TENNIS GETS TWO MORE PLAYER OF THE WEEK AWARDS, HORNET ATHLETICS COMBINE FOR SEVEN THIS WEEK

3/29/2007

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- For the second consecutive week, both Sacramento State’s Joyce Martinez Gutierrez and Gabriel Loredo were named the Big Sky Conference women’s and men’s tennis players of the week, respectively.

Amazingly, Sacramento State has combined for a school-record seven different conference player of the week awards this week. Joining Martinez and Loredo this week were Marina Borisova (gymnastics), Alvaro Orozco (baseball), Raphael McFarlane (men’s field), Jody Johnson (men’s track) and Nancy Searcy (women’s field).

Martinez won the women’s tennis player of the week award for the second straight week and a Sacramento State women’s player has now received the honor eight straight weeks. Loredo won the award for the second straight week and third time overall this season. A Sacramento State men’s tennis player has now received the honor four straight week and five times in the last six overall.

Both Martinez and Loredo have been key players in the Sacramento State men’s and women’s tennis teams currently combining for a 23-9 overall record and a 12-0 mark in the Big Sky. The men are now 12-4 and 7-0, and have won eight of their last nine matches. The women are 11-5 and 5-0, and have won eight of their last 11 matches.

One of seven underclassmen on the women’s team this year, Martinez led Sacramento State to a 2-1 record last week, including a 7-0 win against Northern Colorado and a 4-3 victory at Loyola Marymount. The Azitapan, Mexico, native posted a 3-0 record in singles play at both the Nos. 4 and 5 spots of the Hornets’ lineup. She won each of her singles matches in straight sets, and never lost more than three games in any of those sets.
    
Martinez began the week on Thursday by defeating Northern Colorado’s Renee Nuccio, 6-1, 6-0, at No. 4 singles. In Saturday’s 4-3 loss at 19th-ranked Pepperdine, the sophomore dismantled Tania Rice at No. 5 by the score of 6-1, 6-1. On Sunday, Martinez then defeated Loyola Marymount’s Serena Fermin at No. 4 by the score of 6-3, 6-3.
    
A first team all-Big Sky performer last season, Martinez has won four singles matches in a row and nine of her last 11 overall. She is now 10-6 in singles play this season, including a 6-1 mark at No. 4 and a 4-5 record at No. 5.

Loredo, a senior, led the Sacramento State men to a perfect 4-0 record against Big Sky Conference teams over a five-day span last week. Loredo posted a 4-0 singles record at No. 3, and teamed with Anton Stryhas to notch a 4-0 record at No. 1 doubles. What made the performance even more impressive is that each of his singles victories came in straight sets and he did not lose more than two games in any set during the week.
    
Loredo began the week on Thursday by posting a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Northern Colorado’s Paul Tschetter. He followed that up on Friday with a 6-2, 6-1 win against Montana State’s Anton Leonenko. On Sunday, the Mexico City native knocked off Northern Arizona’s Fernando Freitas, 6-2, 6-2, and then completed his impressive week on Monday with a 6-2, 6-1 win against Montana’s Felipe Raw.
    
In doubles play, Loredo and Stryhas won all four matches during the week, and the tandem has now won nine consecutive matches at No. 1 doubles. They are 11-1 this season. A first team all-Big Sky performer last year, Loredo is also 12-2 in singles play this year, and has won seven matches in a row and 12 of the last 13 overall.