April 20, 2009
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Texas A&M's Elzé Potgieter (pronounced el-ZAY POT-geeter) has been named the Big 12 Women's Tennis Player of the Week for matches played April 13-19, the conference office announced today. It marks the second time the junior from Bloemfontein, South Africa, has received the honor.
Potgieter went a combined 6-0 last week, going 3-0 at the No. 1 singles line, as well as 3-0 with partner Sheri Olivier at No. 3 doubles, to lead the Aggies to a 2-1 record for the week.
In singles, Potgieter began the week by upsetting No. 46 Taylor Ormond of Baylor, 2-6, 6-1, 1-0 (9), coming back from a 9-6 deficit in the 10-point super tiebreaker to win 11-9. It was Potgieter's second victory against a top-50 player this season.
Potgieter also had a huge comeback win against Antea Huljev of Kansas State in the following match. After falling behind 5-0 in the first set, Potgieter won 13 games in a row to win the match, 7-5, 6-0, and help the Aggies to a 5-2 win against the Wildcats.
Potgieter capped the week and improved to 9-2 at the No. 1 line in Big 12 matches and 19-14 overall with a 6-1, 7-6 (4) victory over Edina Horvath in the Aggies' 6-1 rout over Kansas on Sunday.
In doubles, Potgieter and Olivier earned A&M's only doubles win against No. 5 Baylor, defeating Nina Secerbegovic and Kasia Siwosz, 8-3, at the No. 3 line.
The Aggie pair clinched the doubles point for A&M against both Kansas State and Kansas and ran their winning streak to five matches. They defeated Petra Chuda and Katka Kudlackova of K-State, 8-3, and Kuni Dorn and Yuliana Svistun, 9-7, to finish 9-2 in the Big 12 and 16-3 in the regular season.
A&M is the No. 3 seed at the Big 12 Championships, which begins Thursday at Headington Family Tennis Center in Norman, Okla. By finishing in the top four, A&M receives a first-round bye and will play the winner between Oklahoma State and Iowa State on Friday at 6 p.m.