Ispas and Fukamachi Capture First Tennis Weekly Awards
MAAC Sports
EDISON, N.J. – The MAAC Men’s Tennis Player of the Week is freshman Rares Ispas from Niagara University. Mitsuki Fukamachi, a sophomore from Siena College, is the MAAC Women’s Tennis Player of the Week.
Freshman Rares Ispas from Niagara University is the MAAC Men’s Tennis Player of the Week. Ispas went a perfect 4-0 in singles and doubles play in Niagara’s spring opening weekend. Ispas, playing in fifth singles, was one of five Purple Eagles to pick up single wins as NU defeated Lafayette, 6-1, on Friday. Ispas won in straight sets, 6-1, 7-6, over Lafayette’s Chris Matturri. On Saturday, he topped Lehigh’s Colin Nardella, 6-3, 6-2. In doubles, Rares and partner Francis Nadeau won both of their matches in three doubles. The pair defeated Lafayette’s Chris Matturris and Gavin Studner, 6-1, and Lehigh’s Ethan Bogard and Tyler Hansen, 6-3.
Siena College sophomore Mitsuki Fukamachi is the MAAC Women’s Tennis Player of the Week. Fukamachi was 2-0 in singles play to start the spring season for the Saints. She began the week with a 6-4 and 7-5 win over Alana Prinos of Providence, a key victory that helped Siena secure the 4-3 win and move to 5-0 on the season. She followed that victory up with a 7-5, 1-6 and 10-3 super-tiebreaker win over Cheryl Kukkonen of archrival UAlbany – one of the Saints’ two singles victories in the match. Fukamachi’s performance was made more special by the fact that she was playing up in rotation with No. 1 Ali Garrity missing this weekend’s action. Fukamachi is 8-1 in singles play this season and 23-11 in her Siena career.
The 2015 MAAC Tennis Championships will be held on April 25 and 26 at the Mercer County Park Tennis Center in West Windsor, NJ.