A trio of underclassmen earn the first Big West Athlete of the Week honors for tennis after stellar singles performances.
Wade, Heim Share First Accolades of 2015
UC Davis sophomore James Wade (San Marino, Calif.) and UC Irvine freshman Sebastian Heim (Speyer, Germany) share the first Big West Men's Tennis Athlete of the Week accolade of the year, with each going unbeaten in singles play to open the 2015 season.
Wade was 2-0 on the week, with a pair of three-set wins. He posted UC Davis' only point at No. 30 Stanford to open the spring season, defeating John Morrissey 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 at the No. 2 singles position. Wade's win over Miguel Diaz of Pacific helped the Aggies clinch a 5-2 victory, snapping the Ags' four-match losing streak against former conference foe.
Wade and partner Tommy Lam also batted to a 5-5 unfinished draw in doubles against Stanford.
Heim began his career for UC Irvine 4-0 in singles play, handily defeating opponents from No. 41 Texas Tech, No. 61 New Mexico and Arizona at the Nos. 2 and 3 positions. Each of his victories came in straight sets, with Heim only being tested once, losing no more than 3 games in seven of his eight sets.
The honor is Wade's second of his career and Heim's first.
Others nominated: Ben Donovan (Cal Poly), Felix Albert (Hawai‘i)
Razakasoa Clinches Honor After Upset
Long Beach State sophomore Maeva Razakasoa (Cranves-Sales, France) picked up her first 2015 Big West Women’s Tennis Athlete of the Week honor following the Beach Tennis Winter Classic. This is the reigning Big West Player of the Year’s second career honor.
Razakasoa notched an upset after finishing off a perfect singles weekend on the final day of the Winter Classic. The 2014 Big West Freshman of the Year came out victorious versus the 60th-ranked Lucia Butkovska of Portland going 6-4 in the first set and 2-1 in the second, before Butkovska was forced to retire due to an injury suffered in the second.
The sophomore then beat 75th-ranked player Emily Olivier from New Mexico going 6-4 in the first set and 6-1 in the second set to cap off the weekend.
Razakasoa improves to 14-5 overall.
Others nominated: Zoe Oedekerk (Cal Poly), Alexis Valenzuela (Cal State Fullerton), Ali Facey (UC Irvine), Paulina Petriskova (Hawai‘i)