Pacific’s Sigurdsson Shines In Sunshine State To Capture Weekly Honor
Pacific junior Arnar Sigurdsson (Kopavogur, Iceland) posted a 5-1 record at No. 1 singles and doubles to collect Big West Men’s Tennis Athlete of the Week honors for the week of Mar. 21-27. Sigurdsson bettered his record to 12-2 in spring competition with three wins in singles despite the Tigers going 1-2 against their opponents.
Sigurdsson started out the week with an easy 6-1, 6-2 win over South Florida’s Uli Kiendl. He also played a role in capturing Pacific’s other point in the 4-2 team road loss, as he teamed with Vladimir Zdravkovic to defeat Federico Barton and Kiendl by a slim 9-8 (5) margin. Sigurdsson helped the Tigers to a 4-3 win over Cornell in Tampa, Fla. on Mar. 25. The right-hander served up a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Brett McKeon in singles, then won with Zdravkovic over the Big Red duo of Nick Brunner and Josh Raff 8-5 in doubles play. It marked the fourth straight doubles win for Sigurdsson and Zdravkovic.
The Tigers concluded their trip to Florida on Mar. 26 with a tough 4-3 loss to Central Florida. Sigurdsson had a tougher time at the No. 1 slot in his matchup with Joel Allen, but prevailed 7-5, 6-7 (3), 6-3. His only setback occurred in doubles when he and Zdravkovic fell to the Golden Knights tandem of Joel Allen and Antonio Sierra by an 8-6 decision.
Sigurdsson has now won five Big West Athlete of the Week awards this season.
Long Beach State’s Bengson Rolls To Impressive Week
Long Beach State freshman Stephanie Bengson (Albion Park, NSW, Australia) went 3-0 in singles play and lost just one of her three doubles matches, as she was selected Big West Women’s Tennis Athlete of the Week for the week of Mar. 21-27. The Aussie has won five consecutive singles matches.
Bengson helped the 49ers to an important Big West victory over rival Cal Poly on Mar. 23. She defeated Chelsy Thompson at No. 2 singles, 7-6, 6-3 as LBSU picked up a 5-2 win over the Mustangs. She then breezed to a 6-2, 6-1 win over Fresno State’s Lucia Tallo on Mar. 26 and followed that up the next day with a 6-4, 6-3 triumph over Brown’s Alex Arlak. LBSU nailed down the 6-1 win over the Bears and lost a 4-3 heartbreaker to the No. 56-ranked Bulldogs.
In doubles play, Bengson posted a 2-1 record with partner Krystina Katayama at the No. 3 spot. The duo won 8-3 over Carol Erickson and Paige Billingsley of the Mustangs and rolled to an 8-1 win over Brown’s Amanda Saiontz and Anita Ivancevic. The only setback came against Fresno State’s Katharina Winterhalter and Fadzal Masiyazi in a 9-8 battle.
Bengson is now 9-6 in singles this spring, including a 6-4 mark at the No. 2 spot. She and Katayama are 3-1 on the season at No. 3 doubles.