PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Tulane junior Constantin Schmitz and Temple junior Alina Abdurakhimova have been chosen as the American Athletic Conference Men’s and Women’s Players of the Week for the week-ending Jan. 29.
       


AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE MEN’S TENNIS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Constantin Schmitz • Jr. • Tulane
Schmitz went 3-0 at No. 1 singles and 2-0 at No. 3 doubles to help Tulane to a 3-1 start to its 2017 spring season. He had a three-set win at No. 1 to help the Green Wave to a 5-2 victory against Pepperdine in the ITA Kickoff Weekend in Berkeley, California, and followed with a three-set decision against the nation’s No. 12-ranked individual in a 4-2 loss to Cal. Schmitz opened the season with a straight-set victory against Alcorn State in Tulane’s 6-0 win.
 


AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE WOMEN’S TENNIS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Alina Abdurakhimova • Jr. • Temple
Abdurahimova went 4-0 at No. 1 singles to help Temple to a 3-1 showing in the Owls’ opening weekend of the 2017 spring season. Abdurakhimova scored a straight-set win against Iowa State’s Samantha Budal (ranked No. 125 nationally) in the Owls’ 4-2 win against the Cyclones. She followed with a 3-0 showing at the VCU Invite, helping Temple to wins against Morgan State and Longwood.
 
 
 
AROUND THE AMERICAN
SMU is ranked No. 22 in the Feb. 1 Oracle/ITA Division I men’s tennis rakings as the Mustangs moved up one spot from last week. USF, Tulane and Tulsa were all receiving votes in this week’s poll.
 
The Jan. 8 ITA men’s singles rankings have Memphis’ Ryan Peniston at No. 35, Tulsa’s Or Ram-Harel at No. 46, Tulane’s Constantin Schmitz at No. 54, USF’s Peter Bertran at No. 77, Memphis’ Andrew Watson at No. 111, and UConn’s Justin Warren and Arnaud Valentin at No. 115.
 
The men’s doubles tandems in the Jan. 8 ITA rankings are Harrison Richmond/Mariano Porter of UCF at No. 27; Francois Kellerman/Okkie Kellerman of Tulsa at No. 36; and Peter Betran/Vadym Kalyuzhnyy of USF at No. 39;
 
Tulsa’s women’s team narrowly missed out on a spot in the top 25 in the Feb. 1 Oracle/ITA Division I women’s tennis rankings, as the Golden Hurricane was one of two teams listed in the receiving votes category. Memphis’ Anki Wind is ranked No. 91 and East Carolina’s Sarah Sarjoo is ranked No. 111 in the Jan. 8 ITA women’s singles rankings.
 
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 (4-1) picked up its fourth win of the season with a 7-0 decision against Bethune-Cookman as the Knights won the doubles point and scored straight-set wins in all six singles matches. UCF is off until a Feb. 17 match against Tennessee Tech.
 
UConn (1-2) fell 7-0 to East Carolina in the Huskies’ lone dual match of last week. The Huskies are slated to face St. John’s Friday before taking on Merrimack Saturday.
 
East Carolina (5-0) ran its season-opening winning streak to five matches as the Pirates scored victories against UConn (7-0) and UNC Asheville (5-2) last week. The 5-0 start is the best for East Carolina under 11th-year head coach Shawn Heinchon. The doubles tandem of Ronny Georgi/Will Bissett has matched the team’s start with a 5-0 mark of its own. East Carolina visits Navy Sunday.
 
Memphis (2-2) dropped a pair of matches to ranked opponents at the ITA Kickoff Weekend in Illinois as the Tigers fell 4-0 to No. 10 Northwestern and saw No. 18 Stanford hold off the Tigers for a 4-3 win. Memphis played Stanford to three sets in five of the six singles matches and rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the team score to force a deciding match at No. 5 singles. The Tigers face Arkansas-Pine Bluff Friday in Memphis.
 
