UC Irvine swept the awards as Zac Tsai (Tarzana, Calif./Oaks Christian HS) earned Big West Men's Tennis Athlete of the Week and Brooke Bartlett (Fountain Valley, Calif./Fountain Valley HS) was named Big West Women's Tennis Athlete of the Week. Both players helped their teams claim important victories in conference play.
Tsai Helps Anteaters To Pair Of Upset Wins
Clutch performances from Zac Tsai produced the Big West Men's Tennis Athlete of the Week award for the senior, who won two important singles matches in a pair of UC Irvine upset wins.
Tsai won the deciding match in a 4-3 triumph at No. 54 San Diego State. He overcame a first set deficit to overcome Andre Feliz 4-6, 6-4 and 7-6 (3) at No. 4 singles. From the same position on Sunday, Tsai tied the match at 3-3 against Big West rival UC Santa Barbara with a 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory over Taylor Chavez-Goggin. UCI ended up winning the match, 4-3, against the Gauchos in a battle between two contenders for the league title.
Tsai's efforts were also important in doubles as he and partner Steven Henderson were victorious at the No. 2 spot, 8-6, over UCSB's tandem of Lucas Sudow and Benjamin Recknagel.
Others nominated: Quoc Doan (UC Riverside); Alex Konigsfeldt (UC Santa Barbara)
Bartlett Goes Unbeaten In Singles And Doubles For UC Irvine
Brooke Bartlett secured Big West Women's Tennis Athlete of the Week honors after posting a 2-0 record in both singles and doubles, and scoring the match-clinching victory in a key conference battle.
Bartlett captured a 6-0, 2-6, 7-5 win at No. 4 singles against Cal Poly's Diane Filip to give the Anteaters a 4-3 win over the Mustangs. Both teams are contenders for this year’s Big West title.
The junior also teamed with Kristina Smith at No. 3 doubles to win 8-2 over the Cal Poly duo of Amy Markhoff and Ashley Pane.
Bartlett's week also included a dominating 6-1, 6-1 victory over Loyola Marymount's Estelle LaPorte as the Anteaters blanked the Lions, 7-0.
Others nominated: Jaklin Alawi (Long Beach State); Taylor Raney (UC Riverside); Annabel Gledden (UC Santa Barbara); Jenifer Widjaja (Pacific)