COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — it makes sense, but with the week he had, Arda Azkara’s first full week playing No. 1 singles for UNM netted him a pair of honors, earning both Mountain West Player of the Week and Mountain West Freshman of the Week. The honors were announced by the league office on Wednesday.
Azkara went 2-0 on the week in singles and 1-1 in doubles as he helped UNM to a 5-2 win over previously unbeaten Santa Clara and a 6-1 win over Grand Canyon, evening UNM’s record at 2-2.
Azkara opened his week on Friday with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Mann Shah of Santa Clara to give UNM a 3-2 lead on the way to a 5-2 lead against the previous unbeaten Broncos. He followed that up with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Jiri Novak of Grand Canyon to run his record to 2-2 on the season. The matches were the first two of the season in the No. 1 singles position for UNM.
He added a 1-1 record at No. 2 doubles as well. Azkara is the first Lobo to earn a Mountain West Player of the Week award this season, and the first since Raul Dobai earned the honor on April 7 last season.
The Lobos and Azkara host a three-match homestand this weekend. The squad hosts BYU on Friday at 3 p.m. and Saturday at noon, followed by a Sunday match with Northern Arizona at noon.