March 26, 2012
Bronx, N.Y. -
Fordham University freshmen Srikar Alla (Hyderabad, India/Pendleton School) and Julie Leong (San Jose, Calif./Silver Creek) were named Atlantic 10 Men's and Women's Tennis Rookies of the Week, respectively, it was announced by the conference office today.
Alla and Leong become the third and fourth Fordham tennis players to be recognized by the Atlantic 10 as Kuba Kowalski was twice named Performer of the Week and Bella Genkina was twice named Rookie of the Week earlier this season.
In three matches on the week, Alla was a perfect 3-0 in singles play at the second position and 2-1 in doubles action. He opened the week with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Temple's Stanislav Stekolshikov on Wednesday and then picked up a pair of wins on the weekend, defeating Jeff Kessler from Saint Joseph's, 6-2, 6-3, on Saturday and Wagner's David Garzon, 6-0, 6-2, on Sunday.
In doubles play, Alla teamed with J.J. Tauil to defeat Temple's Kristian Marquart and Dmitry Vizhunov, 8-4, in second doubles on Wednesday and then paired with Kuba Kowalski to win at first doubles, 8-3, over Wagner's Danil Ovechkin and David Garzon on Sunday. His only loss on the week was a tiebreaker loss to Saint Joseph's Tommy Gates and Dan Barrus, 9-8 (3) on Saturday.
On the year, Alla is 18-7 in singles play, a perfect 13-0 at second singles, and is 9-1 over his last ten singles matches.
Leong picked up two singles victories on the week, defeating FDU's Irina Dementveva on Thursday, 6-7 (5), 6-2, 10-7, at the fourth position and Kelly Mulquin from Saint Joseph's, 6-3, 6-4, at the sixth spot on Saturday.
Leong also played in one doubles match on the week, teaming with Angelika Dabu to win at third doubles over FDU's Elmine Botes and Manuela Lane, 8-3.
On the year, Leong has an 18-4 overall singles record, 8-2 over the past ten matches, and is 9-7 in doubles action.
The Fordham men's tennis team, 14-5 on the year, will return to action on Wednesday, March 28th, as they host Fairleigh Dickinson University on the Hawthorn/Rooney Courts at 1:00 p.m.
The Fordham women's tennis team, currently 13-4, will next be in action on Saturday, March 31st, as the Rams travel to Stony Brook, N.Y., to face the University at Stony Brook at 11:00 a.m.
