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 February 10.
AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE WOMEN’S TENNIS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Jackie Nylander • Fr. • SMU • Stockholm, Sweden
Nylander was 3-0 in both singles and doubles play to help SMU improve its 2020 record to 6-0 with three wins last week. Nylander won three straight-set victories at No. 1 singles, registering a 6-2, 6-2 win in a 4-3 team victory against New Mexico, a 6-3, 7-5 decision in a 5-2 win against Sam Houston State, and a 7-6, 6-0 victory in a 7-0 sweep of Colorado. Nylander also paired with Isabella Tcherkes Zade for three doubles wins, including a 6-2 victory against the No. 31-ranked tandem from Colorado. Nylander has gone 6-0 in singles and 5-1 in doubles in the spring season.
AROUND THE AMERICAN
The American in the Oracle/ITA Rankings
Women’s Team (Jan. 29 ranking)
Women’s Singles (Feb. 5 ranking)
| |
32 |
Rebeka Stolmar |
UCF |
| |
61 |
Marie Mattel |
UCF |
| |
65 |
Valeriya Zeleva |
UCF |
| |
84 |
Martina Okalova |
Tulsa |
| |
103 |
Mackenzie Clark |
Tulane |
Women’s Doubles (Feb. 5 ranking)
| |
5 |
Rebeka Stolmar/Marie Mattel |
UCF |
| |
32 |
Valeriya Zeleva/Ksenia Kuznetsova |
UCF |
| |
34 |
Martina Okalova/Vera Ploner |
Tulsa |
| |
44 |
Evgeniya Levashova/Domenika Turkovic |
UCF |
| |
54 |
Marta Bellucco/Sarvinoz Saidhujaeva |
Wichita State |
The 2020 American Athletic Conference Men’s and Women’s Tennis Championships will be held in April at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center on the campus of the University of Tulsa. The women’s championship takes place April 15-18, while the men’s championship will be played April 16-19.
WOMEN’S TENNIS UPDATE
UCF (3-2) is ranked No. 15 in the Jan. 29 Oracle/ITA rankings. The Knights were idle last week, but will be back action with three matches this week. UCF will face TCU Friday, will host Nebraska Sunday and will face UC Santa Barbara in doubles Friday evening before completing the singles round Sunday morning.
Cincinnati (5-2) has won its last three matches after the Bearcats took a 7-0 win against IUPUI and a 5-2 victory against Western Michigan last week. Ioana Guna led the way with straight-set wins at No. 1 singles in both contests. The Bearcats head to Murfeesboro, Tennessee, for a pair of matches this week as Cincinnati faces Middle Tennessee Friday and East Tennessee State Saturday.
UConn (2-1) split a pair of matches in New Jersey last week. The Huskies battled through injuries and a shorthanded lineup to edge Seton Hall 4-3 before NJIT scored a 4-0 decision. UConn heads to Philadelphia for a pair of matches this week as the Huskies visit Drexel Thursday and Temple Friday.
ECU (2-2) was a 4-3 winner at UNC Greensboro in the Pirates’ only match from last week. Sophomore Michelle Ncube delivered the clinching point with a 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 victory at No. 3 singles. ECU has two matches on this week’s docket - a Friday visit to Campbell and a Saturday contest at No. 2 North Carolina.
Houston (2-3) split its two matches from last week. The Cougars were 4-3 winners against Colorado, but fell to Northwestern State by the same score. Phonexay Chitdara and Stephanie Belovukovic won both of their singles matches, but the Cougars saw the result against Northwestern State decided by a tiebreaker in the doubles round. Houston hosts Southern and Stephen F. Austin Saturday.
Memphis (3-3) evened its record with a pair of wins last week as the Tigers took both ends of a doubleheader against Southeast Missouri State (7-0) and Lipscomb (4-1). Laura Bente, Aran Teixido Garcia and Lina Hohnhold were singles winners in both matches as Hohnhold dropped only one game in her two matches. The Tigers head to Boca Raton, Florida, for a Saturday match against Florida Atlantic before visiting Florida International in Miami Sunday.
USF (2-3) was idle last week. The Bulls are back in action Saturday against Florida Gulf Coast and host Alabama Sunday.
SMU (6-0) earned three wins last week as the Mustangs remain The American’s only unbeaten team in 2020. SMU was a 4-3 winner against New Mexico and a 5-2 winner against Sam Houston State before taking a 7-0 decision against Colorado. SMU was led by a pair of freshmen as Jackiey Nylander and Isabella Tcherkes Zade paired to go 3-0 in doubles while each player went 3-0 in singles. The Mustangs visit LSU Saturday before taking on Tulane Sunday.
Temple (1-3) picked up its first win of the 2020 season in impressive fashion as the Owls took a 7-0 victory against Rider. Oleksandra Doroshenko was a 6-0, 6-0 winner at No. 3 singles to lead the way. Temple will host Fordham Wednesday and UConn Friday before taking to the road to visit Delaware Sunday.
Tulane (5-2) was a 4-3 winner against Samford in the Green Wave’s only match from last week. Freshman Mackenzie Clark, the nation’s No. 103-ranked singles player, picked up the clinching point with a 7-5, 5-7, 7-5 victory at No. 1 singles. Tulane hosts a pair of matches this week as Nicholls visits Wednesday and unbeaten SMU comes to town Sunday.
Tulsa (7-2) bounced back from its only two losses of the season with a 7-0 win against Abilene Christian last week. Martina Okalova, who is ranked No. 84 nationally in singles, registered a 6-0, 6-0 victory at No. 1 against the Wildcats, improving to 7-1 in dual matches. Tulsa heads to West Lafayette, Indiana, for two matches this week as the Golden Hurricane faces DePaul Saturday and Purdue Sunday.
Wichita State (1-6) has dropped six straight after the Shockers fell to Missouri (4-0) and Old Dominion (5-2) last week. Wichita State looks to end the slide with matches in Tempe, Arizona, against No. 14 Arizona State and Rice.