NORFOLK, Va. - Old Dominion men’s tennis sophomore Jacob Nicolussi earned C-USA Men’s Tennis Athlete of the Week honors after going a perfect 5-0 last week that included wins over No. 25 N.C. State.
Nicolussi was influential in the Monarchs stunning victory over No. 25 N.C. State with wins in both singles and doubles. Old Dominion held a 2-1 lead when Nicolussi defeated Ivan Saveljic to push the ODU lead to 3-1 and eventually the win.
On top of his work against N.C. State, Nicolussi won each of his matches against Bucknell, lifting ODU to a 7-0 victory. To top it off, Nicolussi won his singles match against Hampton and was leading in doubles before it got called at the halfway point. A native of Italy, he won all three of his singles matches in straight sets during a dominating weekend. It is the first C-USA weekly honor in Nicolussi’s career.
The Tennis Monarchs (10-3) jumped 27 spots since last week in the national Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings and are currently ranked No. 28 this week by the ITA. This jump is the biggest in the NCAA this week and has been labeled ITA’s Oracle Rankings Big Mover of the Week. The Tennis Monarchs are on an eight-match win streak capped of by upsetting No. 25 NC State by a dominating 4-1 score in Raleigh on Sunday.
2016 C-USA Men’s Tennis Athlete of the Week
J19: Jamie Malik, Rice
J26: Ayed Zatar Cordero, Middle Tennessee
F2: Tommy Bennett, Rice
F9: Adam Moundir, Old Dominion
F16: Dima Zyhmantovich, Middle Tennessee
F23: Michael Weindl, Old Dominion
M1: Jacob Nicolussi, Old Dominion | Adam Gustafsson, Rice
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