Tennis Weekly Honors: Feb. 22
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Player of the Week
Will Grant, Florida
Grant, at the ITA National Team Indoor Championship, went 2-0 at No. 2 singles and 3-0 in No. 1 doubles with partner Axel Nefve. Each doubles play for Florida began with a win at court one by Will Grant and Axel Nefve at ITA Indoors. The Gators pair at the top position notched two ranked-wins, as Grant/Nefve beat No. 37 Casey Kania/Ryan Seggerman from North Carolina, 6-2, and No. 9 Finn Bass/Juampi Mazzuchi from Baylor, 6-1. Grant carried out the strong play into singles and only dropped one set in his three matches. The junior gave Florida an initial 2-1 lead over No. 12 North Carolina by defeating No. 19 Ryan Seggerman, 6-3, 6-4 for his second top-30 ranked win of the dual season. After helping secure the doubles point against No. 10 Baylor, the Boca Raton, Fla. native enhanced the Florida lead to 3-1 and guided the Gators to their first top-10 win of the season by taking down Marko Miladinovic, 7-6 (5), 7-5.
Freshman of the Week
Charlelie Cosnet, Kentucky
Cosnet, went 2-1 in singles during his first ITA Indoor Nationals, helping Kentucky reach the semifinals. He recorded his first win over a nationally ranked player this spring against USC'S #82 Ryan Colby, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4. That win evened the team score at 3-3 to set up the UK win over USC, 4-3. Cosnet has a 6-2 singles record in dual matches.
WOMEN
Player of the Week
Ayana Akli, South Carolina
Akli, led South Carolina to sweeps over Coastal Carolina and Yale and clinched the deciding point against Wake Forest this week. Against Coastal Carolina, Akli and partner Gracie Mulville recorded a 6-2 win in doubles and Akli went on to record a dominant 6-0, 6-1 win in singles. Against Yale, Akli again took down her singles opponent in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3. Against Wake Forest, Akli delivered the deciding point that gave the Gamecocks a comeback win after dropping the doubles point. She defeated No. 29 Casie Wooten 7-5, 4-6, 7-6(11) to clinch the match. Her final set was a battle in which she saved match point three times in the lengthy tiebreaker before taking the 13-11 win. Akli is now 21-6 in singles overall on the season and a perfect 6-0 in dual play, all from the top spot in the lineup. She has a 12-6 overall record against ranked opponents and is on a nine-match winning streak with eight of her nine wins coming in straight sets.
Freshman of the Week
Carolina Gomez Alonso, Arkansas
Gomez Alonso, improved to 4-0 this dual season with two singles wins at Baylor and SMU to remain undefeated in singles play. Gomez Alonso was the clinching point in a huge win for Arkansas over No. 37 Baylor, defeating Liubov Kostenko in a comeback 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory on court three. She has now clinched the win for the Razorbacks in its last two wins. In doubles, Gomez Alonso and partner Kelly Keller were the clinching court in both matches to take the doubles point for the Hogs. The Razorbacks have taken the doubles point in their last four matches and in all five of their wins this season. The duo of Gomez Alonso and Keller have won their last three matches together and are 3-1 this spring.