Pacific freshman Daniel Alameh and UC Irvine junior Franziska Goettsching earned Big West Men's and Women's Tennis Athlete of the Week honors with overall solid performances.
Alameh Goes 4-1 In Singles and Doubles
Freshman Daniel Alameh (Perth, Australia/School of Isolated and Distance Education) captured Big West Men's Tennis Athlete of the Week honors as he posted a combined 4-1 record in singles and doubles to help the Tigers win two of their three matches.
Alameh and partner Ben Mirkin helped the Tigers pick up an important doubles point with an 8-6 win at No. 3 against Joey White and Chase Tomlins. Although Alameh fell on the wrong side of 6-4, 7-6 (10) decision to counterpart Juan Estenssoro at No. 4 singles, the Tigers narrowly outlasted the Hawkeyes, 4-3.
In a 4-3 loss to No. 56 New Mexico, Alameh accumulated one of three singles points with a 6-4, 6-4 triumph over Mads Hegelund. Alameh and Mirkin also were the only Pacific pairing to win in doubles, trumping Simon Hegelund and Samir Iftikhar in a tiebreaker – 8-7 (4).
The Tigers had a dominant 6-1 victory against Gonzaga to consummate a busy week, and Alameh dispatched his opponent Hayden Smith with relative ease, winning 6-3, 6-1.
Alameh improved to 12-4 on the season in singles dual matches and 9-3 in doubles.
Others nominated: None
Goettsching Gaining Momentum Entering Home Stretch
Junior Franziska Goettsching (Heitersheim, Germany/Faust Gymnasium) is bolstering an already potent No. 28 UC Irvine club with strong play in singles and doubles, as she garnered Big West Women's Tennis Athlete of the Week.
After fighting off a series of ailments in the early part of the season, Goettsching has won four of her last five singles matches from the No. 3 draw.
She posted a 6-2, 6-2 win against Pacific's Susan Te and downed Wyoming's Alexandra Kovacs 6-2, 6-3 to help the Anteaters to team victories over both foes.
Partnering with Kristina Smith, the No. 66-ranked Anteater doubles duo also reeled off victories over Iveta Masarova and Hana Ritterova of Pacific, and Veronica Popovici and Simona Synkova of Wyoming. The UCI No. 1 doubles pairing is now an impressive 11-3 overall and 5-0 in conference dual matches this season. They have captured nine of their last 10 matches.
Goettsching has helped the Anteaters win 14 consecutive contests, including a perfect mark on a nine-match homestand and an 8-0 record in the month of March.
Others nominated: Anna Yang (Cal State Northridge); Sarah Cantlay (Long Beach State); Christiana Ferrari (Pacific)