UC Irvine’s Morton Defeats Ranked Foe To Win Weekly Men’s Tennis Honor
UC Irvine senior Brian Morton (Costa Mesa, CA) garnered his third Big West Men’s Tennis Athlete of the Week honor of the 2005 season after winning all of his No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles matches in competition conducted from Mar. 14-20.
Morton upset No. 44 Callum Beale from Texas 6-4, 6-4 to give the Anteaters one of their two team points in a 5-2 loss to the Longhorns on Wednesday. He also defeated Vincent Patry of Georgia Southern in a 6-0, 6-0 romp as the Anteaters enjoyed a 7-0 team victory on Monday. In doubles action, Morton teamed with Rye Kashiwabara to topple the Longhorns’ Travis Halgeson and Beale 9-7, which were ranked No. 38 tin the nation according to the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s rankings. The duo then downed the team of Patry and Danie Van Den Heever of Georgia Southern by an 8-5 score.
This is the third Athlete of the Week honor for Morton this season and the fifth of his career.
UC Irvine’s Bentzer Keeps Rolling With Third Straight Big West Award
UC Irvine senior Anna Bentzer (Stockholm, Sweden) won her 10th and 11th straight matches, including a victory over a nationally ranked opponent, to capture her third straight Big West Athlete of the Week award.
Bentzer knocked off Denver’s Yanick Dullens, who was ranked No. 76 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings. She won by a score of 6-3, 6-3 in a tough 4-3 team loss to the Pioneers. Bentzer then reeled off her 11th consecutive win at No. 1 singles with a 6-3, 6-4 triumph over Kristina Lohmos of Central Florida. The Anteaters pulled out the 4-3 team victory against the Golden Knights as Bentzer improved to 12-3 in dual matches this season.
In doubles competition, Bentzer and teammate Inna Agababian lost twice at the No. 1 slot on the week, falling 8-3 to the Denver duo of Dullens and Suzana Maksovic and 8-5 to Central Florida’s Becky Gordon and Pamela Fernandez.
Bentzer has now earned the Big West Athlete of the Week honor for the fourth time this season and the eighth time in her career. Her eight awards tie former men’s basketball player Jerry Green for most career Athlete of the Week honors in UC Irvine history.