Pacific's Moritz Starke and UC Riverside's Erynne Oki picked up Big West Men's and Women's Tennis Athlete of the Week honors for exhibiting solid play at both No. 1 singles and doubles for their respective teams.

Pacific’s Starke Extends Singles Streak To Five Straight

Pacific senior Moritz Starke (Bamberg, Germany/Forsyth Country Day) captured back-to-back Big West Men’s Tennis Athlete of the Week accolades as he excelled in three of four matches.
   
At No. 1 singles, Starke went 3-1 on the week to improve to 10-4 for the season.  He rolled to a 6-0, 6-1 win against Montana’s Colin Dektar to start the success.  Moving to conference play against UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly, he won twice more.  He defeated the Gauchos’ Alexander Konigsfeldt 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 in a tough 4-3 team loss.  His 6-2, 6-2 victory against Andre Dome gave the Tigers a decisive 6-1 team win against the No. 74 Mustangs.  Pacific later climbed its highest ranking in school history at No. 54.
   
Starke and doubles teammate Renan Delsin defeated their counterparts from Montana, UCSB and Cal Poly, punctuated by a tough 9-7 battle against Andrew Gerst and Alexander Sonesson of the Mustangs.  Starke’s only loss came against Washington’s No. 33 nationally ranked player Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan.

Others nominated: Andrew Gerst (Cal Poly); Michael Reiser (UC Davis); Khunpol Issara (UC Irvine); Josh Finkelstein (UC Santa Barbara); Moritz Starke (Pacific)


UC Riverside’s Oki Sweeps Through Opponents On Vegas Roadtrip

UC Riverside senior Erynne Oki (Valley Village, Calif./Notre Dame HS) helped her team to a pair of neutral court victories in Las Vegas with stellar play at the top singles and doubles positions, earning her Big West Women’s Tennis Athlete of the Week honors.

Oki helped the Highlanders to 7-0 sweeps of Southern Utah and Idaho State with convincing victories in both singles and doubles.  She powered her way to a 6-1, 6-2 win against Southern Utah’s Ksusha Nazarova on Thursday.  Oki also toppled Idaho State’s Leisel Lewis by a 6-2, 6-4 score on Friday.

In doubles, Oki and partner Roxanne Plata were nearly perfect in scoring identical 8-1 triumphs against the No. 1 Thunderbird and Bengal teams.  Oki’s week improved her spring season dual records to 10-5 in singles and 8-7 in doubles.  This is the first Athlete of the Week award for Oki this season and the second of her career.

Others nominated: Michelle Murphy (UC Santa Barbara); Jenifer Widjaja (Pacific)