Nazal Named Singles Player of the Week
3/24/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
SAN BRUNO, Calif.—Gonzaga University's men's tennis team picked up its second consecutive West Coast Conference Singles Player of the Week award Tuesday as Alvaro Nazal earned the honor for his performance last weekend to begin conference play.
The redshirt junior went 2-0 individually in the first weekend of WCC action for Gonzaga. On March 21, he dispatched #50 Pepperdine's Stefan Menichella 6-4, 6-0, giving the Zags their first point of the match and starting a GU comeback that fell just short of their first ever win over Pepperdine. Even though Gonzaga fell 4-3 to the ranked Waves, it was still their best performance against the foes from Malibu, Calif., since at least 2000.
One day later, Nazal clinched the Bulldogs' first WCC victory of the season as he won the fourth of GU's five points against Loyola Marymount. Opponent Charles Boyce won the first set 4-6, but Nazal stormed back to double-up Boyce in the second 6-3, and he outlasted the Lion in the third set, winning by a tiebreak 7-6 (2). Earlier in the match, Nazal and doubles partner Joey Brandt also clinched the doubles point for Gonzaga with a 7-5 win over LMU's Felix Van Kann and Todd Volmari.
With the two singles wins, Nazal improved his dual record to 8-4 and his 2014-15 overall record to 22-7. Also, the Santiago, Chile, native sits just two wins away from his 75th career singles victory.
Nazal is the second consecutive Bulldog to take home the weekly honor. Last week, Hayden Smith earned the recognition after going 3-0 during Gonzaga's spring break trip to southern California. Also, this is Nazal's second ever in-season honor from the conference office. He also earned WCC Singles Player of the Month for September 2012 before the conference issued weekly awards during dual play.
Nazal, Brandt, Smith, and the rest of the Zags' men's tennis team will play their first road WCC matches this weekend, heading to Pacific and Saint Mary's. The Zags will start the weekend with a 1:00 p.m. matchup against the Tigers in Stockton, Calif.
