Lobos Earn Three Weekly Awards in Tennis
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Another week, another bunch of Mountain West awards for Lobo Tennis. For the third time this season, and the seventh in his career, Arda Azkara has been named the Mountain West Player of the Week, and joining him is Avery Tallakson, who was named the Mountain West Freshman of the Week. On the women’s side, Leonie Hoppe, who clinched both of UNM’s Mountain West opening conference wins, earned MW Player of the Week for the first time in her career.
The awards marked the fifth time this season that a Lobo has won Player of the Week. Along with Azkara’s three times, both Aram Noroozian and Arthur Bellegy have been honored this season. Tallakson’s award marked his second Freshman of the Week honor, and it was UNM’s third as Nicolas Recoura also earned it earlier this season.
Overall, Lobo Tennis players have won the Player of the Week award nine times in head coach Chris Russell’s three seasons, and they have won the Freshman of the Week award 10 times.
Hoppe’s award marks the first time this season that a Lobo women’s tennis player has earned the honor, and she is the first since Sarah O’Connor picked up Player of the Week honors last year.
Azkara went 5-0 on the week, going 3-0 in doubles and 2-0 in singles. Both of his singles wins were match clinchers, in a 4-0 win over Wichita State and a 4-2 road win at UNC Wilmington. That win was of the comeback variety as he bounced back from a rough first set to win 0-6, 6-3, 6-4 as UNM won 4-2 after trailing 2-0 and having lost all six first sets in the match.
In doubles, he twice clinched the doubles point, and he teamed with Alex Maggs for a 6-3 win over the No. 43-ranked doubles team at William & Mary.
Tallakson, who normally only plays doubles for UNM, jumped into the singles lineup twice during the week and turned in a pair of straight-set wins at No. 6 singles. The wins were his first collegiate dual matches ever against a Division I opponent. Tallakson also went 1-1 in doubles on the week and had a lead in his lone unfinished match.
Hoppe came in clutch twice over the weekend, including winning her opening doubles match against UNLV 6-0, and then winning 7-6 (7-4), 7-5 with the match tied 3-3 to give UNM a 4-3 win. Hoppe, who broke serve to clinch the match, gave UNM its first victory over UNLV since 2005 as UNM was 0-16 against the Rebels over that span.
Two days later, Hoppe again clinched a conference win, winning 7-6 (8-6), 6-3 for a 4-2 Lobo win. In that match, Hoppe was down 5-4 in the tiebreaker before winning four of the final five points.
The Lobo men travel to face Northern Arizona on Saturday at 11 am and the Lobo women travel to San Jose State on Friday and Fresno State on Sunday.
