#HLTennis Players of the Week: Jan. 23
Lance Rinker
INDIANAPOLIS — Cleveland State’s Nico Mostardi and Detroit Mercy’s Pauline Van Herck earned Horizon League Men’s and Women’s Singles Player of the Week awards in their respective sports. Meanwhile, Youngstown State swept the doubles honors, with the tandems of Matthew Kritzinger and Jonas Ken Suzuki, and Imaan Hassim and Sofia Macias garnering league recognition.
MEN’S SINGLES PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Nico Mostardi | Cleveland State | So. | Cleveland, Ohio
Over the weekend, Mostardi earned a 7-6 (2), 6-4 victory over Notre Dame’s Matt Gamble to begin the spring season, 1-0, after not finishing his match at the top of the lineup against Ohio State. Versus OSU, Mostardi was trailing Mikael Torpegaard, 6-3, 5-3, when the Buckeyes clinched the win. Mostardi has a team-best 13-4 singles record this year.
MEN’S DOUBLES TEAM OF THE WEEK
Matthew Kritzinger | Youngstown State | Sr. | Nice, France
Jonas Ken Suzuki | Youngstown State | Fr. | Sao Paulo, Brazil
Playing together for the first time, the duo of Kritzinger and Suzuki picked up a win at No. 3 doubles versus Duquesne on Saturday. The tandem won 6-3 over Andrew Ong and Drew Akins.
WOMEN’S SINGLES PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Pauline Van Herck | Detroit Mercy | Jr. | Bascharage, Luxembourg
Van Herck went 2-1 last week, opening the 2018 campaign with back-to-back victories at No. 4 singles over Madison Wolfe of Akron and Celina Buhr of Grand Canyon. Van Herck swept Wolfe in straight sets on Friday, 6-4 and 6-0, before outlasting Buhr in three sets, 6-2, 0-6, and 6-2. Van Herck fell in the final match of the weekend at Michigan State, 6-1, 6-1.
WOMEN’S DOUBLES TEAM OF THE WEEK
Imaan Hassim | Youngstown State | So. | Johannesburg, South Africa
Sofia Macias | Youngstown State | Sr. | Guadalajara, Mexico
Hassim and Macias picked up a win over Pittsburgh on Saturday, defeating Gabriela Rezende and Jovana Knezevic, 6-4. The duo suffered a 6-2 setback to Duquesne’s Kylie Isaacs and Julianne Herman later in the day.