UMKC's Smith, IPFW's Brien Named Players of the Week
ELMHURST, Ill. - UMKC's Patrick Smith and IPFW's Katie Brien
were named as The Summit League's men's and women's tennis players
of the week for their performances April 6-12.
Patrick Smith, UMKC
Sr., Munich, Germany/Max-Planck Gymnasium
Smith collected his third accolade of the season and second
consecutive honor after recording a combined 7-0 record in singles
and doubles play while helping UMKC clinch the regular season title
at The Summit League cluster. Smith rolled to league wins over
Western Illinois' Mandela Shepard (6-2, 6-0) and Centenary's Evan
Magill (6-0, 6-1) and led Oral Roberts' Igor Sobolta (6-4, 3-2).
Against Bradley in a non-league match, Smith posted a 6-4, 6-3 win
over Juan Diego Cuadrado. In doubles play, Smith teamed with Bret
Berryman for three league victories over WIU, Centenary and ORU,
and a win over Bradley. The Kangaroos' went 4-0 during the week,
including their three league win that clinched the top seed in The
Summit League Tournament. Smith has won 20 consecutive singles and
doubles matches. His season singles wins total of 15 is tied for
the second-most in school history and his 17-3 doubles record with
Berryman is UMKC's best season mark at the No. 1 position.
Also nominated: Justin Collins, IPFW; Dan Klingenberg,
IUPUI; Mikhail Tukshanin, ORU; Jeff Cote, WIU.
Previous Winners: 1/20 - Igor Sobolta, ORU; 1/26 - Junya
Saruta, IPFW; 2/2 - Joel Modesitt, IUPUI; 2/9 - Patrick Smith,
UMKC; 2/16 - Bret Berryman, UMKC; 2/23 - Junya Saruta, IPFW;
3/2 - Francisco Sigaud, IPFW; 3/9 - Joel Modesitt, IUPUI;
3/16 - Dominic Russetto, SDSU; 3/23 - Dmitry Suslov, ORU; 3/30 -
Mikhail Trukshanin, ORU; 4/6 - Patrick Smith, UMKC.
Katie Brien, IPFW
So., Abbotsford, B.C./Robert Bateman Secondary
Brien received her first award this season and second
career honor after posting both a singles and doubles victory in
IPFW's 7-0 non-league win over Valparaiso. In singles play, Brien
posted a 6-1, 6-3 triumph over Valpo's Stephanie York and teamed
with Alex Forsyth for an 8-2 doubles win over the duo of
Burden/Bilyeu. Brien has won 13 of her last 14 singles matches and
improved her season records to 18-4 in singles and 17-4 in
doubles.
Also nominated: Jesika Bays, IUPUI; Ksusha Nazarova,
SUU.
Previous
Winners: 1/20 - Lina Semenova, ORU; 1/26 - Alexandra Forsyth, IPFW;
2/1 - Hunter Bullock, IUPUI; 2/9 - Amy Recht, IPFW; 2/16 - Amy
Recht, IPFW; 2/23 - Alexandra Forsyth, IPFW; 3/2 - Laura Bouet,
UMKC; 3/9 - Ingrid Ballus, IPFW; 3/16 - Laura Bouet, UMKC; 3/23 -
Ana Costa, ORU; 3/30 - Amy Unzicker, WIU; 4/6 - Raquel Vescovi,
IPFW.
-SUMMIT-
