SAN DIEGO (UNLVRebels.com) – UNLV standout
Aiwen Zhu became the third woman in program history to earn more than one league MVP honor when she was named Mountain West Tennis Player of the Year Wednesday for the second straight season.
Zhu was joined by teammates
En-Pei Huang and
Izumi Asano on this year's all-conference teams, which were released on the morning of the MW Championship event being staged in San Diego.
Zhu, currently ranked 104th in the nation in singles, joins former Rebel All-Americans
Elena Gantcheva (a league-record three consecutive honors in 2006-08) and
Marianne Vallin (also a three-time winner – Big West in 1994 and '96 and WAC in '97) in winning back-to-back league MVP honors. The other former conference MVP winners from UNLV are
Aleksandra Josifoksa (2013),
Lucia Batta (2012),
Katarina Malec (2000) and
Jolene Watanabe (Big West in 1990).
A native of Wuxi, China, Zhu is currently 25-7 overall, including 12-3 at the No. 1 position and 3-1 in MW play. As a Rebel, Zhu stands 98-31 overall and a stunning 39-7 at the top position in the lineup in dual matches.
Last year's MW Freshman of the Year, Asano (Kasugai, Japan) earned her second straight all-league nod in singles. She comes in 21-7 overall, including 12-3 in dual matches at the No. 2-3 spots, and 2-1 vs. MW competition.
Huang (Kaohsiung City, Taiwan) earned her first All-MW honor in singles play. The junior is 22-9 overall, including 14-5 in duals at the No. 3-4 positions, and went 4-1 vs. MW foes.
For the third straight season, Zhu and partner Huang were tabbed all-league for doubles. The duo, which is ranked 74th in the nation, stands 22-8 overall and 13-3 in duals, including 4-0 vs. the MW.
With Zhu making both teams again, she becomes only the third UNLV women's tennis player to be voted all-conference in singles and doubles all four seasons on the courts
(Kristina Nedeltcheva in 2007-10 and UNLV Hall of Famer Vallin in 1994-97). Zhu currently ranks sixth in school history with 98 singles victories and third with 87 doubles wins.
The top-seeded Rebels, who won the MW West Division regular-season crown for the third straight year, open play Thursday at the MW Championship being hosted by San Diego State. After enjoying a bye, UNLV will kick things off at 10 a.m. PT vs. the winner of Wednesday's contest between San Jose State and Fresno State. For complete coverage of the 2019 Mountain West Women's Tennis Championship, visit TheMW.com.
2019 MW WOMEN'S TENNIS AWARDS
PLAYER OF THE YEAR:
Aiwen Zhu, UNLV
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR:
Shakhnoza Khatamova, San Diego State
COACH OF THE YEAR:
TBD following tournament
Mountain West All-Conference Singles
TJ Fumagalli, Jr., Air Force
Wilhelmina Palmer, So., Boise State
Lilian Poling, Jr., Boise State
Stella Cliffe, Jr., Colorado State
Emily Luetschwager, So., Colorado State
Shir Azran, Fr., Fresno State
Jennifer Timotin, Fr., Fresno State
Ruth Copas, Sr,. New Mexico
Nnena Nadozie, So., San Diego State
Shakhnoza Khatamova, Fr., San Diego State
Miyo Kobayashi, Sr., San José State
Aiwen Zhu, Sr., UNLV
Izumi Asano, So., UNLV
En-Pei Huang Jr., UNLV
Sasha Pisareva, So., Utah State
Tessa van Der Ploeg, Sr., Wyoming
Mountain West All-Conference Doubles
TJ Fumagalli/Kristin Kerrigan, Air Force
Lilian Poling/Wilhelmina Palmer, Boise State
Emily Kolbow/Stella Cliffe, Colorado State
Georgia Lawson/Jennifer Timotin, Fresno State
Nnena Nadozie/Alicia Melosch, San Diego State
Aiwen Zhu/En-Pei Huang, UNLV
Hannah Jones/Alexandra Taylor, Utah State
Tessa van Der Ploeg/Elisa Koonik, Wyoming
