Hejazi Helps UC Santa Barbara to Win over UC Santa Cruz
UC Santa Barbara freshman Bijan Hejazi (Santa Clara, CA) earned the final Big West Men's Tennis Athlete of the Week award for 2006 as his play helped the Gauchos to a win over UC Santa Cruz in the final tune-up before the conference tournament.
The Gauchos won a tough 4-3 match over the defending Division III national champion Banana Slugs, who were ranked sixth nationally entering the match. Hejazi defeated UCSC's Shane Templeton 7-5, 6-0 at the No. 2 singles position. At No. 2 doubles, Hejazi and partner Scott Hohenstein defeated the Banana Slug duo of Ilya Gendelman and Max Ortiz 8-4.
Cal State Northridge's Koichumanova Earns Award for Second Time
Cal State Northridge sophomore Kanykey Koichumanova (Bishkek, Kyrgystan) claimed Big West Women's Tennis Athlete of the Week honors for the second time as she closed out regular season play on a positive note with three wins apiece in singles and doubles.
Koichumanova started the week with a 6-1, 6-2 win at No. 2 singles over Loyola Marymount's Robyn Baker. She also teamed with Canna Furuta to defeat the Lion doubles team of Patrycia Hubl and Erin Ivey by an 8-6 score. Koichumanova's play was not enough to keep the Matadors from having their nine-match winning streak broken as they lost 4-3 to the Lions.
However, CSUN rebounded with wins over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (6-1) and UC San Diego (7-0). With regular No. 1 singles player Silvia Gutierrez resting for the upcoming Big West Tournament, Koichumanova moved up to the top spot on the ladder for the first time this season. She responded with a 6-0, 6-3 win over Jeannine Lang of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and a 6-4, 6-2 triumph over UC San Diego's Katie McKee. The wins improved her record to 15-6 in singles competition on the year and extended her winning streak to four straight. She also has won 10 of her last 11 in singles.
Furuta and Koichumanova moved up to No. 1 doubles and split their final two matches. They defeated the CMS duo Jeannine Liang and Yassie Entekhabi 8-4, while falling 8-5 to the UCSD tandem of McKee and Kristin Bronowicki.