Pac-12 announces tennis players of the week

WALNUT CREEK, Calif. - UTAH senior Ben Tasevac and USC freshman Zoë Katz were voted Pac-12 men’s and women’s tennis Players of the Week for play from Feb. 18-24, the Conference office announced today. 

Tasevac (Sarajevo, Bosnia) captured a crucial victory for Utah in singles that clinched the 5-2 upset of rival and 70th-ranked BYU. After netting a 6-1 win in his first set against Andrey Goryachkov, the senior struggled in the second set, falling 6-7 (5). Tasevac returned in the third set and won, 7-5, to clinch the match-deciding point for Utah at 4-2. Tasevac teamed up with doubles partner Devin Lane to secure the doubles point for Utah with an 8-5 win over Jeremy Bourgeois and Sterling Galli of BYU. He now holds a 7-2 record at the No. 2 singles position and is currently undefeated in doubles competition with Lane, holding a 9-0 record. 

Katz (Los Angeles, Calif.) had match-clinching victories in back-to-back matches for the Trojans last week, also picking up doubles wins as USC topped No. 58 San Diego State and upset No. 4 Cal. Against the Aztecs, the freshman teamed with Brynn Boren for an 8-5 win at the No. 2 spot before taking the clincher in singles on her dominating 6-0, 6-1 win and giving USC the 7-0 shutout victory. In the 6-1 upset of California, Katz and Boren secured the doubles point with a tense 9-8 (2) victory. She went on to pull off the match-clinching upset of No. 84 Klara Fabikova, shutting out her opponent in the first set, 6-0, then winning the second set 6-4 to seal the Trojan upset. Katz is now 11-4 overall in singles and 18-5 in doubles with Boren as the nation’s eighth-ranked pair. 

USC women’s tennis hosts Saint Mary’s on Thursday, Feb. 27 before traveling to Austin, Texas to take on Texas on Sunday, March 2. Utah men’s tennis takes this week off before traveling to Lincoln, Neb. to face Nebraska and Drake on March 7 and 8. 

Also Nominated: 
Men’s: Sumeet Shinde, ARIZ; Filip Bergevi, CAL; Robin Cambier, ORE; Eric Johnson, USC. 
Women’s: Lacey Smyth, ARIZ; Krista Hardebeck, STAN. 

2014 Tennis Players of the Week
Men’s    Women’s
Jan. 21    Robin Cambier, Sr., Oregon    Kristie Ahn, Sr., Stanford
Jan. 28    Gregory Bayane, Jr., California    Robin Anderson, Jr., UCLA
Feb. 4    Yannick Hanfmann, Jr., USC    Kristie Ahn, Sr., Stanford
Feb. 11    Robin Cambier, Sr., Oregon    Zsofi Susanyi, Jr., California
Feb. 18    Roberto Quiroz, Jr., USC    Elizaveta Luzina, Jr., Washington State
Feb. 25    Ben Tasevac, Sr., Utah    Zoë Katz, Fr., USC