’s and Women’s Tennis Players of the Week for the week-ending April 10.
       
AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE MEN’S TENNIS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Constantin Schmitz • Jr. • Tulane
Schmitz keyed Tulane’s dual match wins against Tulsa (6-1) and No. 37 Rice (4-1) by going 2-0 at No. 1 singles. Ranked No. 22 on last week’s ITA singles chart, Schmitz defeated Tulsa’s No. 26-ranked Or Ram-Harel, 6-2, 4-0, ret., and was a 6-1, 6-2 winner against Rice’s top player to help the Green Wave go unbeaten in singles play in the two matches.
 
AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE WOMEN’S TENNIS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Lauren Bellinger • Sr. • Cincinnati
Bellinger earned two key wins at No. 1 singles to help Cincinnati to a 2-0 week as the Bearcats edged Xavier 4-3 and topped Memphis 4-1. Her straight-set victory against Xavier keyed Cincinnati’s rally from a 3-1 deficit in the team score before she extended her winning streak to six matches with a straight-set victory against Memphis. She added a win at No. 1 doubles against Memphis to help the Bearcats to their six straight victory.
 
 
AROUND THE AMERICAN
Five American Athletic Conference men’s teams are ranked in the Oracle/ITA Division I men’s tennis rankings of April 11. USF is ranked No. 26, while Tulane is one spot back at No. 27. UCF follows at No. 30, Memphis is No. 34 and SMU is No. 36.
 
The April 11 ITA men’s singles rankings have Tulane’s Constantin Schmitz as the conference’s highest-ranked player at No. 16. Tulsa’s Or Ram-Harel is at No. 28, while UCF’s Korey Lovett is No. 47, USF’s Sasha Gozun is No. 57, SMU’s Ronald Slobodchikov is No. 70, Memphis’ Ryan Peniston is No. 79,  SMU’s Hunter Johnson is No. 93, Memphis’ Andrew Watson is No.105, and USF’s Peter Bertran is No. 112.
 
The men’s doubles tandems in the April 11 ITA rankings are Yates Johnson/Hunter Johnson of SMU at No. 24,  Alberto Barroso-Campos/Sasha Gozun of USF at No. 35, Majed Kilano/Or Ram-Harel of Tulsa at No. 40, Sebastian Rey/Chi-Shan Jao of Tulane at No. 64, Danny Kerznerman/Korey Lovett of UCF at No. 79, and Chi-Shan Jao/Constantin Schmitz of Tulane at No. 90.
 
Tulsa’s women’s team is ranked No. 38 in the April 11 edition of the Oracle/ITA rankings.
 
Naz Karagoz/Elena Muller of Tulane, are ranked No. 82 in the April 11 edition of the Oracle/ITA Doubles ranking for Divison I.
 
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 (14-5), ended the regular season with a sweep of UNC Wilmington on Saturday afternoon at the Dave Mullins Tennis Complex. The Knights, who have won six straight and are ranked No. 30 in the April 11 Oracle/ITA rankings, have a week off before play in the American Athletic Conference Championships begin.
 
UConn (8-10) fell 4-1 to Villanova in the Huskies’ only match from last week. UConn closes the regular season with a Friday dual match at Stony Brook before a Saturday match in Storrs, Connecticut, against Saint Francis (N.Y.).
 
East Carolina (14-7) was idle last week as the Pirates prepare for a two match homestand. The Pirates host Barton Tuesday and Elon on Friday to close out the regular season.
 
Memphis (13-6), who is ranked No. 34 nationally, did not play last week as the Tigers prepare for two upcoming road matches. The Tigers will visit Florida Gulf Coast Saturday, before heading to USF Monday
 
USF (13-8) remained at No. 26 in the April 11 edition of the Oracle/ITA rankings. The Bulls split a pair of matches against nationally ranked opponents last week as USF was a  4-2 winner against No. 36 SMU, but fell 4-0 to No. 9 TCU. USF closes the regular season Monday against No. 34 Memphis.
 
SMU (11-9), which is ranked No. 36 nationally, fell to No. 26 USF 4-2 Sunday after the Mustangs had taken a 7-0 win against Prairie View A&M. SMU heads to Louisiana for a pair of midweek matches as the Mustangs face New Orleans Tuesday and No. 27 Tulane Wednesday. 
 
Temple (14-9) gained a split of its two matches last week as the Owls fell 4-3 to Georgetown, but bounced back to take a 4-3 victory at Penn State. The Owls clinched the match against the Nittany Lions by taking the top three singles contests. Temple has a busy week ahead as the Owls host a doubleheader against Delaware and Rider Wednesday before they take on Lehigh Saturday to close the regular season. 
 
Tulane (16-4), which is ranked No. 27 in the Oracle/ITA rankings of April 11, has won its last three matches as the Green Wave scored a 6-1 win against Tulsa and a 4-1 win against No. 37 Rice last week. Tulane dropped the doubles point in both matches, but went unbeaten in singles play. Tulane closes its regular season Wednesday against No. 36 SMU.
 