USF (1-1) began its dual match season with a split at the ITA Kickoff Weekend in Gainesville, Florida, as the Bulls fell 4-3 to LSU before answering with a 4-0 win against UNC Wilmington. Alberto Barroso-Campos and Vadym Kalyuzhnyy were winners in singles play in both matches for the Bulls, who face Ohio State and Michigan in road matches this week.
 
SMU (3-2) took a split of the ITA Kickoff Weekend in College Station, Texas, as the Mustangs defeated Mississippi 4-3 to advance to the championship match, where they fell 4-0 to No. 22 Baylor. The win against Ole Miss was decided when Markus Kerner won a third-set tiebreaker 7-5 at No. 4 singles. The Mustangs, who are ranked No. 22 in this week’s Oracle/ITA ranking, are off until a Feb. 9 match at Army.
 
Temple (1-4) dropped a 6-1 decision to Penn in the Owls’ only action of last week as Uladzimir Dorash delivered the wins at No. 3 singles and No. 1 doubles. Temple hosts Villanova in an early morning matchup that is slated for 7:30 a.m.
 
Tulane (3-1) had a busy week to open its spring season as the Green Wave won three of its first four dual matches. The Green Wave registered back-to-back wins against Alcorn State (6-0 and 7-0) before knocking off Pepperdine (5-2) in the ITA Kickoff Weekend in Berkeley, California. Tulane was unable to top California in Saturday’s showdown with the Bears as the Green Wave fell 4-2. Junior Constantin Schmitz went 3-0 at No. 1 singles including a three-set win against Florian Lakat of Cal, the No. 12-ranked player in the ITA singles rankings.
 
Tulsa (4-4) saw its record fall to .500 after the Golden Hurricane dropped a pair of matches to nationally ranked opponents - wrapping up a stretch of four straight matches against top-25 teams. Tulsa fell 4-2 to No. 14 Kentucky and dropped a 4-0 decision to No. 22 Columbia at the ITA Kickoff Weekend in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Tulsa is in the middle of a stretch in which it faces six top-25 opponents in seven matches, the lone exception a Feb. 10 match at Tennessee.
 
 

WOMEN’S TENNIS UPDATE
 
UCF (4-1) picked up a pair of dual match wins last week as the Knights topped Stetson (5-2) and Bethune-Cookman. Junior Emilia Granstrom remained unbeaten on the 2017 spring season with a pair of straight-set wins, improving to 5-0 in both singles and doubles competition. UCF hosts Florida A&M and Georgia Southern in dual-match action this week.
 
Cincinnati (2-1) split a pair of dual matches on the road last week as the Bearcats topped Miami (Ohio) 5-2 before falling 5-1 to Indiana. Kelly Poggensee-Wei registered a pair of wins at No. 2 singles for Cincinnati as she scored a straight-set win against the RedHawks and took a third-set tiebreaker win against the Hoosiers. The Bearcats host Marshall Friday.
 
UConn (2-1) opened its spring season with a 7-0 win against Rhode Island, improving the Huskies to 2-1 in dual matches in 2016-17. The Huskies registered straight-set wins five of the six singles matches and swept the doubles round against the Rams. UConn takes to the road this week to face Kansas State and UMKC.
 
East Carolina (0-0) will begin its spring season Feb. 3 at North Carolina State and plays at home for the first time in 2017 the following day against Appalachian State. The Pirates went 17-9 last season and reached the third round of the American Athletic Conference Championship.
 
Houston (2-1) dedicated the Barbara Wallace Winston Tennis Facility with a 5-2 win against Abilene Christian in the Cougars’ lone dual match of last week. Tsveta Dimitrova was a straight-set winner at No. 1 singles and contributed to a Cougar sweep of doubles play with a 6-3 win at No. 1 alongside Cristina Rovira. Houston hosts Texas A&M Corpus Christi Saturday.
 
