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MESA, Ariz. – The top seeded The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) women's tennis team looks to clinch a spot in the Western Athletic Conference Tournament championship match as they face No. 4 Grand Canyon on Saturday at 11 a.m. at the Mesa Tennis Center.
 
And the Award Goes to…
UTRGV came away with six WAC awards, as voted on by the WAC coaches.
 
UTRGV head coach Sonia Hahn was named WAC Women's Tennis Coach of the Year after leading the team to a 13-8 regular season record and a 5-0 record in WAC play. UTRGV earned the first round by and its first-ever WAC Regular Season Championship.
 
Dominique Ibarra and Anastasia Belyaeva were named to the All-WAC First Team in singles while Lasya Patnaik earned All-WAC Second Team singles honors. Belyaeva and Patnaik teamed up to earn All-WAC First Team honors in doubles and Esparza and Aleksovska took home All-WAC Second Team doubles honors.
 
Last Time Out
UTRGV (13-8, 5-0 WAC) clinched the WAC Regular Season Championship after defeating New Mexico State 5-2 in the regular season finale.
 
UTRGV took control early in the match as it won two of the three doubles matches to clinch the first point of the day. Marine Darzyan and Dominique Ibarra beat Rebecca Keijzerwaard and Lindsay Harlas on court one.
 
Anastasia Belyaeva and Lasya Patnaik clinched the point with a 6-0 win over Eli Arnaudova and Helena Colvee on court three.
 
In singles, UTRGV stayed in control as it won on four of the six courts. New Mexico State won on courts one and two but UTRGV clinched the win with wins on courts three, four, five and six.
 
Ibarra extended her win streak to seven in a row after picking up a win over Quinty Janssen on court three. Belyaeva won her 10^thstraight after defeating Yadira Rubio on court four.
 
Doris Aleksovska picked up the win over Arnaudova on court five and then it was Patnaik defeating Colvee on court six. 
 
It was UTRGV's first win over New Mexico State since May 1, 2016 when UTRGV won its first ever WAC Tournament Championship. 
 
Scouting No. 4 Grand Canyon
Grand Canyon entered the WAC Tournament with a 7-14 record and a 2-3 record in WAC play. 
 
The two conference wins came against Chicago State and Seattle U. Grand Canyon defeated Chicago State 5-2 in the opening round of the WAC Tournament this morning.
 
Grand Canyon came away with three All-WAC honors as Kylie Waschuk was named to the All-WAC First Team in singles. Emilia Occhipinti earned All-WAC Second Team on honors in singles and then she and teammate Lana Rinaldi took home All-WAC First Team honors in doubles.
 
Waschuk posted a 13-5 record in dual match play while posting a 4-1 record in WAC play leading Grand Canyon in singles victories.
 
The duo of Occhipinti and Rinaldi won nine matches in the dual match season while also posting a 4-1 record in WAC play.
 
Round Two
UTRGV faced off against Grand Canyon earlier this season at the WAC Cluster held at the Orville Cox Tennis Center and it was UTRGV who came away with the 5-2 win.
 
UTRGV won the doubles point with wins on courts one and two while also getting victories on singles courts one, three, four, and six. The only wins for Grand Canyon came on court two and five. 
 
The All-Time Series
UTRGV is 1-4 all-time against Grand Canyon in a series that dates back to 2014. The first win over Grand Canyon came in the WAC Cluster at the Orville Cox Tennis Center.
 
Globetrotters
UTRGV currently has eight student-athletes on the roster representing seven different countries, including the Macedonia, Mexico, Russia, Spain, India, Germany and Denmark.
 
Next Up
The winner of the match will advance to the WAC Championship Match on Sunday at 11 a.m. at the Mesa Tennis Center. 

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