Weekly Tennis Release No. 14
Freshmen Ben Donovan of Cal Poly and Jaimee Gilbertson of UC Santa Barbara notched Big West Men’s and Women’s Tennis Athlete of the Week accolades with solid performances in conference play.
Donovan Fights Off Four Match Points To Defeat Aggie Foe
Cal Poly freshman Ben Donovan (Germantown, Tenn./Advantage Tennis Academy) picked up two wins in both singles and doubles to capture Big West Men’s Tennis Athlete of the Week honors.
At No. 2 singles, Donovan upended Daniel Ho from Stanford, cruising to a 6-3, 6-2 victory in what became a close 4-3 loss to the No. 43-ranked Cardinal. Donovan inched up to No. 1 for a Big West showdown against UC Davis foe Alec Adamson, and won a dramatic three-set match. Donovan fought off four match points in the second set to subdue Adamson by a, 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2 score to help Cal Poly to the 4-3 team victory.
Others nominated: Caryl Hernandez (UC Irvine); Tobias Galskov (UC Santa Barbara)
Gilbertson Takes Down Two Conference Opponents
UC Santa Barbara freshman Jaimee Gilbertson (Noosa, Australia/Matthew Flinders Anglican College) won twice in both singles and doubles against conference counterparts Cal Poly and Cal State Northridge, earning Big West Women’s Tennis Athlete of the Week honors.
Gilbertson’s 4-0 mark helped the Gauchos forge a split as they lost to the Mustangs (4-3) and defeated the Matadors (5-2). She earned a comeback 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 victory against Cal Poly’s Emily Gibbens at No. 2 singles. Gilbertson moved up to No. 1 singles to face CSUN’s Vivian Lin, and cruised to a 6-2, 6-4 win.
In doubles, Gilbertson paired with Priscila Garcia to extend their winning streak to four in a row. The duo eked out a tiebreaker victory against the Matador tandem of Lin and Jessica Warren, pulling out an 8-7 (3) triumph Gilbertson is 12-5 in dual singles matches, including three straight wins at the No. 1 and No. 2 positions.
Others nominated: Jennifer Cornea (Cal Poly); Morgan McIntosh (Cal State Fullerton); Karolina Rozenberg (Long Beach State); Franziska Goettsching (UC Irvine)