UC Irvine’s Matthews Helps Squad To Upset Of No. 68 Utah

The Big West named UC Irvine's Fabian Matthews (Newport Beach, Calif./Corona del Mar HS) the Men's Tennis Athlete of the Week as the freshman went 2-1 in singles against opponents from three nationally ranked teams.
   
Matthews began the week on Thursday with a 6-3, 6-0 win against Tim Schulz Van Enderet of No. 51 San Diego State at the No. 5 position.  It was the only point of the match for the Anteaters in the 6-1 loss to the Aztecs.
   
On Friday, Matthews gave a valiant effort against USC's Matt Kecki after moving up the No. 4 spot on the ladder.  He took the Trojan to three sets, losing in a super-tiebreaker by a score of 5-7, 7-6, 10-5.  The Anteaters dropped that match 7-0 to the No. 5 ranked Trojans. 
   
Matthews finished out the week by helping UCI to its first win of the season.  The Anteaters polished off No. 68 Utah 6-1, thanks in part to Matthews winning 6-2, 6-2 over Benito Suriano at No. 3 singles.

Others nominated: Austin Andres (UC Riverside); Alex Konigsfeldt (UC Santa Barbara); Christian Kuehne (Pacific)

UC Irvine's Hammel Wins Key Matches Against Big West Opposition

UC Irvine freshman Stephanie Hammel (Placentia, Calif./Valencia HS) took down the No. 1 player from rivals Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara to help the Anteaters to key conference wins and earn Big West Women's Tennis Athlete of the Week honors.
   
Hammel came up huge in UC Irvine's 4-3 win over No. 71 Cal Poly on Saturday.  She had the match-clinching win against Suzie Matzenauer, winning a thriller in three sets 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.  The Anteaters stayed perfect in Big West play on Sunday when they rolled to a 6-1 win against UC Santa Barbara.  Hammel defeated the Gauchos' Michelle Murphy 6-2, 6-0 in the contest.  She also teamed with Heidi Kaloi to knock off the UCSB duo of Murphy and Natalia Lozano, 8-5.
   
Hammel is now a perfect 4-0 at No. 1 singles against Big West opponents.

Others nominated: Brittany Blalock (Cal Poly); Nina Jaworowski (Cal State Northridge); Rachel Manasse (Long Beach State); Erynne Oki (UC Riverside); Bryanna Ojeda (UC Santa Barbara); Jenifer Widjaja (Pacific)