UC Irvine senior Fabian Matthews defeated the nation's No. 15-ranked singles player and Pacific junior Julia Hansen outlasted two of her conference counterparts in three-set thrillers, setting the duo up for Big West Men's and Women's Tennis Athlete of the Week honors.
Key Singles Win Moves Matthews Into National Rankings
UC Irvine senior Fabian Matthews (Newport Harbor, Calif./Corona del Mar HS) won three of four singles matches and took down the nation’s No. 15-ranked player to capture Big West Men’s Tennis Athlete of the Week accolades.
Matthews won all three singles matches from his No. 1 spot on a roadtrip to Oregon. The marquee win came against Washington’s Kyle McMorrow, ranked No. 15 by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. Matthews prevailed in a 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 thriller. He also recorded victories against Portland’s Stevan Micov (6-3, 7-6) and Oregon’s Jeff Mullen (6-7, 6-3, 6-2). Two of his wins came against foes from ranked squads in the No. 29 Huskies and No. 71 Ducks. His only setback during the week was to UC Santa Barbara’s Mathieu Forget in three sets.
Others nominated: Marco Comuzzo (Cal Poly); Mathieu Forget (UC Santa Barbara)
Hansen Produces Points For Pacific
Junior Julia Hansen (Hamburg, Germany/Darlington School) engineered a couple of three-set comebacks against opponents to earn the Pacific junior Big West Women’s Tennis Athlete of the Week honors.
Although the Tigers dropped the Big West contests to UC Santa Barbara (6-1) and No. 55 Cal Poly (5-2), Hansen shined for her team. She picked up the lone point in the loss to the Gauchos, defeating UCSB’s Sofia Novak 5-7, 7-5, 1-0 (6) at the No. 2 position. She reconvened against Cal Poly’s Jocelyn Davis on Sunday and gutted out the same result. After a first-set loss, Hansen rebounded to win the match by a 4-6, 7-6, 1-0 score.
Hansen and partner Iveta Masarova split their two doubles matches. They posted an 8-4 win over the Gaucho tandem of Kiersten Meehan and Jordan Dockendorf.
Others nominated: Kathryn Webb (Cal Poly); Jennifer Sher (Cal State Northridge); Laura Bernard (Long Beach State); Courtney Byron (UC Irvine)