PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The American Athletic Conference has announced its weekly tennis honors for the week-ending Feb. 19.
AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE MEN’S TENNIS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Majed Kilani • Jr. • Tulsa • Tunis, Tunisia
Kilani won three singles matches and two doubles contests to lead the Golden Hurricane in three dual match victories last week. He was a straight-set winner at No. 1 singles in all three matches that were played to completion, dropping no more than three games in any of the six sets in matches against Arkansas Pine Bluff, Oral Roberts and Wichita State. He also was a 6-0 winner at No. 1 doubles against Arkansas Pine Bluff and a 6-2 winner at No. 2 doubles against Wichita State. Kilani improved his singles record to 8-3 in dual matches and 17-5 overall in 2017-18.
AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE WOMEN’S TENNIS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Anki Wind • Sr. • Memphis • Dinslaken, Germany
Wind went 2-0 in singles play and split a pair of doubles contests in matches against Minnesota and Missouri. She helped the Tigers to a 4-3 win against the Gophers with a 6-3, 7-5 win at No. 1 singles and a 6-0 victory at No. 3 doubles. She went on to claim a three-set win at No. 2 singles in a 4-3 loss to Missouri. Wind improved her singles record to 8-1 on the year.
AROUND THE AMERICAN
Tulane’s men’s team stands at No. 30 in the Feb. 20 Oracle/ITA Collegiate Rankings, the first rankings this season to be determined by computer. Memphis is No. 34 in the men’s rankings.
The American has three women’s teams in the top 30 of the Feb. 20 Oracle/ITA Collegiate Rankings as UCF stands at No. 28, Tulsa is No. 29 and Wichita State is No. 30.
Tulane’s Constantin Schmitz is ranked No. 24 in the Feb. 20 Oracle/ITA Rankings. Memphis’ Ryan Peniston is No. 54, USF’s Alberto Barroso-Campos is No. 71, UCF’s Alan Rubio is No. 80, Tulsa’s Joshua Goodger is No. 81, Tulane’s Tyler Schick is No. 95, and Tulsa’s Majed Kilani is No. 119. UCF’s doubles tandem of Korey Lovett/Eero Vasa is ranked No. 23 and Tulane’s Tyler Schick/Luis Erlenbusch is No. 50.
ECU’s Celia Ruiz was ranked No. 49 in the Feb. 20 ITA singles rankings. Fatima Bizhukova is No. 71, Martina Okalova of Tulsa is No. 95, Sandra Honigova of Wichita State is No. 106. In doubles, Houston’s tandem of Tsveta Dimitrova/Sveva Mazzari is No. 54 in the Feb. 20 rankings.
The American Athletic Conference Men’s and Women’s Tennis Championships will be held in April at the SMU Tennis Complex in Dallas.
MEN’S TENNIS UPDATE
UCF (3-2), which was idle last week, added a Wednesday afternoon match against Stetson to its ledger this week. The Knights have won their last three dual matches.
UConn (3-4) was idle last week. The Huskies return to the court Saturday with a match at Fordham.
ECU (8-1) extended its winning streak to four matches as the Pirates scored a 5-2 victory against Temple and a 6-1 win against North Carolina Central. The Pirates’ depth has been the key to their success thus far as ECU has gone 32-3 in singles play from the No. 3-6 positions. The Pirates will play three matches in Lafayette, Louisiana, this week. ECU takes on Texas A&M Corpus Christi and Louisiana Friday before battling Tennessee Tech Saturday.
Memphis (5-3) is No. 34 in the Feb. 20 Oracle/ITA team rankings. The Tigers scored a 7-0 win at Michigan State before dropping a 4-0 decision to No. 13 Michigan. Senior Ryan Peniston improved to 6-1 in singles play with a straight-set win against Michigan State in his only match that was completed last week. Memphis is off until a March 2 match against No. 18 Baylor.
USF (2-6) was idle last week. The Bulls’ challenging schedule continues Friday, when the Knights face No. 29 Oklahoma in Orlando, Florida.
SMU (5-6) picked up a pair of wins Saturday with a 4-2 victory against Incarnate Word and a 6-1 decision against Arkansas Pine Bluff. SMU had four players win both of their singles matches as Jan-Simon Vrbsky, Tomas Vaise, Eladio Fabregas and Roberto Rosales all found the win column. The Mustangs visit No. 10 Oklahoma State Sunday in their only match of the week.
Temple (5-3) dropped its only match of the week as the Owls fell 5-2 to ECU. The Owls host Binghamton Saturday.
