April 1, 2009
April 1 Women's Tennis Notebook 
IRVING, Texas - With just two weeks of play remaining before the Conference USA Women's Tennis Championship, the league once again has three women's tennis teams ranked in the latest ITA Tennis rankings. SMU jumped up two spots to No. 22 and the Mustangs are followed by No. 42 Tulsa and No. 64 Marshall. The league also has three singles players ranked and two doubles teams rankes.
CO-WOMEN'S TENNIS PLAYERS OF THE WEEK (3/31)
ALEXANDRA KICHOUTKIN - Tulsa
So., New York, N.Y. (Rothberg)
Kichoutkin helped guide No. 50 Tulsa to a 3-0 record last past week with wins over No. 27 Texas, Rice and Houston. The sophomore went 3-0 at No. 1 singles picking up a 7-5, 6-3, win against Caroline Larsson of No. 27 Texas, a 1-6, 7-6, 6-0, win over Julie Chao of Rice and a 6-1, 6-0, victory against Lynley Wasson of Houston. Kichoutkin owns a 22-9 singles record on the season. Kichoutkin also went 2-1 in doubles earning a pair of wins in the No. 3 position with partner Rebecca Row. The duo defeated Craddock/Lancaster of Texas, 8-6, and Houston's Ring/Simpson, 8-6. This is the second weekly honor for Kichoutkin in 2009 (Jan. 27) and the fifth of her career.
CO-WOMEN'S TENNIS PLAYERS OF THE WEEK (3/31)
KSENIIA TOKARIEVA - SMU
Sr., Kiev, Ukraine (University of Mississippi)
Tokarieva helped the No. 24 Mustangs down three nationally-ranked teams in a 5-0 week. Against No. 28 DePaul, Tokarieva teamed up with junior partner Nicole Briceno to post a strong an 8-1 win over Gambrell/McKnight. In the first match of the Via Christi Collegiate Classic, Tokarieva and Briceno paired up again to record an 8-5 victory over No. 59 Nevada's Lombard/Stevens. Collecting her first singles win of the week and her seventh consecutive, Tokarieva downed Louisville's Sarah Miller, 6-1, 6-2. Tokarieva and Briceno also blanked Miller/Harris in doubles against the Cardinals. Against tournament host No. 66 Wichita State, Tokarieva and Briceno collected their 18th win of the season in an 8-4 win over the Shocker duo of Hanisch/Browning. Tokarieva is currently tied in seventh place for career doubles victories at SMU with 55. In singles against the Shockers, Tokarieva ousted Hanisch in straigh sets. Tokarieva improved to team-best 15-1 with eight consecutive victories in dual match singles play. The senior is now 18-1 in doubles competition on the spring with 14 straight wins. This is Tokarieva's second career weekly honor (Feb. 26, 2008) and her first in 2009.
WEEKLY AWARDS
Conference USA will name a male and female tennis Athlete of the Week throughout the regular season. The weekly accolades are selected by the media relations department and announced every Tuesday throughout the season.
J29 - Kellie Schmitt, Marshall
J27 - Alexandra Kichoutkin, Tulsa
F3 - Kellie Schmitt, Marshall
F10 - Nicole Briceno, SMU
F17 - Natalia Bubien, SMU
F24 - Nicole Briceno, SMU
M3 - Marta Lesniak, SMU
M10 - Jenny Frisell, UCF
Elvira Serrot, UCF
M17 - Christy Core, UCF
M24 - Joanna Kacprzyk, Houston
M31 - Alexandra Kichoutkin, Tulsa
Kseniia Tokarieva, SMU
OTHER NOTABLE C-USA TENNIS PERFORMANCES
Kellie Schmitt - Marshall
Sr., Pittsburgh, Pa.
Schmitt, currently ranked No. 76 in the latest ITA singles rankings, went 3-0 at N. 1 singles and 2-1 at No. 1 doubles as the Herd went 3-0 in matches in Hawai'i. The reigning two-time C-USA Player of the Year is now 16-3 in singles this spring and 12-7 in doubles.
ELIZABETH HAMLIN - Tulane
Fr., Haverford, Pa.
Hamlin won all three of her singles matches last weekend while posting a 1-1 record in doubles. She downed No. 57 Claudia Hirt of Oregon in straight sets, before posting a match clinching 7-6, 3-6, 7-6 win over Paulina Zuniga of New Mexico. She then when on to defeat UTEP's Zimena Fuentes 6-6, 6-1 on Sunday.
WEEKLY RELEASE
The Conference USA media relations staff will produce a weekly release each Tuesday throughout the season, including Athlete of the Week selections and updated standings. Complete league statistics and results will be updated daily throughout the season on the Conference website.
ON THE WEB
For the latest Conference USA tennis match recaps, scores, standings, stats and weekly notebooks please log on to the league's official website: www.ConferenceUSA.com
