By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information Coordinator
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – For the first time this spring, Tennessee Tech tennis player Eduardo Mena was recognized as the adidas® OVC Male Tennis Athlete of the Week, following another stellar weekend for the Golden Eagle sophomore.
Mena went 1-1 in both singles and doubles action in Tech's pair of contests in Winston-Salem, N.C., playing a pivotal role in leading TTU to a 4-3 win over Radford Saturday afternoon from the Wake Forest Tennis Complex. The Bultrago del Lozoya, Spain native teamed up with fellow TTU sophomore Marcos Bernardes to power through Radford's Michiel Meekers and Jose Moreno Manzano in the No. 2 doubles spot, before Mena notched his sixth-straight singles nod with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Janken Thoen in the No. 1 slot.
Mena, the OVC's preseason top-rated player, would go on to drop his first singles match of 2016 Sunday evening at No.7 Wake Forest, coming up just short against the nation's 113th ranked player in Romain Bogaerts, 7-5, 6-4. The match marked the second time this season that Mena has squared off against a nationally-ranked opponent after the 6-foot sophomore took out No. 125 Luis Valero out of the University of Tennessee, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (7-2), back on Feb. 27.
Mena is 6-1 in singles play and 4-3 in doubles action this season.
Tech will hit the courts three times this week, first returning home for back-to-back matches as the Golden Eagles will clash with S.C. Upstate on Thursday, Mar. 10 and Ball State on Friday. Both matches are slated to get underway at noon. On Saturday, TTU will head back on the road for another noon tilt at Georgia Gwinnett.
Others Nominated: Florian Graskamp, Eastern Kentucky; Shashank Nautiyal, Tennessee State
Female Athlete of the Week
Laura Argente, So., Castellon, Spain
Argente picked up her sixth win in the last seven matches at the No. 1 spot in singles play last week. She went 2-0 in singles and 2-0 in doubles as Eastern Kentucky split a pair of matches. She defeated Kennesaw State's No. 1, 6-2, 6-1 and won 6-1 in doubles action. Against Louisville, Argente rallied after drooping the first set to notch a win over Sena Suswam, 2-6, 7-5, 1-0. In doubles play, she teamed up with Raquel Montalvo to defeat the Cardinals No. 1 duo, 6-3. She was part of the two lone wins against Louisville.