Tulsa (10-15) dropped a 6-1 decision to No. 28 Tulane in the Golden Hurricane’s only match from last week. Tulsa claimed the doubles point, but was unable to get on the board in singles play. Tulsa closes the regular season Friday at No. 5 Oklahoma State.
 
 

WOMEN’S TENNIS UPDATE
 
UCF (12-7) has been idle since April 1. The Knights close the regular season Saturday against USF in the annual War on I-4 matchup.
 
Cincinnati (13-6) has the longest active winning streak in The American as the Bearcats have won six straight. Cincinnati rallied for a 4-3 win against Xavier - its first win against the Muskateers since 2013 - and scored a 4-1 victory against Memphis. The Bearcats have three home matches this week to close the regular season. Cincinnati hosts Northern Kentucky Wednesday, hosts UConn Friday and entertains East Carolina Saturday.
 
UConn (10-10) went 3-0 last week, as the Huskies beat Hofstra 6-1, were 7-0 winners against Holy Cross, and took down Boston University 6-1.  The win against the Terriers marked UConn’s win over BU in program history and brought the Huskies’ record back to the .500 mark. UConn will face Cincinnati Friday and East Carolina Saturday to close the regular season.
 
East Carolina (9-9) shut out Campbell 4-0 Saturday. The win marks the second straight victory for the Purple and Gold, which will play its final home match Tuesday against Hampton before the Pirates head to Cincinnati for contests against the Bearcats and UConn.
 
Houston (9-12) dropped back-to-back matches against American Athletic Conference opponents as the shorthanded Cougars fell 7-0 to SMU and 4-0 to USF. Injuries forced Houston to forfeit two singles spots and one doubles spot in the last two matches. The Cougars close the regular season Thursday against Stephen F. Austin.
 
Memphis (11-7) came away with a split of its two matches in Ohio as the Tigers scored a 4-2 win against Xavier before falling 4-1 to Cincinnati. The Tigers finished the regular season at 11-7 and are off until next week’s American Athletic Conference Championship.
 
USF (10-10) played three matches in three days in Houston last week as the Bulls fell 4-0 to Rice and 4-1 to Marshall before wrapping up the trip with a 4-0 win against Houston. USF closes the regular season Saturday with its War on I-4 match against UCF in Orlando.
 
SMU (16-4) dropped a 4-0 decision to No. 14 Baylor, but the Mustangs came back the following day to score a 7-0 win at Houston. The Mustangs head to Denton, Texas, to face North Texas Thursday before closing the regular season Friday against Louisiana-Monroe.
 
Temple (10-11) posted a 7-0 shutout of Rider in the Owls’ only match from last week. Temple, which snapped a four-match slide, as two home matches lined up for this week. The Owls host Binghamton Friday before closing the regular season Saturday against George Washington.
 
Tulane (22-6) fell 4-3 to Troy, but bounced back with a 4-0 sweep over Xavier (La.) in a doubleheader last week, putting a cap on regular-season play. The Green Wave is off until next week’s American Athletic Conference Championship in Orlando.
 
Tulsa (17-6) split a pair of matches last week as the Golden Hurricane was edged 4-3 by No. 50 Wichita State before bouncing back for a 6-1 win against Minnesota. The doubles point proved to be the difference against Wichita State as Tulsa split the three singles matches with the Shockers. Tulsa took five of the six singles matches against Minnesota. Tulsa closes the regular season Thursday against No. 30 Kansas.


This Week In The American
 

MEN
Tuesday April 11	SMU at New Orleans	3 p.m.
	Barton at East Carolina	4 p.m.
Wednesday, April 12	Delaware at Temple	10 a.m.
	Rider at Temple	3 p.m.
	SMU at Tulane	4 p.m.
Friday, April 14	Elon at East Carolina	2 p.m.
	UConn at Stony Brook	3 p.m.
	Tulsa at Oklahoma State	4 p.m.
Saturday, April 15	Lehigh at Temple	11 a.m.
	Saint Francis (N.Y.) at UConn	1 p.m.
	Memphis at Florida Gulf Coast	6 p.m.
Monday, April 17	Memphis at USF	1 p.m.
WOMEN
Tuesday, April 11	Hampton at East Carolina	Noon
Wednesday, April 12	Northern Kentucky at Cincinnati	3 p.m.
Thursday, April 13	Stephen F. Austin at Houston	3 p.m.
	Tulsa at Kansas	4 p.m.
	SMU at North Texas	6 p.m.
Frirday, April 14	Binghamton at Temple	1 p.m.
	UConn at Cincinnati	2 p.m.
	Louisiana-Monroe at SMU	2 p.m.
Saturday, April 15	East Carolina vs. UConn (Cincinnati, Ohio)	2 p.m.
	George Washington at Temple	2:30 p.m.
	USF at UCF	7 p.m.
Sunday, April 16	East Carolina at Cincinnati	2 p.m.

                                      
all times Eastern