Tulane (4-2) is No. 30 in the Feb. 20 Oracle/ITA team ranking. The Green Wave scored a 7-0 victory against Nicholls in its only match of last week as Tulane won all six singles matches in straight sets. Tulane hosts a pair of matches against nationally ranked opponents this week as No. 39 Mississippi State heads to New Orleans Friday before the Green Wave welcomes No. 21 Texas Tech Sunday.
Tulsa (6-8) had a busy week that featured four dual matches as the Golden Hurricane came away with three wins. Tulsa won 4-0 and 5-0 decisions against Arkansas Pine Bluff, took a 6-1 victory against Oral Roberts and fell 4-3 to Wichita State. Majed Kilani improved his record to 8-3 in singles play in dual matches, including a 4-1 ledger at the No. 1 position. Tulsa is off until a pair of Feb. 28 matches against UT Arlington and No. 25 TCU.
Wichita State (3-5) went 2-1 in its three matches last week as the Shockers dropped a 5-2 decision to Middle Tennessee, but answered with a 7-0 win against UMKC and a 4-3 victory against Tulsa. Murkel Dellien delivered the clinching point against Tulsa as took a three-set win at No. 3 singles. Wichita State is idle until the Mountain Pacific Invitational March 2-4 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
WOMEN’S TENNIS UPDATE
UCF (6-1) entered the Feb. 20 Oracle/ITA Collegiate Rankings at No. 28. UCF returns to Texas following a brief layoff as the Knights visit No. 16 TCU Feb. 23 and No. 44 Texas A&M Feb. 25.
Cincinnati (7-3) saw a three-match winning streak snapped with a 4-3 setback to Toledo Friday, but the Bearcats responded the following day with a 4-3 victory against Eastern Kentucky. The Bearcats visit Temple Saturday.
UConn (5-3) split a pair of matches in Ithaca, New York, last week as the Huskies dropped a 6-1 decision to Cornell, but bounced back with a 5-2 victory against Rutgers – the Huskies’ first win against the Scarlet Knights in program history. Yelyzaveta Pletnyeva improved to 6-2 in singles play in dual matches, while she has gone 4-0 at No. 1 doubles alongside Jacquelyn Fitz-Randolph. UConn visits Houston Friday and will face Northwestern State Saturday on the Houston campus.
ECU (5-2) saw a three-match winning streak end with a 5-2 setback to North Carolina State, but the Pirates finished with week with back-to-back wins against Temple and Barton. Junior Celia Ruiz remains the highest-ranked player from The American in the Oracle/ITA rankings after she was ranked No. 49 in the Feb. 20 list.
Houston (8-1) extended its season-opening winning streak to eight matches with a 7-0 win against New Mexico State, bu the Cougars suffered their first loss of the season with a 4-3 heartbreaker to a Rice squad that is ranked No. 39 in the Feb. 20 Oracle/ITA list. Houston’s doubles tandem of Tsveta Dimitrova/Sveva Mazzari is 6-1 on the spring and is No. 54 in this week’s ITA rankings. Houston hosts UConn and Northwestern State in this week’s action.
Memphis (6-4) split a pair of matches in Columbia, Missouri, last week as the Tigers took a 4-3 win against Minnesota before falling 4-2 to Missouri. Senior Anki Wind was a straight-set winner at No. 1 singles against Minnesota, marking her first match at the top of the ladder since returning from last year’s season-ending injury. The Tigers visit Mississippi State Saturday and will host Stephen F. Austin Sunday.
USF (2-5) split a pair of matches last week as the Bulls fell 6-1 at No. 21 Texas before scoring a 4-3 win against SMU in Dallas. USF, which has won two of its last three, visits Oklahoma Friday before taking No. 29 Tulsa Sunday.
SMU (3-5) suffered a pair of setbacks as the Mustangs fell 5-2 to Texas A&M, which is ranked No. 44 this week, and dropped a 4-3 heartbreaker to USF. Karina Traxler won both of her singles matches as she took three-set victories against both opponents. SMU is off until a Feb. 27 match at UC Santa Barbara.
Temple (1-4) returned to the court for the first time in two weeks, but the Owls were unable to come away with a win after falling 4-0 at ECU. The Owls look to snap a four-match slide with Saturday’s home match against Cincinnati.
Tulane (6-3) picked up two wins last week and has won three straight overall after the Green Wave knocked off UTSA (6-1) and South Alabama (4-3) in New Orleans. Ivone Alvaro has gone 5-0 in dual matches at the No. 3 singles position this season. Tulane will visit LSU Tuesday before heading Murfeesboro, Tenessee, this weekend to face Chattanooga and Middle Tennessee.
