PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The American Athletic Conference has announced the winners of its weekly men’s and women’s tennis honors for the week-ending April 1.
AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE WOMEN’S TENNIS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Martina Okalova • Jr. • Tulsa • Banská Bystrica, Slovakia
Okalova led Tulsa to a pair of wins last week with 2-0 marks in both singles and doubles. Both singles wins came against nationally ranked opponents as she defeated players ranked No. 79 and No. 114 nationally. She was a 6-3, 6-2 winner at No. 1 in a 6-1 victory against North Texas, while she won a third-set tiebreaker as part of a 5-2 win against SMU. She added a pair of doubles victories at No. 1, pairing with Vera Ploner for a 7-6 (4) win against North Texas’ top tandem, which is ranked No. 44 nationally, before taking a 6-3 win against SMU.
AROUND THE AMERICAN
The American in the Oracle/ITA Rankings
Women’s Team (through April 2)
Women’s Singles (through April 2)
| |
44 |
Valeryia Zeleva |
UCF |
| |
48 |
Ana Roman Dominguez |
USF |
| |
76 |
Martina Okalova |
Tulsa |
| |
86 |
Ksenia Kuznetsova |
UCF |
| |
106 |
Fatima Bizhukova |
Wichita State |
| |
108 |
Vivienne Kulicke |
SMU |
Women’s Doubles (through April 2)
| |
12 |
Martina Okalova/Vera Ploner |
Tulsa |
| |
20 |
Valeriya Zeleva/Ksenia Kuznetsova |
UCF |
| |
26 |
Fatima Bizhukova/Marta Bellucco |
Wichita State |
| |
41 |
Elena Muller/Ivone Alvaro |
Tulane |
The 2019 American Athletic Conference Men’s and Women’s Tennis Championships will be held in April at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida. The women’s championship takes place April 17-20, while the men’s championship will be played April 18-21.
WOMEN’S TENNIS UPDATE
UCF (18-2), which is ranked No. 24 in the Oracle/ITA rankings, saw its winning streak reach 16 matches as the Knights were 5-2 winners against Florida International in their only match from last week. Valeriya Zaleva led the way with a 6-2, 6-2 win at No. 1 singles, improving to 15-4 on the year. UCF will face No. 12 Oklahoma State in Stillwater, Oklahoma, Friday in the Knights’ only match of the week.
Cincinnati (9-7) won two of its three matches last week as the Bearcats scored a 7-0 win against Dayton, fell 4-1 at Memphis and defeated Marshall 4-1 in a neutral-site match. Caroline Morton won a pair of singles matches at the No. 3 position to lead the Bearcats last week as she scored straight-set victories against Memphis and Marshall. The Bearcats have three matches on this week’s docket. Cincinnati hosts Northern Kentucky Wednesday, entertains Middle Tennessee Friday and makes the short road trip to face Xavier Sunday.
UConn (4-9) dropped a 7-0 decision to Houston in the Huskies’ lone match from last week. The Huskies are back in action with two matches this week, beginning with Wednesday’s match in Storrs against Massachusetts. UConn hosts Bryant Friday in its final home contest of the season.
ECU (18-2) extended its winning streak to 18 matches with a 5-2 win against Davidson in the Pirates’ only match last week. The win improved ECU to 7-0 in home contests as the Pirates won the doubles point for the 18th consecutive match. ECU has two matches this week - a Wednesday contest at North Carolina Central and a Saturday visit to Richmond.
Houston (12-5) split a pair of matches in New England last week as the Cougars fell 5-2 to Boston College before rebounding with a 7-0 victory against UConn. Houston hosts UTSA Friday and entertains No. 41 USF Sunday.
Memphis (11-8) enjoyed a 3-0 week as the Tigers took a 4-1 wiin against Cincinnati, were 4-2 winners against South Alabama and cruised to a 6-1 victory against Marshall. Laura Bente went 3-0 at No. 2 singles, taking all three matches in straight sets. The Tigers play their final home match of the season Saturday against North Texas.
USF (10-7) was idle last week. The Bulls, who are ranked No. 47 in the Oracle/ITA ranknigs, are back in action Friday at Rice before they face Florida International in a neutral-site match in Houston Saturday. USF concludes its trip to Texas with a Sunday match at Houston.
SMU (7-11) saw a three-match winning streak end with a pair or setbacks last week as the Mustangs fell 5-2 to TCU and Tulsa. The Mustangs look to regroup Friday against UT Arlington in their final home match of the season.
Temple (10-4) was idle last week. The Owls return to the court Saturday at Tulsa.
Tulane (7-12) scored a 4-0 win against Southern Miss in the Green Wave’s only match from last week. Elena Muller, Daniela La Fuente and Ivone Alvaro eared straight-set wins in singles play after Tulane had cruised to the doubles point. Tulane is back in action Wednesday with a doubleheader against Nicholls State and New Orleans. The Green Wave head sto Charleston Southern Sunday and faces Charleston Monday.
Tulsa (13-8) scored a pair of wins last week as the Golden Hurricane topped North Texas 6-1 and beat SMU 5-2. Martina Okalova led the way with a pair of victories, defeating opponents who were ranked No. 79 and No. 114 in the March 26 Oracle/ITA singles rankings. Tulsa hosts Temple Saturday in its lone match of the week.
Wichita State (11-8) took both ends of its Saturday doubleheader in impressive fashion as the Shockers scored a 4-0 win against UMKC and a 7-0 victory against Drake in Kansas City. Fatima Bizhukova improved to 3-0 on the year with a three-set win at No. 1 singles against UMKC. The Shockers host No. 30 Oklahoma Saturday in their only dual match of the week.