Freshmen Benjamin Recknagel of UC Santa Barbara and Jaklin Alawi of Long Beach State earned Big West Men's and Women's Tennis Athlete of the Week accolades after helping their teams to wins over nationally ranked foes.
Recknagel Fights Through Sprained Ankle To Clinch Match Against No. 42 Boise State
Benjamin Recknagel (Munich, Germany/Carl Orff Gymnasium) secured a match-clinching win for UC Santa Barbara against nationally ranked Boise State as one of the highlights of his Big West Men’s Tennis Athlete of the Week performance.
Recknagel, who won both his singles and doubles matches against all three opponents, gave the Gauchos a 4-3 win at No. 42 Boise State when he overcame a sprained ankle to defeat Vicente Joli at No. 2 singles. They split the first two sets, but Recknagel fought through the pain of his injured ankle to emerge a 6-7, 7-5, 7-6 (1) winner.
He also teamed with partner Lucas Sudow to win 8-2 at No. 3 doubles, helping UCSB secure the doubles point against BSU. Recknagel earned UCSB’s only point in a 6-1 loss to Cal Poly, downing Brian McPhee 6-1, 7-5 at No. 4 singles. He also won a singles and doubles match versus Montana State.
Others nominated: Matt Fawcett (Cal Poly); Ivan Castro (Pacific)
Alawi Helps Long Beach State Cement No. 1 Seed In Conference Tournament
Jaklin Alawi (Sofia, Bulgaria/Vladamir Stoichev HS) helped Long Beach State clinch the conference regular season championship and tournament No. 1 seed, capturing Big West Women’s Tennis Athlete of the Week accolades.
Alawi won two matches at No. 1 singles as the 49ers toppled No. 55 Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara on the road by identical 5-2 scores. Alawi, ranked No. 125 in singles by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, upset No. 85 Susie Matzenauer of Cal Poly 6-4, 3-6, 7-5. She also defeated Sofia Novak of UCSB 6-4, 7-6 (5) Alawi also won at No. 1 doubles with Rachel Manasse against the Gaucho duo of Tova Hausman and Bryanna Ojeda, 9-8 (5).
Others nominated: Dahra Zamudio (UC Davis); Tova Hausman (UC Santa Barbara); Jenifer Widjaja (Pacific)