Tulsa (10-2), which is ranked No. 29 in the Feb. 20 Oracle/ITA team rankings, has won its last five dual matches after the Golden Hurricane scored a 4-0 win against DePaul and a 4-3 decision against Purdue last weekend. The match against the Boilermakers saw Martha Matoula get the clinching point with a 7-5, 6-7 (5), 7-5 victory at No. 4 singles. Ksenia Laskutova has gone 9-2 in dual matches, playing mostly at No. 1 singles. Tulsa hosts USF Sunday in its only match of the week.
Wichita State (8-3), which is ranked No. 31 in the Oracle/ITA list of Feb. 20, split a pair of matches last week as the Shockers were 4-0 winners against Wyoming before falling 4-3 at Nebraska. Fatima Bizhukova is ranked No. 71 in this week’s national singles rankings, while Sandra Honigova is No. 106. Wichita State visits No. 49 Missouri Friday and hosts Colorado Sunday.
This Week In The American
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| Wednesday, February 21 |
Stetson at UCF |
5 p.m. |
| Friday, February 23 |
ECU vs. Texas A&M Corpus Christi (Lafayette, La.) |
9 a.m. |
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USF vs. Oklahoma (Orlando, Fla.) |
12:30 p.m. |
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Mississippi State at Tulane |
1 p.m. |
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ECU at Louisiana |
6 p.m. |
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| Saturday, February 24 |
ECU vs. Tennessee Tech (Lafayette, La.) |
9 a.m. |
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UConn at Fordham |
6 p.m. |
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Binghamton at Temple |
6 p.m. |
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| Sunday, February 25 |
SMU at Oklahoma State |
2 p.m. |
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Texas Tech at Tulane |
2 p.m. |
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| WOMEN |
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| Tuesday, February 20 |
Tulane at LSU |
4:30 p.m. |
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| Friday, February 23 |
UConn at Houston |
Noon |
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ECU at UNC Wilmington |
1 p.m. |
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Wichita State at Missouri |
4 p.m. |
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UCF at TCU |
5:30 p.m. |
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USF vs. Oklahoma (Orlando, Fla.) |
6 p.m. |
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| Saturday, February 24 |
ECU at Coastal Carolina |
10 a.m. |
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Tulane vs. Chattanooga (Murfeesboro, Tenn.) |
11 a.m. |
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UConn vs. Northwestern State (Houston, Texas) |
Noon |
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Memphis at Mississippi State |
3 p.m. |
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Cincinnati at Temple |
TBD |
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| Sunday, February 25 |
Stephen F. Austin at Memphis |
10 a.m. |
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Colorado at Wichita State |
11 a.m. |
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UCF at Texas A&M |
Noon |
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Northwestern State at Houston |
Noon |
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USF at Tulsa |
1 p.m. |
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Tulane at Middle Tennessee |
2:30 p.m. |
all times Eastern
Last Week’s Results
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| Thursday, February 15 |
Tulsa 4, Arkansas Pine Bluff 0 |
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Tulsa 5, Arkansas Pine Bluff 0 |
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Tulsa 6, Oral Roberts 1 |
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| Friday, February 16 |
ECU 5, Temple 2 |
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Memphis 7, Michigan State 0 |
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| Saturday, February 17 |
SMU 4, Incarnate Word 2 |
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Middle Tennessee 5, Wichita State 2 |
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SMU 6, Arkansas Pine Bluff 1 |
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| Sunday, February 18 |
ECU 6, North Carolina Central 1 |
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Michigan 4, Memphis 0 |
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Wichita State 7, UMKC 0 |
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Tulane 7, Nicholls 0 |
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| Monday, February 19 |
Wichita State 4, Tulsa 3 |
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| WOMEN |
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| Thursday, February 15 |
North Carolina State 5, ECU 2 |
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| Friday, February 16 |
Texas 6, USF 1 |
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Tulane 6, UTSA 1 |
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Houston 7, New Mexico State 0 |
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Toledo 4, Cincinnati 3 |
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Cornell 6, UConn 1 |
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| Saturday, February 17 |
ECU 4, Temple 0 |
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UConn 5, Rutgers 2 |
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Rice 4, Houston 3 |
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Memphis 4, Minnesota 3 |
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Texas A&M 5, SMU 2 |
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Tulsa 4, DePaul 0 |
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Tulane 4, South Alabama 3 |
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Cincinnati 4, Eastern Kentucky 3 |
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ECU 7, Barton 0 |
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| Sunday, February 18 |
Tulsa 4, Purdue 3 |
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USF 4, SMU 3 |
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Missouri 4, Memphis 2 |