Pacific’s Sigurdsson Captures Sixth Weekly Tennis Award This Season
Pacific senior Arnar Sigurdsson (Kopavogur, Iceland) continued to excel on the courts with his sixth Big West Men’s Tennis Athlete of the Week award this season. Sigurdsson knocked off both of his singles opponents and split two doubles matches, helping lead the Tigers to an upset win along the way.
Sigurdsson started off the week with a win at No. 1 singles against Santa Clara’s Taylor Bedilion. He led 3-0 in the first set before Bedilion retired from the match due to illness. Sigurdsson also helped Pacific capture the doubles point as he and partner Vladimir Zdravkovic defeated Eric Kochanski and Bobby Rasmussen 8-5. However, Sigurdsson’s efforts were not enough as the Broncos came back to win four of the remaining five singles matches for the 4-3 team victory.
On Saturday, Pacific picked up a narrow 4-3 team victory over No. 66 UC Santa Barbara. Sigurdsson toppled Gaucho No. 1 player Alex Anselme by a 6-2, 6-1 score to raise his winning streak to seven straight singles matches. Overall, Sigurdsson is 16-2 at the No. 1 singles position this season. He is ranked No. 84 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings this week.
UC Santa Barbara’s Gruenig Rolls Along With Consecutive Singles Win Streak
UC Santa Barbara junior Marielle Gruenig (Basel, Switzerland) swept through the competition, defeating three conference foes and extending her consecutive win streak at No. 1 singles to 14 straight matches. Gruenig’s domination garnered her Big West Women’s Tennis Athlete of the Week accolades for the second time this season.
Gruenig’s play helped propel the Gauchos to Big West victories over Cal State Northridge, Cal State Fullerton and No. 74 Long Beach State. She rolled to a 6-1, 6-3 win over CSUN’s Silvia Gutierrez and a 6-1, 6-2 triumph against CSF’s Ruya Inapulat. In a showdown with the 49ers, Gruenig outlasted Nicole Bouffler 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (4) in a marathon match that lasted three hours. Bouffler broke Gruenig’s serve in the third set to go up 6-5, but Gruenig broke right back to tie it at 6-6. The two players were all even at 3-3 in the tiebreaker before Gruenig took control and won 7-4. That was the final point as UCSB eked out the 4-3 victory over the 49ers.
With the wins, Gruenig improved to 16-1 in dual matches at No. 1 singles this spring. Her 14 straight singles wins have placed her at No. 96 in the ITA rankings this week.
In doubles play, Gruenig teamed with Chelsea Glynn to win their matches against Cal State Northridge and Cal State Fullerton. Against the Matadors, Gruenig and Glynn won a close 9-7 decision over Gutierrez and YuYu Myinttun.