NEW ORLEANS – Old Dominion men's tennis freshman Connor van Schalkwyk was named the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week announced by the league office on Wednesday.
He went 4-0 on the week as ODU swept a road weekend defeating VCU (4-3) and Penn State (4-0) to raise its record to 9-1.
Against in-state rival VCU on Friday in a 4-3 ODU win, van Schalkwyk recorded his biggest singles win of the season knocking off 36th-ranked Matisse Bobichon 6-3, 6-1. In doubles, paired with his older brother Codie, the 19th-ranked duo defeated German Samofalov and Oscar Pinto Sansano 7-6 (7-5) to even the doubles.
Sunday at Penn State, the van Schalkwyks started doubles with a 6-2 win over Miko Eala and Stefan Simeunovic. In singles, Connor got the first win with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Simeunovic as ODU won 4-0.
On the year, Connor is 13-2 in singles and is currently on a 12-match winning streak and is ranked 80th in the ITA Rankings announced Tuesday. In doubles, the van Schalkwyks are ranked 16th nationally and sport an 11-4 record.
ODU will next see action on Friday in Montgomery, Alabama in the 76th annual Blue-Gray Tournament. This will be a loaded field with all eight schools currently ranked in the top 64. Among the tournament field will be Alabama (19th), Michigan State (21st), Middle Tennessee (27th), Princeton (31st), ODU (47th), Auburn (48th), Boise State (51st) and Rice (64th).