Memphis (3-0) improved to 3-0 with dual-match wins against Lipscomb (6-1) and Chattanooga (4-1) last week. Katherine Cao has turned in a 3-0 mark at No. 5 singles and is 11-4 overall in the 2016-17 season. The Tigers head to LSU Saturday for their lone match of the week.
 
USF (1-2) picked up its first win of the 2017 spring season as the Bulls bounced back from a 4-0 setback against Florida International with a 4-2 victory against DePaul at the ITA Kickoff Weekend in Gainesville, Florida. Ana Roman has played all three dual matches at the No. 1 singles spot this season and has a 2-1 record in the early-going. USF hosts Southern Miss and Texas Tech this week in Tampa.
 
SMU (2-0) began its 2017 dual match season with 6-1 wins against Abilene Christian and Prairie View A&M last Sunday. Ana Perez-Lopez, Dasha Sharapova and Sara Monarrez Yesaki were all two-time winners in singles play for the Mustangs, who were a combined 8-0 at the top four spots on the ladder. SMU has a busy weekend ahead, with a Friday matchup against Sam Houston State and Saturday dual matches against Northwestern State and UT Rio Grande Valley.
 
Temple (3-2) went 3-1 in a busy weekend as the Owls beat Iowa State (4-2), Morgan State (5-0) and Longwood (5-0), and fell to Virginia Commonwealth (3-2). Alina Abdurakhimova went 4-0 at No. 1 singles for the Owls, including a 3-0 showing at the VCU Invite. Temple will host local rivals Villanova and Penn in dual matches this weekend.
 
Tulane (6-0) has extended its winning streak to six matches to start the spring season after the Green Wave scored a doubleheader sweep against Northwestern State and Southern. Tulane is 6-0 for the second time under ninth-year head coach Terri Sisk, who takes her squad to Tucson, Arizona, this weekend for dual matches against Arizona and UTEP.
 
Tulsa (5-1) split a pair of matches at the ITA Kickoff Classic in Durham, North Carolina, last weekend as the Golden Hurricane dropped a 4-3 thriller to No. 25 Northwestern before bouncing back with a 4-1 win against William & Mary. Senior Marcelina Cichon turned in a pair of straight-set wins at No. 6 singles, improving to 11-1 in singles in the 2016-17 season. Tulsa visits North Texas Friday before beginning a stretch of three straight home matches with a Sunday battle with Oklahoma State.
 

This Week In The American
MEN                                                                                                               

Friday, Feb. 3	Villanova at Temple	7:30 a.m.
	Arkansas Pine Bluff at Memphis	1 p.m.
	USF at Ohio State	6 p.m.
	UConn vs. St. John’s	TBD
Saturday, Feb. 4	Merrimack at UConn (East Hartford, Conn.)	6 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 5	East Carolina at Navy	10 a.m.
	Santa Clara at Tulane	1 p.m.
	USF at Michigan	2:30 p.m.

 
 
                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                       
WOMEN                                                                                                         

Thursday, Feb. 2	Tulane at Arizona	3:30 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 3	Villanova at Temple	7:30 a.m.
	Southern Miss at USF	Noon
	Tulane vs. UTEP (Tucson, Ariz.)	Noon
	Florida A&M at UCF	1 p.m.
	UConn at Kansas State	3 p.m.
	Marshall at Cincinnati	5 p.m.
	East Carolina at North Carolina State	5:30 p.m.
	Sam Houston State at SMU	6 p.m.
	Tulsa at North Texas	TBD
Saturday, Feb. 4	Appalachian State at East Carolina	10 a.m.
	Memphis at LSU	Noon
	Penn at Temple	1 p.m.
	Texas A&M Corpus Christi at Houston	2 p.m.
	Northwestern State at SMU	2 p.m.
	UT Rio Grande Valley at SMU	6 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 5	UConn at UMKC	10 a.m.
	Georgia Southern at UCF	Noon
	Texas Tech at USF	Noon
	Oklahoma State at Tulsa	2 p.m.

 
 
all times Eastern