MEN’S AND WOMEN’S TENNIS SWEEP BIG SKY PLAYER OF THE WEEK AWARDS FOR THE THIRD STRAIGHT WEEK

3/21/2007

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- For the third straight week, both a Sacramento State men’s and women’s tennis player earned Big Sky Conference Tennis Player of the Week accolades. This week, senior Gabriel Loredo earned the men’s honor and sophomore Joyce Martinez Gutierrez received the women’s award.

Incredibly, it marked the seventh straight week a Hornet women’s player has earned player of the week accolades, and the third straight week (and four of the last five) a Sacramento State men’s player has earned the honor.

For Loredo, the award was his second of the season while Martinez received the honor for the first time this year. Sacramento State’s men’s and women’s tennis teams have combined for a 7-0 record against Big Sky competition (4-0 for the women, 3-0 for the men) while the teams are a combined 16-7 overall.

A first team all-Big Sky selection last season, Loredo helped lead Sacramento State to a rare doubleheader road sweep of Weber State and Idaho State last Sunday. Despite playing two singles matches in the same day in cities two hours apart from each other, Loredo combined to drop just one game. In fact, if you count his doubles play, he combined to drop just five games over two singles and two doubles matches.
    
Against Weber State, Loredo won at No. 3 (6-0, 6-1) before teaming with Anton Stryhas to win at No. 1 doubles by the score of 8-1. After a two-hour bus ride to Idaho State, he then dispatched of the Bengals’ Jeremy Atkin at No. 3 by the score of 6-0, 6-0. He also won his No. 1 doubles match with Stryhas by the score of 8-3.
    
The Mexico City, Mexico, native has now won three straight and eight of his last nine singles matches to improve to 8-2 this season. In addition, he is 7-3 in doubles play, including a 7-1 record with Stryhas at both Nos. 1 and 2 doubles.

Martinez, who was also a first team all-Big Sky selection last season, helped lead Sacramento State to a 7-0 blanking of Montana last Saturday. The Azitapan, Mexico native won both her singles and doubles matches with relative ease, dropping a combined two games.
    
At No. 4 singles, Martinez defeated the Grizzlies’ Kayla Moyse, 6-1, 6-1. She also teamed with Karina Jarlkaganova at No. 2 doubles to beat Montana’s duo of Moyse and Quincy Carter by the score of 8-0.
    
Martinez has now won three of her last four singles matches, and has not dropped more than four games in any of those victories. She is 7-6 this season in singles play, including a 4-1 mark at the No. 4 spot in the Hornets’ lineup.