Player of the Week
Nazari Urbina • Texas A&M
Senior • Veracruz, Mexico
• Urbina clinched Texas A&M’s highest-ranked win in school history with a come-from-behind 6-7 (6), 6-3, 6-1 victory over No. 4 Florida’s 53rd-ranked Alexandra Cercone in the last match standing, giving A&M the 4-3 victory and snapping the Gators’ 37-match SEC winning streak. It was Urbina’s highest ranked win in dual matches this season.
• The win against Cercone marked Urbina’s 89th career victory, moving her into eighth place in the all-time A&M career records.
• Urbina went 2-0 for the week at No. 3 singles, as she preceded the Florida match with a 6-2, 1-6, 6-1 victory over South Carolina’s Elixane Lechemia to close out the Aggies’ SEC opening 5-2 victory over the Gamecocks.
• In A&M’s final non-conference tune-up against Baylor earlier in the week, Urbina had split sets while playing No. 2 singles for the first time this year, but the match went unfinished in the Aggies’ 4-0 victory over the Bears.
• Urbina enters this week 3-1 in dual matches at the No. 3 line and 9-4 overall.
Results
Singles
2/27 Victoria Kisialeva, Baylor 6-1, 6-1 DNF
3/1 Elixane Lechemia, South Carolina W 6-1, 1-6, 6-1
3/3 #53 Alexandra Cercone, Florida W 6-7 (6), 6-3, 6-1
Freshman of the Week
Yang Pang • Arkansas
Nanjing, China
• Pang continued a breakout freshman season in the opening weekend of SEC play, earning two wins over ranked opponents.
• In the Razorbacks first match of conference play, they were tied 3-3 with the Wildcats with the result hinging on Pang’s match at No. 1 singles with No. 51 Nadia Ravita. Despite dropping the first set, Pang rallied back, winning the second set in a tiebreak and prevailing in a three-set battle.
• The win clinched the victory for the Razorbacks and extended Arkansas’ winning streak over Kentucky to six straight matches.
• She also helped Arkansas win the doubles point by winning a tight match 9-8 over Stiles/Lewis.
• Against Vanderbilt, she got her second straight victory over a ranked opponent, easily dispatching of No. 60 Lauren Mira 6-3, 6-3.
• Having played the entire season at No. 1 singles against strong competition, she now has three wins over ranked opponents after defeating three ranked opponents during fall play.
Results
Singles
3/1 #51 Nadia Ravita, Kentucky W 2-6, 7-6(3), 6-4
3/3 #60 Lauren Mira, Vanderbilt W 6-3, 6-3
Doubles (with Brittany Huxley)
3/1 Stiles/Lewis, Kentucky W 9-8(5)
3/3 Sellyn/Altick, Vanderbilt L 4-8