Pacific freshman Sem Verbeek and UC Irvine sophomore Ali Facey provided match-clinching singles victories for their squads in capturing Big West Men's and Women's Tennis Athlete of the Week honors.
Verbeek Fights Back From Set Deficit In Pacific Victory
Freshman Sem Verbeek (Amsterdam, Netherlands/Pendleton School) came through for Pacific when the team needed it most, winning his No. 2 singles match to give the Tigers a 4-3 victory against Saint Mary's. The effort earned him Big West Men's Tennis Athlete of the Week honors for the second time this season.
Verbeek, who moved up to No. 2 on the Tiger singles ladder, clinched a 4-3 team victory for the third time this season – all against West Coast Conference opponents. He knocked off opponents from Loyola Marymount and San Francisco in previous Tiger wins.
In Sunday's match versus the Gaels, Verbeek found himself in a familiar situation – his involvement in a three-set match. And for the second time, he recovered from a first-set deficit to wrangle a win. Verbeek lost the opening set to the Gaels' Thomas Manner, 3-6, before reigning supreme with 6-4 and 7-6 (4) wins in the final two sets.
Although the Tigers lost the doubles point, Verbeek and partner Alex Golding did their part by dispatching the SMC tandem of Jesse Kiuru and Joakim Norstrom, 8-5, at the No. 1 spot.
Others nominated: Jordan Bridge (Cal Poly); Jonathan Hammel (UC Irvine); Jimmy Roberts (UC Riverside); Benjamin Recknagel (UC Santa Barbara)
Facey Helps UC Irvine To Upset Of No. 33 Pepperdine
Sophomore Ali Facey (Cameron Park, Calif./Ponderosa HS) helped UC Irvine engineer an upset of No. 33 Pepperdine, which earned her the selection of Big West Women's Tennis Athlete of the Week.
Facey played a prominent role in UCI's 4-3 ouster of the Waves, who defeated the Anteaters by the same score in 2012. Facey began the match with partner Brooke Schweyer at No. 3 doubles, notching an 8-5 win against Megan Moore and Tara Panu that paved the way for UCI to clinch the doubles point.
WIth the match evened at 3-3, the outcome came down to No. 5 singles and Facey's battle with Michaela Capannolo. Capannolo won the first set 6-2, but Facey rebounded to take the next two sets, 6-3 and 6-3.
The Anteaters have now won a season-best three straight matches and have defeated two ranked opponents in a row after dealing No. 46 LSU a 4-3 setback on Monday.
Others nominated: Megan McIntosh (Cal State Fullerton); Nicole Koehly (UC Davis); Jamie Raney (UC Riverside); Stacy Yam (UC Santa Barbara); Iveta Masarova (Pacific)