UC Santa Barbara sophomore Benjamin Recknagel and Cal Poly senior Ashley Pane won all of their singles matches, including against conference opponents, to claim Big West Men's and Women's Tennis Athlete of the Week accolades.

Recknagel Shines At No. 1 Position
Sophomore Benjamin Recknagel (Munich, Germany/Carl-Orff Gymnasium) held his position at the top of UC Santa Barbara’s lineup, winning a pair of matches to collect Big West Men’s Tennis Athlete of the Week accolades.

Recknagel climbed back from a first-set deficit to defeat Pacific’s Tomasz Krzyszkowski on Saturday.  His 2-6, 6-1, 6-0 triumph knotted a tightly contested match at 3-3 before the Tigers went on to defeat the Gauchos 4-3.

In Sunday’s tough 4-3 loss against No. 41 Fresno State, Recknagel dominated Rikus de Villiers in a 6-1, 6-2 rout.  The win provided UCSB’s first point of the match after the Gauchos had trailed 3-0.

Others nominated: Andre Dome (Cal Poly); Sam Gould (UC Irvine); Fernando Ristow (Pacific)

Pane Propels Cal Poly To Two Big West Victories
Cal Poly senior Ashley Pane (Sacramento, Calif./Santa Clara) collected Big West Women’s Tennis Athlete of the Week honors after posting a combined 4-0 singles and doubles record in conference victories against Pacific and No. 66 UC Davis.

The wins helped Cal Poly stay atop the Big West standings with a 6-0 record and moved the Mustangs closer to their first-ever regular season title.

Pane, playing at No. 3 singles against Pacific’s Olga Gumenyuk, won a convincing 6-0, 6-1 match.  She moved up to the No. 2 position against Dahra Zamudio of UC Davis.  After losing the first set, Pane rebounded to capture a 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory that clinched the overall team match for the Mustangs.  In No. 2 doubles, Pane and partner Jocelyn Davis earned identical 8-2 outcomes against their Tiger and Aggie counterparts.

Others nominated: Brooke Doane (Cal State Northridge); Sarah Cantlay (Long Beach State); Courtney Byron (UC Irvine); Sofia Novak (UC Santa Barbara)