COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Katherine Jhang, who clinched both the doubles point and the overall win in a 4-3 thriller against San Jose State on the road was honored by the Mountain West as the league’s Player of the Week. It marked the second straight week that a Lobo has earned the honor, as Leonie Hoppe won the honor the week prior.
The Lobos, who are now 14-1 overall and a perfect 3-0 in the Mountain West, have turned in their best start to the season in the Mountain West era, and it is certainly showing. The back-to-back honors by the league have given the Lobos as many Mountain West Players of the Week in the last two weeks (two) as the previous five seasons (2019-2023). It’s the first back-to-back honors for Lobo Women’s Tennis since February 17 and February 24, 2016, when Ludivine Burguiere and Andrea LeBlanc were honored in back-to-back weeks.
It is the first time that Lobos have ever won the award in back-to-back weeks during conference play. The Mountain West started in 2000 and is celebrating its 25th season this year.
Jhang teamed with Hoppe for a 7-6 (7-2) win in doubles that clinched the doubles point and a 1-0 lead in the match with San Jose State. After the Lobos fell behind 3-1, UNM needed to win three third sets for the match. While UNM tied it at 3-3, Jhang was trailing 4-1 in the final set, but rallied to win the final five games for a thrilling 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 win. For Jhang, it marked the third time this season in which she won the clinching match with everything equal at 3-3, doing so at Gonzaga and against Northern Arizona.
The Lobos travel to face Boise State on Thursday and Utah State on Saturday.