FRISCO, Texas – New Orleans’ Marcel Volz and Sam Houston’s Sahaja Yamalapalli are the Southland Conference Men’s and Women’s Tennis Players of the Week, respectively, the league announced Tuesday. Weekly awards are presented by Hercules Tires.
Volz continued to make a strong impact on the court with wins at No. 3 singles and No. 3 doubles in the team’s 4-2 win over North Dakota on Wednesday. The Privateers (4-2, 1-0 SLC) will return to the courts against Alcorn State at 2 p.m. CT on March 30.
Yamalapalli went 3-1 on the week and swept both her singles opponents as the Bearkats extended their win streak to six with wins over UTRGV (6-1) and conference foe New Orleans (4-3). SHSU (10-2, 5-0 SLC) is set to host Central Arkansas and Northwestern State at 1 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. Sunday, respectively.
Men’s Tennis Player of the Week – Marcel Volz, New Orleans – Junior – Iffezheim, Germany
Winning his third-straight solo contest, Volz defeated UND’s Edmond Aynedjian in straight sets (6-3, 6-2) to give UNO a 2-0 advantage in the match. His first doubles decision with teammate Luke Joujan was a win in dramatic fashion. Down 40-0 and seeming destined for a tiebreak, Volz and Joujan rallied back to win the next four points that sealed the match.
Honorable Mention: Warren Fulgenzi Jr., UIW; Filippo Salsini, Lamar; Antoine Martin-Thiriat, Nicholls.
Women’s Tennis Player of the Week – Sahaja Yamalapalli, Sam Houston – Junior – Hyderabad, India
Yamalapalli continued to roll in No. 1 singles action, picking up a pair of wins to improve to 11-0 on the season as she has not dropped a single set yet. Her win over previously unbeaten Ank Vullings of UNO helped the Bearkats top the Privateers. Earlier in the week, she topped UTRGV’s top player in straight sets and teamed with No. 1 doubles partner Roos Gerritsen to earn their fifth win of the season.
Honorable Mention: Salma Abdelrahim, New Orleans; Putri Insani, Southeastern Louisiana.
2021 Southland Tennis Players of the Week
March 23 – Marcel Volz, New Orleans; Sahaja Yamalapalli, Sam Houston
March 16 – Austin Vos, New Orleans; Ank Vullings, New Orleans
March 9 – Pavle Drobnjakovic, Nicholls; Ank Vullings, New Orleans
March 2 – Filippo Salsini, Lamar; Camille Townsend, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Feb. 23 – No men’s winner; Fuka Nonoyama, Central Arkansas
Feb. 16 – Axel Vila Antuna, Lamar; Mariya Shumeika, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Feb. 9 – Marko Galic, UIW; Paula Cerda, Stephen F. Austin
Feb. 2 – Nathan Schwartz, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi; Mariya Shumeika, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Jan. 26 – Carlos Berna Ruiz, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi; Yada Vasupongchai, Central Arkansas
Jan. 19 – Joaquin Delgado, Abilene Christian; Sahaja Yamalapalli, Sam Houston
{Courtesy: Press Release from the Southland Conference}