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Pac-12 announces tennis players of the week

by Pac-12 Conference
Apr 9, 2019

Pac-12 Men's Tennis Player of the Week: Dan Little, Sr., Utah (London, England)
• Nationally ranked Little came away undefeated at the first singles spot last week, helping the Utes defeat San Francisco, 4-0, and No. 12 Stanford, 4-2, although they fell to No. 46 California, 4-2.
• With a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Stanford’s No. 47 Alexandre Rotsaert to put the Utes up 2-0, Little was key in notching the Utes first victory over the Cardinal during head coach Roeland Brateanu’s five-year tenure. The senior helped seal the upset on Utah’s senior day.
• Owns a 6-1 record against top-125 opponents this season and a 15-5 overall singles record.   
• The management major and 2018 Pac-12 All-Academic honoree earns his second-career Pac-12 Men’s Tennis Player of the Week honor, earning his first on February 12 this year. It marks the seventh all-time weekly honor for the Utes.

ALSO NOMINATED: Jonas Ziverts, ARIZONA; Nathan Ponwith, ARIZONA STATE; Mert Zincirli, CALIFORNIA; Patrick Zahraj, UCLA.

Pac-12 Women's Tennis Player of the Week: Melissa Lord, Sr., Stanford (Bloomfield, Conn.)
• No. 35 Lord contributed two singles wins and two doubles wins to help No. 5 Stanford blank both No. 36 Washington State, 4-0, and No. 15 Washington, 4-0, on the road. The Cardinal have won 11-straight games.
• With doubles partner Niluka Madurawe, the No. 36 duo notched two convincing victories on the third doubles court, defeating WSU’s duo, 6-1, and UW’s duo, 6-2.
• At the Cardinal’s senior day against the Huskies, Lord notched the first singles win of the day on court two with a 6-3, 6-4 result. Lord has now won seven singles matches in a row and is 20-8 overall on the season.
• The two-time NCAA Champion earns her second-career Pac-12 Player of the Week award, previously winning her first this year on February 26. It marks the 23rd all-time honor for the Cardinal.
• The senior studying public policy is a two-time Pac-12 All-Academic honorable mention selection.

ALSO NOMINATED: Talya Zandberg, ARIZONA; Olivia Hauger, CALIFORNIA; Elysia Bolton, UCLA; Salma Ewing, USC.

The Pac-12’s nine men’s teams and 11 women’s teams head to Ojai, Calif., Wednesday, April 24 - Saturday, April 27 to decide the Pac-12 men’s and women’s tennis team champions. Pac-12 competition will be held in conjunction with the 119th Annual Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament. Fans can buy five-day, weekend and single day passes online at www.ojaitourney.org/tournament-info/tickets/buy-tickets-online.

2018-19 PAC-12 MEN'S AND WOMEN'S TENNIS PLAYER OF THE WEEK

 Week of Men's Women's
Jan. 22 Tim Ruehl, Arizona State Stacey Fung, Washington
Jan. 28 Brandon Holt, USC Angela Kulikov, USC
Feb. 5 Thomas Laurent, Oregon Elysia Bolton, UCLA
Feb. 12 Dan Little, Utah Emily Arbuthnott, Stanford
Feb. 19 Axel Geller, Stanford Julia Rosenqvist, California
Feb. 26 Thomas Laurent, Oregon Melissa Lord, Stanford
March 5 Russell Benkaim, Utah Angela Kulikov, USC 
March 12 Maxime Cressy, UCLA Lauryn John-Baptiste, Arizona State
March 19 Brandon Holt, USC Julia Rosenqvist, California
March 26 Mor Bulis, USC Monica Malinen, Colorado
April 2 Maxime Cressy, UCLA Jada Hart, UCLA
April 9 Dan Little, Utah Melissa Lord, Stanford

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