Hawai‘i senior Jonathan Brooklyn and Cal Poly freshman Emily Gibbens clawed their way to key wins against conference opponents in claiming Big West Men's and Women's Tennis Athlete of the Week honors.

Rain, Power Outages No Match For Brooklyn

Senior Jonathan Brooklyn (Hillingdon, England/Langley Grammar School) earned his third Big West Men’s Athlete of the Week award in 2014 as he came up with two huge victories to help Hawai‘i to an important conference win over UC Davis.

In a match where rain forced play to be moved indoors, followed by three power outages, Hawai‘i prevailed in a 4-3 slugfest that did not end until 2:30 a.m.  UH also stayed undefeated in Big West play.

Brooklyn knotted the match at 3-3 with his 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 victory at No. 1 singles against Aggie Alec Adamson.  With doubles play the determining point in the match, Brooklyn teamed with Carter Lam at the No. 2 spot to defeat Parker Kelley and James Wade, 8-3, paving the way for the UH point.

Others nominated: Ryan Cheung (UC Irvine); Teague Hamilton (UC Santa Barbara)

Gibbens Shines For Cal Poly

Cal Poly freshman Emily Gibbens (Surrey, England/Coloma Girls' School) garnered Big West Women’s Tennis Athlete of the Week accolades after winning all four of her matches against conference foes.

Gibbens was the only Mustang to post a singles victory in a 5-2 loss to No. 60 Long Beach State.  She outdueled Ebba Unden, 6-3, 7-6, in a hard fought match at the No. 2 slot.  Gibbens also helped Cal Poly clinch the doubles point as she and Ane McPike triumphed, 8-6, over the 49er tandem of Karolina Rozenberg and Holly Reid.

The Mustangs countered with a 7-0 win over UC Riverside for their first Big West victory.  Gibbens again scratched out a victory at No. 2, recovering from a first set defeat to take a, 5-7, 6-2, 1-0, decision.  She and McPike also won by an 8-0 score in doubles.

Others nominated: Alexis Valenzuela (Cal State Fullerton); Maeva Razakasoa (Long Beach State); Marivick Mamiit (UC Irvine); Stacy Yam (UC Santa Barbara)