Feb. 14, 2007

LAS VEGAS - UNLV senior Claire Smith has been named the Mountain West Conference Women's Tennis Player of the Week for the first time in her career, the league announced Wednesday.

A native of Yarm, England, Smith went a combined 6-0 over the weekend in No. 39 UNLV's sweep of UC Riverside, Southern Utah and Utah State as the Lady Rebels set a school record with their sixth consecutive shutout.

In singles play, Smith took straight-set matches from UC Riverside's Donna McCullough and Southern Utah's Deena Jenson at the No. 3 position and defeated Utah State's Dee-Dee Nelson at the No. 4 position. In doubles action, the senior teamed up with freshman Alisa Razina for a trio of victories.

Smith has not lost a match - or even a set -- this spring in singles or doubles action, improving to 6-0 in each category in dual matches. Off to a career-best start with a team-leading 11-2 record in singles play, she moved into ninth place on the UNLV career list for singles victories (67) and into seventh place for doubles victories (54). Smith also moved into ninth place at the school for career singles winning percentage at .644 (67-37).

BYU's Jonathan Sanchez was named the men's player of the week.