Feb. 5, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format 
IRVING, Texas - Tulsa's Alexandra Kichoutkin was the C-USA Women's Tennis Player of the Week. Kichoutkin has yet to lose a singles match in dual play with an 8-0 record and helped her team hold the top spot among C-USA schools in the latest ITA rankings at No. 43. Marshall follows at No. 51, while SMU is also ranked at No. 61.
WOMEN'S TENNIS PLAYER OF THE WEEK (2/5)
ALEXANDRA KICHOUTKIN - Tulsa
Fr., New York, N.Y. (Rothberg)
Kichoutkin has yet to lose a singles match in dual play with a record of 8-0. She has played at positions one through three this season. Kichoutkin has won three matches without dropping a game and has only dropped one set throughout the young spring season. Last weekend the freshman defeated Kansas' Elizaveta Avdeeva, 6-0, 6-0 at No. 1 and Monika Hadvigerova of Texas-Arlington, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, at No. 2. Her biggest singles wins of season came against No. 33- LSU and No. 69 Loyola Marymount. Kichoutkin is also 6-1 doubles competiton with partner Jie Zeng, including two wins last weekend.This is the first career weekly honor for Kichoutkin.
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.
ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
J22 - Kellie Schmitt, Marshall
J29 - Kellie Schmitt, Marshall
F5 - Alexandra Kichoutkin, Tulsa
OTHER NOTABLE C-USA TENNIS PERFORMANCES
Kellie Schmitt - Marshall
Jr., Pittsburgh, Pa.
Schmitt is the lone Marshall player to be undefeated in both singles and doubles action. She has played all of her matches at the No. 1 position. Last week she defeated No. 79 Daria Petrovic of N.C. State in singles and moved to 6-0 in doubles after another win with partner Karolina Soor.
REBECCA LIN - Rice
So., San Diego, California
Lin provided a singles and doubles victory in Rice's 5-2 win at No. 75 Jacksonville. Her doubles win came at the No. 2 slot and she won 6-1, 6-1 at No. 4 in singles. Earlier in the week against No. 21 Florida State, Lin nearly pulled an upset against No. 70 Tapiwa Marobelo, but fell short in three sets.
MONICA NEVEKLOVSKA - SMU
Jr., West Vancouver, Canada
Neveklovska went undefeated over the weekend, helping No. 61 SMU to wins over Prairie View A&M and UT-San Antonio. She won both of her singles matches at the No. 3 position and paired with teammate Kristen Reid to go 2-0 at No. 2 doubles.
KENZA BELBACHA - UCF
Jr., Casablanca, Morocco
Belbacha dropped just one game against Florida Gulf Coast in the Knights' 7-0 home opening victory. Belbacha teamed with Anna Yakimchenkova at No. 3 doubles to win 8-0 and then cruised to a 6-1, 6-0 victory at No. 5 singles. The wins enabled Belbacha to climb to .500 in both singles (5-5) and doubles (4-4) this season.
ITA WOMEN'S TEAM RANKINGS
(Feb. 5)
Rank School
43 Tulsa
51 Marshall
61 SMU
INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS
(Jan. 8)
Singles Individual
19 Kellie Schmitt, Marshall
99t Julie Chao, Rice
Doubles Team
15 Schmitt/Soor, Marshall
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
