A veteran and a newcomer to the collegiate scene picked up the first Big West tennis weekly awards of the 2010 season.  UC Irvine senior Shimpei Suzuki earned Men's Tennis Athlete of the Week, while Pacific freshman Christina Goehl captured the Women's Tennis Athlete of the Week honor.

Suzuki Helps UC Irvine To 2-1 Start

Shimpei Suzuki (Irvine, Calif./Woodbridge HS) earned Big West Men’s Tennis Athlete of the Week after helping UC Irvine to a solid start to the 2010 season.

Suzuki won a pair of singles matches as the Anteaters finished 2-1 on a season-opening trip to the Northwest.  He defeated Portland’s Geoff Hernandez 6-3, 6-3 at No. 3 singles as the Anteaters edged the Pilots, 4-3.  Suzuki also captured UCI’s only point in a 6-1 loss to Washington, defeating Martin Kildahl in three sets by scores of 6-4, 1-6, 10-7.

He also partnered with Jon Kazarian in doubles to go 1-2 on the week.  At No. 2 doubles, Suzuki and Kazarian won against a duo from Seattle University.

Goehl Wins Three Straight To Start Collegiate Career At Pacific

Christina Goehl (Karlsruhe, Germany/Markgrafengymnasium) had an impressive start to her Pacific career as the freshman won all three of her No. 2 singles matches to capture the Big West Women’s Tennis Athlete of the Week award.

The Tigers sandwiched victories over Weber State (7-0) and New Mexico State (6-1) around a loss to No. 41 UNLV.

Goehl won a pair of three-set matches, defeating UNLV’s Nives Pavlovic 6-7, 6-2, 6-4 and New Mexico State’s Sophia Marks 6-0, 4-6, 1-0.  She also gave up only one game in a win against Weber State’s Greyce Farias.