Tennis Weekly Honors: Mar. 29
MEN
Player of the Week
Liam Draxl, Kentucky
Draxl, was 3-0 on the weekend overall, extending his singles' win streak to six matches. The senior took down No. 66 Nikola Slavic of Ole Miss, his seventh win over a ranked opponent this season, before dispatching Petar Jovanovich of Mississippi State in straight sets. Alongside partner Jaden Weekes, Draxl clinched the doubles' point for UK with a 7-6 win at third doubles against the Bulldogs, helping lead UK to a 4-3 win, its sixth against top-25 competition this season. Kentucky has now won seven-straight SEC matches, overall.
Freshman of the Week
Billy Blaydes, Auburn
Blaydes, win for Auburn over fourth-ranked South Carolina was decided on court six, where freshman Billy Blaydes and Lucas da Silva had traded set wins (6-2, 4-6) to set up a winner-take-all third set for the team victory. Blaydes dominated the set 6-1 to capture his fourth consecutive singles victory and the team win for the Tigers. Blaydes had a perfect weekend in singles play, as he also defeated Florida's Togan Tokac in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4 on Sunday. The freshman has now won four consecutive matches and eight of his last ten.
WOMEN
Player of the Week
Mary Stoiana, Texas A&M
Stoiana, started the week fast with her partner Mia Kupres as they claimed their first win as a pair, as they defeated Alabamas' Petra Sedlackova/Anna Parkhomenko on court 2 (6-3) putting A&M in the position to claim the doubles point. No. 3 Stoiana continued that momentum and got off to a great start in singles, as the sophomore was up a set versus Loudmilla Bencheikh before the overall match was clinched, leaving her contest unfinished (7-5, 2-4). A top-15 matchup with Auburn was up next and Stoiana/Kupres set them off on the right foot once again. The pair claimed their second win of the week and the first ranked win of their partnership over No. 80 Adeline Flach/Angella Okutoyi (6-3) on court 2. In singles, Stoiana found herself in a top-35 ranked match with the Tigers' No. 32 Carolyn Ansari on court 1. The pair were locked into a tough match as Stoiana dropped the opening set in a tiebreaker, but responded and went on to claim the second set and then outlasted Ansari in a third set super tiebreaker to win the match (6-7(3), 6-3, 1-0(8)). Stoiana is tied for second in total dual match singles wins in the conference with 13, while boasting an eight-match win streak. Stoiana also extends her perfect dual match doubles record on the season which now stands at 11-0 split between two different partners, her 11-match doubles win streak leads all opponents in the conference.
Freshman of the Week
DJ Bennett, Auburn
Bennett, had a perfect weekend for the Tigers, going 2-0 in singles and 1-0 in doubles. Her dominating two set victory over LSU's Nina Geissler (6-2, 6-2) gave Auburn their first point of the match that was eventually won 4-3. She also recorded her third singles victory over a ranked opponent, as she took down No. 120 Jayci Goldsmith of Texas A&M by a quick 6-3, 6-2 score. In doubles, she and partner Kaitlyn Carnicella defeated LSU's duo Nin Geissler/Nikita Vishwase, 6-1. Their tight match with Texas A&M's Gianna Pielet and Daira Smetannikov was left unfinished at 5-6.